[Reader-list] An Appeal on the eve of Forthcoming Elections

[Venugopalan K M]

I like to endorse this appeal in letter and spirit.
Thanks,
Venu.

On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 2:38 PM, M Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com> wrote:
> An Appeal on the eve of Forthcoming Elections
>
> In recent months and years, we have seen the true face of the BJP and Shiv Sena.
> First, the nation was shocked to discover that a whole string of terrorist
> attacks, some of which had previously been attributed to jihadi groups, had been
> committed by Hindutva terrorists. This came to light during investigations into
> the Malegaon blast of September 2008 led by ATS Chief Hemant Karkare. The
> perpetrators included Hindu religious figures like Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur and
> Dayanand Pandey, retired military officers, and serving military officer Lt.Col.
> Srikant Purohit. Instead of denouncing the culprits and demanding that they
> should be punished, BJP and Shiv Sena leaders launched a hate campaign against
> the brave and honest police officer who was carrying out the investigations,
> Hemant Karkare!
>
> Then there were the attacks on Christians in Kandhamal and Karnataka. The
> attacks in Kandhamal in particular went on for months, and even today the
> communities who have been ethnically cleansed have not been able to go back.
> This would not have been possible without collusion from the state governments:
> a BJP ally in one case, the BJP itself in the other. In Karnataka, this was
> followed by brutal attacks on young women which shocked the nation when they
> were caught on camera. They were carried out by the same Sri Ram Sene which had
> attacked churches and Christians, and in one case resulted in the suicide of a
> young girl. These people have correctly been described as ‘the Taliban of
> India,’ due to their violent efforts to enforce their intolerant and
> narrow-minded version of a religion and culture. As usual, the BJP spoke in two
> tongues about these attacks. But actions speak louder than words. The fact that
> such attacks could take place in a BJP-ruled
> state without any action being taken against the criminals showed that the
> party was hand-in-glove with them.
>
> The latest scandal is the hate speech of Varun Gandhi. It is clear for anyone
> who has brains that he actually spoke the words on the tape, and is only
> claiming that they were doctored so that he can get away with his criminal
> words, knowing that legal action against him cannot be completed before the
> elections. Maneka Gandhi made a shameless attempt to start a communal riot by
> alleging that a Muslim police officer was responsible for the firing when he was
> not even present, and alleged ‘genocide’ when not a single person was
> killed! It just shows that Varun learned his communalism as well as his habit of
> lying from his mother. Again, the BJP has supported him. Why should we be
> surprised? Their Prime Ministerial candidate, L.K.Advani, used the same kind of
> language in the build-up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 and the
> horrific anti-Muslim massacres which followed. Narendra Modi, who is widely seen
> as the BJP’s future Prime
> Ministerial candidate, used the same language to whip up hatred against Muslims
> after the Godhra tragedy in 2002, resulting in the shameful mass rapes and
> murders that followed in Gujarat.
>
> The BJP’s method of ‘fighting terrorism’ is well illustrated in
> Chhattisgarh. In the name of fighting Maoist terrorists, the BJP state
> government there has set up an illegal paramilitary organisation, Salwa Judum,
> which is engaged in raping and killing innocent women, men and children, burning
> their houses, evicting them from their villages, and putting them into prison
> camps where they are deprived of their freedom. The state government has put
> Binayak Sen, a doctor who has dedicated his life to providing health care to
> poor people, in jail for almost two years, simply because he protested against
> this brutal treatment of the villagers. In the name of fighting terrorism, the
> state itself is engaged in terrorism!
>
> The BJP aims to divide the country, and thus to destroy it. They have no
> positive programme to offer: only hatred and violence.
>
> We are very lucky they were not in power when the terrorist attacks on Mumbai
> took place on 26 November last year. What would their reponse have been? In the
> name of being ‘tough on terror,’ they would have bombed Pakistan. By now we
> would have been in the middle of a war. The economy would have collapsed, and
> security would have fallen drastically, as Pakistani terrorist groups targeted
> India even more. In India, money for employment programmes, infrastructure,
> health care, education and welfare, which ought to be increased, would have
> fallen still further as more funds were put into the military effort. Worst of
> all, the civilian government in Pakistan might have fallen, giving way to
> extremist groups, and a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would be on
> the cards, destroying millions of lives of both sides of the border.
>
> We simply cannot afford to have such a party in power in our country: one which
> stands for Talibanisation, intolerance, divisiveness, militarism and war.
> Therefore we must make sure they do not come to power in the up-coming
> elections.
>
> We appeal to all the citizens that we must defeat the communal forces,
> BJP and it allies.
>
> All India Secular Forum
>
> (sent by Ram Punyani)
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