Parivar to go ahead with Orissa bandh on Dec 25

Debabrata Mohanty
Posted: Dec 17, 2008 at 0022 hrs IST

Bhubaneswar: Unperturbed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s reiteration that he would not allow Orissa bandh by the Sangh Parivar on December 25, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Sradhanjali Samiti on Tuesday said it would go ahead with its earlier announcement as the state Government had failed to nab the killers and conspirators behind the killing of Saraswati.

On Monday, Naveen told the Orissa Assembly that the state Government would not permit the statewide shutdown on Christmas called by the Sangh Parivar. “No shutdown will be permitted on December 25. The Government will come down heavily on those who try to create any trouble,” the Chief Minister said. The police have already arrested seven persons, including four on Sunday, in connection with the killing of Saraswati.


The Samiti came down heavily on Naveen for his “pro-Church attitude” and warned him with dire consequences as the anger of tribal Kandhs was rising. “We had set a deadline of December 15. The state Government has failed to nab the killers and conspirators. So, we have decided to go ahead with the bandh call,” Samiti president Ratnakar Chaini told reporters.
“The bandh would be observed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. From 5.30 to 5.40 in the morning, people across Orissa would ring bells to wake up the state Government, which is in deep slumber.”

Chaini alleged that the state Government had so far arrested more than 800 Hindus in connection with the communal violence while it could nab only seven persons in connection with the murder case.

Meanwhile, a BJP legislator has alleged that one of the 10 accused arrested for the alleged rape of a nun in Kandhamal was blind. read it all

I studied in missionary school; I am secular: Advani

Shillong, Sept 29: Seen as the face of hardline Hindutva, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Monday said he was "very much a secular man" and his party stood for peaceful co-existence of all religious groups. "I studied in a Christian missionary school and I am very much a secular man," a BJP spokesperson quoted Advani as saying during a close-door meeting he had with religious leaders here. Representatives from Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and tribal organizations participated in the meet that was aimed at clarifying the saffron party's stand on the attacks on Christians, churches and prayer halls in Orissa and Karnataka. Quoting the BJP leader, BJP MP, Kiren Rijiju said that "religious sentiment should not precede national interest. India is a secular country and no section of the society should be neglected. "In Orissa, untouchability among the Hindus and a simmering discontent among the lower strata have drawn people to other religions. Social acceptance is a big dilemma there," the BJP leader said.   Read more

BJP starts helpline to guide investors

PTI | New Delhi Posted online: Sep. 03, 2008

The BJP on Wednesday launched a helpline, using which an investor can take advice and suggestions from experts on banking, share market, real estate, stock market and insurance.

The helpline would immensely benefit small investors and guide them to choose the right investment model, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitely said after launching the helpline.

The investor helpline will be open on the second and fourth Friday of every month, convener of the investor cell Arun Singh said.

Experts of insurance and stock market have said that the helpline is a timely and useful step when the investment rate has increased from 25 per cent in 2000 to 33 per cent at present in the country.  Read more

The Amarnath land transfer row, Intelligentia and BJP

Saffron brigade dividing Hindus, Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir (Commentary)
August 23rd, 2008 - 12:11 pm ICT by IANS - Email This Post Email This Post

The Amarnath land transfer row has come as a godsend to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was looking for an emotive issue after the Ayodhya temple movement fizzled out. The party now hopes to recapture the mood of the “awakening” of Hindus, which was associated with Ayodhya, to consolidate its position in the run-up to the next round of assembly elections.However, there is a catch. The BJP’s encouragement of the temple issue came to be associated with communal tension and riots in the early 1990s. That was why the party decided to shelve the matter in 1996 so as not to antagonise its “secular” allies like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), the Telugu Desam and others.
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The matter has been further complicated by the call for Kashmir’s “azadi” (freedom) given not only by maverick leftist social activist and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy but also by well-known media personalities like Vir Sanghvi and Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar.

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Rajamohan Gandhi also aired views similar to Roy and others