The Hindu Business Line : Antulay’s shenanigans

The Congress, perhaps, continues to live under denial and delusion that the attempt by Mr Antulay to give a different spin to the Mumbai tragedy will get it a rich harvest of Muslim votes, says RASHEEDA BHAGAT.

The Union Minority Affairs Minister, Mr A. R. Antulay… Irresponsible behaviour.

A needless controversy has now been triggered by the mindless comments of the Union Minority Affairs Minister, Mr A. R. Antulay, who chose to express his anguish over the untimely death of the Maharasthra Anti Terror Squad chief, Hemant Karkare, in a bizarre way.

The Congress Minister, who is supposed to have always acted for the welfare of the minorities, did himself, his party, his government and his post — NOT Indian Muslims — a disservice when he wondered aloud at the manner in which the ATS chief and two of his best officers got killed when they rushed off to take on the Mumbai terrorists on November 26.

Not Indian Muslims, because even though Mr Antulay might be a Muslim, by no means does he represent the views of the entire Indian Muslim community. At best, he might represent the lunatic fringe that every community has, and which lives in perpetual denial, as does our neighbour Pakistan!

And, hence, the entire country watched aghast as the Minister demanded an investigation into who had asked Mr Karkare to rush off in that manner, particularly in the backdrop of his investigation of Hindu activists like Sadhvi Pragya; a serving Army officer Major Purohit and a self-styled swami, as suspects in the Malegaon blasts.

As the Congress party dissociated itself from Mr Antulay’s comments — barring an odd Digvijay Singh finding no fault in the Minister seeking a probe into the matter — the former has put in his papers, but his resignation is yet to be accepted.

Perhaps, the Congress continues to live under denial and delusion that this last ditch attempt by Mr Antulay to give a different spin to the Mumbai tragedy will get it a rich harvest of Muslim votes.

If the Mumbai massacre could not deliver States such as Delhi and Rajasthan to the BJP despite its nth hour campaigning on the UPA government having converted India into a “soft” State vulnerable to terrorist attacks, the Minority Affairs’ Minister’s shenanigans is not going to hoodwink the minority community either.

Pakistan’s denial

As expected, many voices in the shamefully-exposed Pakistani government, as also its media and civil society, found Mr Antulay’s comments the desperately required bit of straw to cling on to. And we had homilies on how an Indian minister himself was implying that the Mumbai terror was stage-managed by India’s intelligence agencies, and more drivel like that. As Pakistan and its people sought to absolve themselves of the mass murder in Mumbai, they conveniently forgot that international media, as well as the Pakistani media itself, had written enough and more about Ajmal Kasab, his home, parents, etc in Faridkot in Pakistan.

And by no stretch of imagination was Kasab, the only terrorist to be captured alive thanks to raw courage displayed by a couple of Mumbai’s cops armed with nothing more than lathis, a Hindu fanatic. And he was singing, on last count, to none less than the FBI!

But an incredible fallout of Mr Antulay’s ridiculous comments — perhaps he was seeking his two minutes of fame on TV channels, along with votes, of course, from Muslims — is glee in the extremist sections of the saffron brigade which claims that these comments have embarrassed Indian Muslims.

One fails to understand the logic behind this reasoning. Since when has Mr Antulay, a discredited politician charged with corruption and one of little stature, who has been accommodated in the UPA government perhaps for his past services to the Congress top brass, become an undisputed leader of Indian Muslims? Surely, the Muslim community regards Mr Antulay as somebody who comes in handy for our political classes when it is time for head-count on how many members a particular community has in a committee, a forum, or in this case, the Central government.

Akin to a Shahnawaz Khan or a Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi coming in handy to the BJP when it comes to making a show of some Muslim names! And such leaders too do not shirk away from playing the clown’s role in times of extreme stress. So in the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai carnage, as the entire nation mourned the victims and blamed politicians for failing to provide security to Indian citizens, the latter provided his own bit of embarrassment to the BJP by talking nonsense about how women wearing make-up and lipstick were coming out to light candles in memory of the dead. The BJP leaders were quick to disown his comments.

Beyond buffoonery

So each party, like a pack of cards, has its own share of jokers. But, of course, when that politician is a Cabinet Minister, his statements go much beyond buffoonery. For acting as irresponsibly as he has, Mr Antulay should be sent packing from the Cabinet at the earliest even though he did a flip-flop on Tuesday.

The sooner our politicians realise that there are some issues that are beyond the realm of vote banks, the better for them. Attempts to harvest votes from the blood and tears of people, as by feeding on their fears and insecurities, is a heinous offence which deserves punishment. But even as the nation pays homage to Karkare’s memory, one’s respect for his wife Kavita Karkare goes up as she continues to refuse to play to the gallery and pressure from the media to come out with a strident attack on politicians who had questioned her dead husband’s integrity while probing the Malegaon blasts.

At first, she turned down an award of Rs 1 crore from the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, not an easy decision to make for any middle-class person.

In the odd muted interview she has given, she has refused to discuss politicians, even while admitting that it would be an uphill task for her and her children to come to terms with his loss. The least we in the media can do is to leave her alone in her moment of immense personal tragedy.

Bleak times

As for our response to recurring terror attacks, at the moment, the UPA government is being hailed, even by its critics in the Opposition, for pushing in at breakneck speed legislation that will give unmitigated powers to the government and police to investigate acts of terror.

The new law envisages detention of suspects for 180 days, something that an eminent jurist like Mr Soli Sorabjee has found objectionable. No prices for guessing who will be at the brunt of such legislation, where the police will have abundant power to beat into shape any “suspect”.

Mr Sorabjee wrote in a column that about 300 real estate agents, at a recent meet in Surat, had decided they would not sell or rent any property to Muslims. So the discrimination against Muslims in Gujarat continues, and might only become worse in the coming days.

But, then, it is not only the Indian Muslims who are at the receiving end. The traumatised Christians in certain parts of Orissa will be celebrating Christmas on Thursday with caveats that come only in war zones. Despite the Orissa Government’s assurances, some churches in Kandhamal district have been asked to skip midnight Christmas mass. So Indians are victims of terrorism inflicted in various forms.

And the best tribute that the Maharashtra Government can pay Hemant Karkare is by announcing that the Malegaon probe, which he was carrying on without fear or favour, will not be put on the backburner. For after all, haven’t we heard often enough the BJP mantra — “Justice for all, appeasement to none”?

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)

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