Chennai, September 17
For the first time the Bharatiya Janata Party today attacked the Islamic system of issuing “fatwas” and charged the United People’s alliance (UPA) Government with minority appeasement that has emboldened reactionary clerics into issuing edicts which violate the dignity and human rights of Muslim women.
In its political resolution, passed during the second day of its three-day national executive meeting here, the BJP stated: “The fatwas are aimed at intimidating women and imposing a regressive social agenda on the entire community. The politics of fatwas is dangerous for Muslim women and Indian society. They complement the move to establish parallel courts and extra-judicial bodies.”
Under a sub-heading titled “Minorityism and vote bank politics” the resolution charged the UPA government with obsession of vote bank politics which has predictably degenerated into minorityism.
It alleged, “The Congress and its allies have revived religion-based quotas that nurtured Muslim separatism and led to the creation of Pakistan.” The resolution said that reservation for
Muslims as had been done in Aligarh Muslim University and by the Andhra Pradesh government violated the criterion for reservations that were settled by the founding fathers of the Constitution.
The BJP alleged a surreptitious attempt to introduce Islamic Banking and Islamic Company Law and described it as “preposterous”.
Addressing the media BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj cited the case of Imrana, the housewife allegedly raped by her father-in-law, who was asked by Muslim clerics to
“treat her husband as her brother and live with her father-in-law”.
Talking about the “fatwas” she also mentioned that
Muslim clerics were now issuing “fatwas” on Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza and trying to impose a dress code on her.
She said, “All political parties are remaining silent on this issue and as long as there will be no uniform civil code this will continue.”
The political resolution demanded that the Central Government take stern action against all “fatwas”, extra-judicial tribunals and religious courts and pending a uniform civil code, the personal laws of all communities must correspond to prevailing ethical norms and uphold gender justice.
Severely
criticising the functioning of the UPA government it stated, “Born out of expediency, it is a victim of multiple centers of power. There is the overriding veto of the UPA Chairperson and her coterie, the strategic veto of the Left parties, and the blackmail of the tainted Ministers. Presiding over this fractious combination is a Prime Minister who does not
wield authority even in his own Cabinet.”
The BJP came down heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and alleged that it was because of his resultant disorientation that he violated all accepted norms surrounding separation of domestic politics from international relations by criticizing Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee before the US President.
Replying to questions Ms. Swaraj denied that there were any squabbles within the party but refused to disclose whether there were differences over the political resolutions.
Asked whether party President Mr. L. K. Advani would step down in December, she replied: “I have no knowledge” but following persistent queries she remarked: “How can I say? He can step down tomorrow, he can step down in December. At this juncture I can say that I have no knowledge of any such plans.”
The party also passed a economic resolution and in its usual style claimed that the economy of the country had deteriorated during the UPA regime and claimed that the economic growth rate during the last year of the NDA regime was 8.4 percent which had now dropped to 6.9 percent.
It took at a dig at Left Parties which were disinvesting public sector undertakings and bringing in foreign direct investments in West Bengal but opposing it at the Centre.
