Author: Sujay Gupta
Publication: The Asian
Age
Date: September 4, 2000
While the Shiv Sena is
upset with its ally, the BJP, for its new fondness for Muslims, Sena boss
Bal Thackeray has found support from an unlikely quarter - senior Congressman
and former AICC spokesman V.N. Gadgil.
Mr Gadgil, known for
his strong anti-RSS and anti-Sena views, took Congressmen attending the
recent seven-day training camp at Karla, Maharashtra, completely by surprise
when he attacked the Congress for its policy of appeasing Muslims.
This is the second time that Mr Gadgil, one of the seniormost Congress
leaders, has attacked the party.
Earlier this year, Mr
Gadgil had expressed the same views at a Congress Working Committee meeting.
AICC president Sonia Gandhi and her trusted adviser Arjun Singh had then
not taken much note of it, and Mrs Gandhi had just said: "We all know why
you are saying this."
At Karla, which was a
training camp to select "future Congress leaders," Mr Gadgil launched a
frontal and scathing attack on Congress policymakers. The speech
shocked assembled Congress leaders, including senior Maharashtra Congressmen
Shankar Rao Chavan, Shivraj Patil, Sushilkumar Shinde as well as chief
minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and MPCC president Govindrao Adik. Though
the camp ended on August 27, the party has been extremely tightlipped about
the Gadgil outburst.
Sources, who took detailed
notes of Mr Gadgil's speech, revealed some of the things he had reportedly
said. The Asian Age contacted Mr Gadgil at his residence in New Delhi
where he confirmed all of what was revealed to this newspaper. According
to sources, Mr Gadgil said: "Every time the Shahi Imam makes a statement,
the party reacts as if God himself has spoken."
"Does minorities mean
only Muslims? What about Buddhists, Sikhs and others? When 36 Sikhs were
killed in Kashmir recently, not a single Congressman condoled their deaths.
In Jammu and Kashmir, there is not a single Buddhist working in the state
secretariat. The only Buddhist who was selected through the state
public service commission had to convert to Islam to secure a government
job," he went on to say. "The Congress is silent on this."
"While appeasing Muslims,
we should not forget Hindus who are a majority in this state," Mr Gadgil
added. During his speech, the senior leader also quoted from an article
in The Economist, which had stated that "Islam and democracy do not go
together." Quoting from the article, Mr Gadgil said a province in China,
which had a substantial Muslim population, wanted to break away and form
a separate nation.
Asked the reason for
this sudden outburst, Mr Gadgil said: "I have said this earlier.
Muslims constitute only 18 per cent of the voteshare. Even if all
of them vote for the Congress, the party will not return to power.
We cannot go on ignoring the sentiments of the other 82 per cent."
Asked if he was thinking
of parting ways with the Congress, Mr Gadgil replied in the negative.
"I was born a Congressman and will die as one. My father was the
first one who identified Nathuram Godse as Gandhiji's killer and avoided
communal riots where thousands of Muslims would have been killed.
I don't have to prove my secular credentials to anyone. I am only
cautioning the Congress against treating only the Muslims as a minority
at the cost of Hindus. It has got to do with sheer electoral arithmetic."
However, senior Congress
sources point out that Mr Gadgil is extremely peeved with Mrs Gandhi and
is a "willing dissident" who has lent support to the growing lobby against
her. His remarks about the Congress in Maharashtra are also a pointer
to this effect.
Mr Gadgil said: "The
Congress is on weak ground here, They themselves are to blame. They
have neglected the cooperative movement and local bodies and there is large-scale
corruption."
He added: "Six months
ago, there was a wave against the Shiv Sena and the BJP in Maharashtra.
That is no longer the case now. We have ourselves to blame." No Congressman
in the state was willing to go on record on the Gadgil outburst.
A senior general secretary, however, said, "He made those remarks at a
party forum, which is not unethical. His views have been taken note
of, though we do not necessarily agree with them."
Insiders point out that
the Karla outburst has jolted the Congress here and MPCC president Govindrao
Adik is expected to take up the matter with Mrs Gandhi shortly. The
outburst also assumes significance because it contradicts a massive pro-Muslim
campaign started by Mr Adik in Maharashtra.
