*Hijab judgment
The judgment of the Karnataka High Court in the hijab issue is disappointing to say the least. Going by the way the proceedings were moving, it was obvious that the government order banning the hijab would be upheld. If the hijab could be banned, so too should other religious symbols.
The question is not whether a hijab is an essential part of Muslim religion or not, but whether such a decision against wearing of the hijab, which is essentially identified with Muslims, captures the constitutional spirit of a healthy society. The judgment has the potential to create a divisive society. It does not strengthen the constitutional principles of secularism, religious tolerance and a free society. The judgment lacks constitutional statesmanship to say the least. These are all the fallouts of a majoritarian government not founded on strong constitutional principles but on narrow considerations of religion. We are fast becoming a theocratic state.
N.G.R. Prasad,
Chennai
Shape up or ship out
As part of a party organisational clean-up, the interim president of the Indian National Congress has made the five PCC presidents resign after the poll rout in five States. If the PCC presidents are made to resign, the same yardstick should be applied to even the first family given how they ‘took charge’. Back in 2016, in his article in this daily, “A Kamaraj Plan for our times”, Gopalkrishna Gandhi had suggested: “If the Congress president and our Prime Minister were to re-deploy a dozen or more ministers for party work and replace them with a new generation of ministers with competence and credit, a new confidence and enthusiasm could emerge in the party and the government and, by extension, in the country, making it better placed to face the unwelcome and the unexpected.” The Congress failed to take note of this wise suggestion. The article added: “Kamaraj proposed, in 1963, to Prime Minister Nehru that all senior Congress leaders holding ministerial office resign and take up party work...” The Congress is now out of power and it is easy to go in for a ‘Kamaraj Plan-2022’. It should, among other things, revitalise the party with new and young faces who senior leaders can support over the next two years when they should be ready to face the government of the day and its tall leader.
If Congress leaders sacrificed their positions of power in the 1960s, why cannot the present lot go in for such a move?
N. Nagarajan,
Secunderabad
The Congress’s lack of planning and its abject failure for years to nurture its cadre to create a robust base are the causes for its present plight. The ‘family’ factor too cannot be ignored. It is easy to launch a new political party and succeed in the long run like the Aam Aadmi Party, but it is almost an impossibility to be back in the reckoning after a continuous spell of poor showing.
V. Lakshmanan,
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
It is amusing that the Congress is even trying to save itself by taking cosmetic steps. The Gandhi siblings have been unable to hold on to even the so-called family pocket boroughs, in Amethi and Rae Bareli. They have not even made an attempt to show that they can usher in change and development there; if they allege that they face obstacles, they should fight hard to overcome these. One has to listen to the speeches of the BJP Minister who won in Amethi to know the extent of the neglect under the Congress. Let the Gandhis first try and do some good work in small and even unheard of constituencies before launching ‘grand plans’ to win State elections. ‘Think small first and do it well before even daring to think big’, would be my advice to the Congress.
S. Subramanian,
Bengaluru
The moves within the Congress are too little too late. What is glaring, however, is that no action is apparently being contemplated against the AICC chiefs in charge of the States concerned. The Gandhi siblings were also responsible for the changes in Punjab. Why should ‘lesser mortals’ face the music? A Congress Working Committee packed with sycophants and hangers-on can hardly be trusted to ensure real reform.
C.V. Aravind,
Bengaluru
