bjp-l-digest Friday, September 12 1997 Volume 01 : Number 379
***************************************************************************
News, Opinion, Analysis and Publications Digest
Today's Topics
-------------
Mark Tully pulls out all stops for Hindutva
BJP may opt for elections in UP
Chargesheet won't affect Kalyan Singh's chances: BJP
***************************************************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Mark Tully pulls out all stops for Hindutva
Author: Bishwanath Ghosh
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: August 27, 1997
The BJP has found a new advocate in Mr Mark Tully, the former BBC
correspondent, who feels that Indian civilisation has a Hindu base to it
and that Hindus should proclaim their identity with pride.
The party is so thrilled with one of India's famous foreigners endorsing
its line that it has devoted seven pages to Mr Tully's views in a recent
issue of its mouthpiece, BJP Today.
The former BBC correspondent has expressed these views while addressing the
National Hindu Students Forum in Britain. "I believe that Indian has to
have some way of expressing its respect for its own civilisation and
accepting the fact, and I have said this publicly many times before, that
it is, and you can argue, whether there is such a thing as Hinduism or not,
scholars will always argue but most Indians feel that there is a Hindu base
to this civilisation," says Mr Tully, who has authored several books
including No Full Stops in India.
Mr Tully is considered by many in the BJP as more Indian than Indians, and
they are extremely happy that the well-known foreign journalist has
expressed such an opinion at a time when "many educated Indians were wary
of endorsing BJP's Hindutva philosophy."
Mr Tully even comes to the rescue of the BJP: "As soon as you talk about
Hinduism in Bharat, you are immediately, and I have had this said to me
many times, been accused of or told that you are BJP or RSS or something
like that. Now in my view the BJP is a political party.
"But I do profoundly believe that India needs to be able to say with pride,
'Yes, our civilisation has a Hindu base to it.' And for Hindus to be able
to say with pride that they are Hindus."
Mr Tully says he was aware that this was the slogan of the RSS in some
places, but he still believed that it was "right and proper" for both these
things becoming part of India's life.
He opined that the genius of Hinduism, and the very reason of its survival
for so long, was that it does not stand up and fight.
"It changes and adapts and modernises and its absorbs and that is the
scientific and proper way of going about it as well.
Why is Christianity in so much trouble at the moment? Because it is so
difficult for it to adapt," says the celebrated television journalist.
Saying that Hinduism would prove to be the religion of the next Millenium,
Mr Tully added it should be proud that there are 125 million Muslims, who
can do namaaz whenever they like, and that there are Christians who rejoice
that St. Thomas probably came to India and 20 million of whom flood to the
churches.
------------------------------
Date: September 11, 1997
Source: Rediff on the Net
UP, Babri force BJP to think of polls
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership feels the best way
of ending the Uttar Pradesh impasse is to go in for
elections.
The conclusion seems to be driven by the twin crises
plaguing the party -- the controversy over the state
assembly speaker issue and Special Judge J P
Srivastava's decision to frame criminal charges against
several party leaders including party president Lal
Kishinchand Advani in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
A senior party leader pointed out that legal luminaries
were studying the special judge's decision.
As the view that the party is thinking of elections to
wriggle out of the present crisis gained ground, former
prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the Ayodhya
issue has been deliberately rekindled, thanks to a
conspiracy hatched by the Centre.
Party vice-president Krishna Lal Sharma, however, said,
''If the Ayodhya issue is raked up again, the advantage
will certainly go to the BJP. The people know that the
other parties are ganging up against the BJP.''
Significantly, the BJP central leadership has already
asked its Uttar Pradesh unit to file within 10 days a
report on the public mood on the Ayodhya issue.
A Supreme Court advocate, closely identified with the
BJP, said the timing of the chargesheet was
''self-explanatory''. It does not need a genius to
figure out that the Centre "had hatched a conspiracy
against the BJP to put it in the dock," he said. would
seek legal redressal in higher courts.
Referring to the Election Commission's recent order
barring convicted persons from contesting elections, the
advocate pointed out that such crucial decisions
indicate that there was a well-thought-out plan to hound
the BJP. But this too could be challenged in court, he
said, adding that legal experts in the party were
engaged in taking care of such matters.
------------------------------
Date: September 11, 1997
Source: The Pioneer
Chargesheet won't affect Kalyan's chances: BJP
Pioneer News Service/Mumbai
Senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan said on Wednesday that the
Babri Masjid demolition chargesheet should not come in the
way of Mr Kalyan Singh becoming the next Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh.
"The chargesheet to be filed against him (Mr Singh) is
purely of political nature and has nothing to do with
corruption. That being the case, nothing prevents Mr Singh
from taking over the reins of Uttar Pradesh from Ms
Mayawati," Mr Mahajan said.
He said Mr Singh's case could not be compared with that of
former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, for whose
dismissal the BJP had made a vehement demand.
"Mr laloo Yadav's is a case of corruption, whereas the
chargesheet sought to be filed against Mr Singh is a
fallout of the consequences of a satyagraha undertaken by
the BJP," Mr Mahajan said.
------------------------------
End of bjp-l-digest V1 #379
***************************