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Opposition demands ban on Bajrang Dal
Following the Union Government`s decision to ban the Students Islamic Movement of India, opposition parties have stepped up their demand to proscribe fundamentalist Hindu groups like the Bajrang Dal as well.
Following the Union Government's decision to ban the Students Islamic Movement of India, opposition parties have stepped up their demand to proscribe fundamentalist Hindu groups like the Bajrang Dal as well.
Sensing that the ban on SIMI was more of a political decision than one guided by security, leading opposition parties led by the Congress said on Friday that the Bajrang Dal was an equally rabid militant group and ought to be banned.
"Look at the timing of the ban on SIMI. The Vajpayee government claims it clamped down on SIMI following its links with militant groups following the terrorist attacks on the United States. But actually it is just politics that is behind the ban," Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said. "We feel that by banning SIMI, the Vajpayee government is trying to communalise the political situation in Uttar Pradesh," Yechuri said.
"If the ban on SIMI is lawful, then the government should immediately ban the Bajrang Dal, which often organises militant meetings across the country," he added.
The ban on SIMI has stirred up the communal cauldron in Uttar Pradesh, which is heading for assembly elections. Bharatiya Janata Party politicians admitted that the ban would help them immensely in the politically volatile state.
"We have been losing our grip on the Hindu community over the last five years. Now we will endear ourselves to the majority community," one of them pointed out.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said that in the name of the terrorist attacks on the US, the Vajpayee government had taken a 'politically wrong decision' to 'communalise' the situation in Uttar Pradesh on the eve of elections. "The BJP has always proved to be an anti-minority party. But it is their own organisations like the Bajrang Dal that terrorise people more than SIMI. So I want to tell the BJP to ban the Hindutva militant forces first," Singh said.
The Congress, however, finds itself in a fix, because its own governments in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had been demanding a ban on SIMI.
"But we doubt the Vajpayee government's motives behind the ban," Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy, Member of Parliament, said.
"It is a politically motivated decision. The government should have consulted the opposition parties on the issue before taking such a sensitive decision," he said.
Bureau Report
"Look at the timing of the ban on SIMI. The Vajpayee government claims it clamped down on SIMI following its links with militant groups following the terrorist attacks on the United States. But actually it is just politics that is behind the ban," Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said. "We feel that by banning SIMI, the Vajpayee government is trying to communalise the political situation in Uttar Pradesh," Yechuri said.
"If the ban on SIMI is lawful, then the government should immediately ban the Bajrang Dal, which often organises militant meetings across the country," he added.
The ban on SIMI has stirred up the communal cauldron in Uttar Pradesh, which is heading for assembly elections. Bharatiya Janata Party politicians admitted that the ban would help them immensely in the politically volatile state.
"We have been losing our grip on the Hindu community over the last five years. Now we will endear ourselves to the majority community," one of them pointed out.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said that in the name of the terrorist attacks on the US, the Vajpayee government had taken a 'politically wrong decision' to 'communalise' the situation in Uttar Pradesh on the eve of elections. "The BJP has always proved to be an anti-minority party. But it is their own organisations like the Bajrang Dal that terrorise people more than SIMI. So I want to tell the BJP to ban the Hindutva militant forces first," Singh said.
The Congress, however, finds itself in a fix, because its own governments in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had been demanding a ban on SIMI.
"But we doubt the Vajpayee government's motives behind the ban," Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy, Member of Parliament, said.
"It is a politically motivated decision. The government should have consulted the opposition parties on the issue before taking such a sensitive decision," he said.
Bureau Report