The Hindu : Front Page : BJP wants abrogation of Art. 370, uniform civil code on agenda

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Monday, Jun 02, 2008
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BJP wants abrogation of Art. 370, uniform civil code on agenda

Neena Vyas

Rajnath Singh promises to bring back POTA if BJP is voted to power at Centre

NEW DELHI: With its confidence reinforced by the Karnataka victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a clear signal that it wants to bring back on its active agenda the old Hindutva issues of implementing a uniform civil code and abrogating Article 370 that confers a special status on Jammu and Kashmir.

Onwards to the ramparts of the Red Fort was the target spelt out by BJP president Rajnath Singh in his address to delegates on the opening day of a two-day meeting of the national executive committee here on Sunday.

He was confident and optimistic, pointing out that the BJP had now become the biggest national party as it ruled seven States covering 200 Lok Sabha seats.

The party had an ongoing ambitious organisational plan to put into place booth-level committees covering the entire country and it was the frontrunner for the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Singh said.

Ironically, while expressing confidence that the general election would see octogenarian L.K. Advani in the prime ministerial chair, Mr. Singh also said the BJP must become a “conduit for change” and the “party of the youth.” The party should see how the youth can be made to see the BJP as their own party.

Illegal immigrants

He referred to the party’s decision to give women one-third representation in all party positions and said the time had come to empower women.

On the tabling of the Women’s Reservation Bill by the United Progressive Alliance government, Mr. Singh gave the credit to the BJP, saying it was the result of the BJP “building pressure” on the government.

The BJP demanded that a special session of Parliament be called to discuss the agrarian crisis and a national consensus evolved through an all-party meeting on how to deal with illegal immigrants. It promised to bring back the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) or a similar law if it came back to power at the Centre.

Addressing party delegates, Mr. Singh suggested that the word secularism should be translated into Hindi only as ‘panth nirpeksh’ — being neutral to different religious denominations — rather than ‘dharma nirpeksh,’ being indifferent to religion. India’s secularism was not indifferent to religion or ‘dharma’ itself.

There was a suggestion in this that the BJP’s definition of secularism was the correct one as opposed to the way in which the Congress and other parties interpreted it. However, Mr. Singh admitted that even in the Constitution the word secularism was translated as ‘panth nirpeksh’ although in common usage the word became ‘dharma nirpeksh.’

While Mr. Singh’s speech began with the Karnataka victory — Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa later thanked all those who made this possible — the violent incidents in Rajasthan were referred to in brief as “unfortunate.”

Mr. Singh said they had “shocked” the country and he advised everyone to “exercise restraint.”

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