* Syed Shahabuddim, Member of Parliament says whether the constitution of India may prescribe today, the minority groups in our country are being invited to commit suicide. And if they do not accept this invitation, they are accused of fundamentalism, and worse, of treason and extraterritorial loyalty. Everything else follows economic marginalization, physical liquidation, social ostracisation, political devaluation. If Hindu communalism is on the offensive, the religious minorities must make common cause with the Shudras, the Harijans and the Adivasis, he says.
The Hindu communal response is “that the freedom of India cannot be treated as complete so long as the Hindu Tamils and shrines ravaged by Moslem invaders continue to be in the hands of their progeny”.
“The Babri Masjid battle is a training field for bigger battles to come. The siege of the Bastilles has begun the storming is not far behind”, says Syed Shahbuddin.
* A top Chinese military source said that if India did not make concessions on the eastern border. The SinoIndian border “will not remain stable”. He said “the Indians have set up camps on the Chinese side and have conducted military exercises on the heads of our soldiers”.
* China continues to blame India for border problem says the veteran journalist, Kuldip Nayyar. * Addressing a meeting of about 10,000 workers of his party at Jind, Mr. H.N. Bahaguna, President of the Lok Dal said that corruption was rampant at the top in the country. He said a correspondent from the Swedish Radio had telephoned him to tell that the rupees 50 crore commission in the Bofors gun deal was deposited in the Swiss account of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.
* The Lok Dal Chief, Mr. H.N. Bahuguna, demanded the resignation of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and asked him to seek a fresh mandate from the people. The Congress (I) had lost all credibility.
* The Governor of Punjab announced a package of relief measures for farmers whose crops were damaged in the statewide rains
and hail storm. Nearly 20 lakh tons of wheat worth rupees 400 crore had been badly damaged by the unseasonal rains. The total area under wheat affected was 18.50 lakh acres.
* A Colombo Tamil has described the army’s attack on the Jaffna peninsula as “India’s attack on the Golden Temple, writ large”. With neither an assault on Jaffna town nor a siege of it as plausible options, it is hard to see where the government goes next, says an economist correspondent in Sri Lanka.
* The C.P.M. led Kisan Sabha has expressed dissatisfaction at the relief announced by the Governor and pressed the demand for Rs. 1000 per acres as against Rs. 200 per acre according to the extent of damage.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 19, 1987
