Politics continues to hurt Karnataka. First it was the unnatural Congress-JD(S) alliance desperately holding on to power. Now it’s BJP’s Yediyurappa without ministers 17 days after becoming CM. Meanwhile, flooded areas in the state are crying for attention. The BJP must go beyond projecting power and start delivering good governance.
Chidambaram branding Modi govt’s Article 370 move as communal is a self-goal
Congress leader P. Chidambaram has scored a self-goal by criticising the government’s Article 370 move. Even as several Congress leaders are cautiously supporting it, he has given it a communal colour. It shows, once again, that the fallback tactic of many in Congress is to brand everything BJP does as communal.
A gifted communicator can craft his message to navigate a minefield without things blowing up. However, when it comes to Kashmir, religious identity is something that no one can deny or ignore. The accession was inconsistent with the basic principle that guided all such moves. That cast a duty of magnanimity and statesmanship, to make the experiment succeed. Many reasonable people believe Article 370, along with Article 35 A, was a necessary part of the compact. With so much that is good about India – the Supreme Court, the Election Commission – being gradually applied to the state, this old shibboleth of abrogation ought to have lost its traction. 2. Had this move come at a time of exceptional social harmony in India, the religious aspect would not have felt so intrusive. Instead, when Muslims all over the country feel a sense of weightlessness in public life, as a column earlier today pointed out, this issue finds support amongst Indian Muslims in a way it did not earlier. 3. We can only pray for calm to return to Kashmir, based on reconciliation. Not sure if any useful purpose will be served by holding an Investors’ Conference in October. Given how tensions are building up with the neighbour, geopolitical risk might become a deterrent factor for investment in the rest of the country as well.