The essence of (V.N. Gadgil) thesis is the need for the Congress to adopt a pro-Hindu line since the Hindus constitute a majority in the country.

There is so much that is wrong with this approach that it is difficult to decide where to begin. For a start, the neat division that Gadgil has made between 82 per cent Hindus and 18 per cent minorities is not as neat as he presumes. The 82 per cent is not a homogeneous entity, ready to band together against the 18 per cent with great fervour. Only the rank communalists among them, who constitute the Sangh Parivar's core base of support, will want to do so. But their percentage cannot be too high, as the BJP's electoral difficulties ... show.

Even the BJP is aware of their inadequacy in terms of numbers which is why its new president has reached out to the Muslims in a vain attempt to widen his party's acceptability. It is not a little ironical that when the BJP. which used to believe in the theory of the Hindu majority enabling it to attain power, has realized the complexity of the Indian scene. Gadgil is reiterating that same stale theory.

What is outrageous is that a Congressman should be looking at the electorate through the Sangh Parivar's sectarian lenses ...

After the departure of Gandhi and Nehru, the Congress started deviating from their broad-minded outlook and began pandering to sectarian sentiments ... Even if the party's gradual degeneration is the result of its blinkered and unprincipled members rising in the hierarchy, the party never formally canvassed for votes on the basis of religion or caste,

The broadness of its appeal even in its present moribund state is due to the still prevailing belief among the voters that the Congress essentially stands above caste and community and looks at India as a multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multicultural society. For anyone to advocate a departure from this concept, especially at a time when it is gaining worldwide recognition and approval, indicates a remarkable obtuseness of mind.

The myopia is all the more inexplicable when India's liberal secularism stands in such striking contrast to the theocracies and ... dictatorships in its neighbourhood ...

... Gadgil's prescription ... will also be disastrous in practical terms. Imitation is the best form of flattery and if the Congress decides to adopt the BJP's pro-Hindu line, the only effect will be for it to lose even the votes which it still gets without stealing any from the BJP. The reason is why should the people vote for an imitator when the real thing is around?

... It is the failure of Congressmen to protect democracy then which explains the party's present plight, for it revealed the party as comprising hollow men. The Congress' present condition has nothing to do with its disinclination to play the Hindu card. In fact, had it tried to do so, it would probably have plunged even deeper into trouble by showing that it has become totally disoriented in its cynical pursuit of power ....

Gadgil is also fond of praising the discipline and dedication of the RSS workers ...

(These) can be regarded as virtues only if the organization displaying them serves a noble cause. The RSS' record in this respect is not worthy of emulation. It isn't only that its charter is divisive, the outfit has been indicted by several judicial commissions for its role in communal trouble.

To give just one example, the Jitendra Narain Commission inquiring into the Jamshedpur riots of 1979 had stated that "the RSS with its extensive organization in Jamshedpur and ... close links with the Jan Sangh and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, had a positive hand in creating a climate which was most propitious for the outbreak of the communal disturbances". Is this the example which Gadgil wants his present party to follow?

(Source: The Hindustan Times, 16 October, 2000)

Call for Indo-Pak Dialogue

Resolution adopted by Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy, New Delhi, 14-15 Oct., 2000

Text

Convinced that there can be no military solution to the Kashmir problem and that only a solution which meets with the wishes and aspirations of the people of J&K can be durable and just, a civil society meeting in New Delhi held on October 14 and 15, 2000 calls for the following:

1. We demand an immediate dialogue between the Government of India and Government of Pakistan at the highest level without any preconditions.

2. We want all forms of terrorism, both state and non-state, to cease immediately.

3. In order to create a suitable climate for the resumption of dialogue at the highest level. We also:

a) call upon the Government of India to set up special courts to hold day-to-day trials facilitating early prosecution ... of all cases of custodial deaths, disappearances, extra-judicial executions, torture, cruel and degrading treatment.

b) Call upon all armed Opposition groups and non-state groups to abide by Optional Protocol I and II of the Geneva Convention and respect all tenets of international human rights and humanitarian law.

4. We urge for immediate cease-fire from all parties and all forces, state and non-state, in the erstwhile State of J&K.

5. We call upon the Government of Pakistan to exercise its influence and control over various groups engaged in violent and militant activity in the erstwhile State of J&K. (Source: The Mainstream)