Communalism and Congress’ hall of shame

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi along with some other leaders have raised the issue of communal violence in the country within parliament and outside the House also. At a time when we want to write a new story for India in terms of economic growth and development for all sections of society, raking up such issues by Congress is reflection of its regressive though process.

Desperate for survival after being rejected emphatically by Indian people, Congress is keen to polarise the politics. I wish it could focus on polity rather than petty politics.

What exposes the Congress’ game plan is its past track record. To begin with, the Minority Affairs ministry was one of the worst performers during the UPA’s 10 years. Muslims didn’t do well at all on all the development indicators during last 10 years. NSS figures recorded in 2011-12 clearly showed that Muslims had the lowest level of education as compared to any other community

The Amitabh Kundu Committee set up to assess the level of welfare of Muslims has also indicated in its initial findings that unemployment situation didn’t undergo much change for Muslims during UPA’s 10 years rule. The unemployment rate in urban areas is highest among uneducated Muslims as compared to other groups.
If Congress still has the audacity to project itself as the “angel guardian” of Muslims, we need to look at some of the worst communal riots post-1947. All such riots happened during Congress regime. Let me list a few of them.
In 1969, under Congress government’s rule, more than 15000 people killed in Gujarat in riots that lasted for six months. In 1984, Congress was ruling at Centre when anti-sikh riots led to killing of 3000 sikhs in Capital of the country. In February, 1983, 5000 people were killed in communal violence in Nellie Assam. In 1964 while Congress was ruling Orissa, communal riots in Rourkela and Jamshedpur led to death of 2000 people. In 1980 Moradabad riots , around 2000 people were killed, Congress was the ruling party. In October, 1989, around 2000 persons were killed in Bhagalpur riots when Congress was the ruling party in Bihar. In December 1990, atleast 132 persons were killed during riots in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh with Congress government ruling the state. In August 1967, more than 200 killed in Communal riots in Ranchi. The ruling party was Congress. The1970 and 1984 riots in Bhiwandi and an aggregate toll of more than 200 deaths and ruling party was Congress!

The above mentioned incidents are just tip of the iceberg. The list of communal riots during Congress regimes is pretty long and let me remind you that all of them are some of the worst incidents of communal violence in India’s post-independence era. This is the ‘hall of shame’ of Congress and it can’t camouflage it under the garb of pseudo secularism anymore.

Path breaking initiatives by the NDA government

“Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” is not merely a slogan for the NDA government under the leadership of Sh. Narendra Modi . Within a short span of about 10 weeks, the Centre has several achievements under its belt. Here are some of the unique and pathbreaking initiatives of the present day government at the centre:

-For the first time heads of SAARC nations were invited to attend the oath taking ceremony of the PM. This brought the focus back on India’s neighbourhood which was neglected for the last 10 years.

• Strong stand at WTO, sends a tough message
• A very successful Nepal and Bhutan visit
• Ensured Presidentship of BRICS Bank for India
• Quick steps to curb inflation and rising prices of onions
• Special Investigation Team formed to bring back Black money
• Making citizens participate in governance through launch of MyGov portal
• Changes in the work culture in govt, ministers, secretaries asked to plan in advance meet time limit
• 11-point to-do list sent out to top-ranking civil servants
• Promoted use of Hindi and other Indian languages by himself speaking in Hindi even with international dignitaries
• FDI cap in defence sector hiked to 49% to bring in new investment and upgrade India’s defence preparedness
• Council of ministers told not to hire relatives as personal staff and discourage nepotism
• Dismantled all GoMs, eGoMs for fast decisions
• Interface with common masses encourages through use of social media my ministers
• Restricted file movement to only four levels providing relief to common people
• Focus on cleanliness, govt employees reporting on time in office and attending their work
• Cleaning of Ganga: First “Ganga Manthan” meeting held, Rs 2037 crore allocated for Ganga cleaning in union budget
• Long pending projects such as GAIL's gas-based power plant in MP and a state highway renovation project in Assam cleared.
• Enhanced budget allocation for North-Eastern region which has been neglected in the past; Special initiatives for providing Rail Connectivity, sports university in Manipur etc. for the north-eastern states.

Commonwealth Games: Time to recognise unsung heroes

India’s performance in Commonwealth Games at Glasgow has brought lot of cheers back home. Every Indian feels special when an Indian player stands on the podium. On the day of Eid alone(July 29), Indian players won 10 medals in these games making all of us so proud. Congratulations to all Indian medal winners for their brilliant performance.

Though Indian players have excelled in various sports events at Glasgow but our performance has been very impressive especially in wrestling, weightlifting, shooting which is a very positive sign as it appears that now we are making the best of the headway we had in these specific sports over the last few years.

However, it is interesting to note that a significant number of medal winners have come from ordinary families living in smaller towns and cities. Many had struggled even for their basic needs but they never allowed these adverse circumstances to consume their passion for sports. Their life stories are inspiring and need to be told at a much bigger scale to a much wider audience.

If we are really keen to popularise sports in our country , then the performance of the players who have won medals for us at Glasgow also needs to be lauded at a much larger scale than we do as we all know how difficult it is for a sportsperson in India to reach at the top at international level.

It is also time to have a relook at our attitude as a society towards sports. I think we need to bring a fundamental change in our outlook when it comes to promoting sports in the country. Most of the citizens expect government to do provide sports infrastructure from top to bottom level. We do not want to take up sports as a community cause.

However, the government should only be seen as facilitator. The civil society, Corporate Social Responsibility arms of the corporate India and common citizens can join hands to build an efficient sports infrastructure at various levels. This would also ensure that various sections of society become stakeholders rather than being mute spectators.

We have seen in the past that there is no dearth of talent in the country. We only need to set up a system to identify and nurture this talent. It is time to remember what Swami Vivekananda said:

“First of all, our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger.”