[Reader-list] Brouhaha Over the Veil

[Tapas Ray]

ranjit t wrote:
 > It is really interesting that a debate on muslim women's veil has 
been < initiated a by a visibly lame lass of Hindutva who appear with her
< head covered with saree(very traditional and for the likings of
< Hindutva ideologues, no wonder she received cross votes!!)


I wonder what the Left parties have to say about this. Frankly, I have 
not followed these shameful developments as keenly as I probably should 
have, and now that I am trying through google, I can't find anything 
immediately ... maybe the Left had lost its voice from a cold when she 
made that veil speech ... maybe the media have been too polite 
(obsequious?) to ask hard questions.

But my google search wasn't in vain. It turned up another gem: the 
following story on HT, which has more amazing statements from Patil, 
such as "Dadiji ke shareer mein baba aye" and an equally amazing 
statement from Prakash Karat.

Tapas



......................................................................................
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=89853ce4-f855-45cc-b953-f2a1c0851a51&MatchID1=4500&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1122&MatchID2=4490&TeamID3=8&TeamID4=10&MatchType2=2&SeriesID2=1121&PrimaryID=4500&Headline=Pratibha+Patil+lands+in+another+controversy

Close on the heels of the veil controversy, UPA-Left Presidential 
nominee Pratibha Patil has kicked up another row having claimed that she 
had a "divine premonition" of greater responsibility coming her way 
after speaking to a late spiritual guru.

"I had a pleasant experience," Patil told a gathering in Mt Abu in 
February recounting her meeting with the head of Brahma Kumaris World 
Spritual University, Hridaymohini, also popularly known as 'dadiji'.

"Dadiji ke shareer mein baba aye," she said. Her reference was to Dada 
Lekhraj who founded Brahma Kumari sect. Lekhraj died in 1969.

Patil claimed the late Baba spoke to her indicating that she should be 
prepared to shoulder greater responsibility. "He also made me very 
lucky," she added.

The Congress and the CPI(M) downplayed the reports about Patil's divine 
premonition.

"She meets so many people. That does not mean that she does what all 
those people do," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told 
reporters at its headquarters.

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat spoke in similar vein saying the 
Left had never said that the Presidential candidate should be an athiest 
or a non-believer.

He went on to add that the Congress decided the candidate and not any 
'baba' (godman).

<snip>