Bangaru Laxman’s statements remind me of the statements of Parvez Musharraf. Musharraf says he wants a peaceful dialogue with India. At the same time, he is sending terrorists to Kashmir. BJP says they want to have interaction, dialogue etc. with Muslims. On the other hand, they are destroying, looting their property, burning their houses, in Gujarat.
Pakistan says we have nothing to do with extremism in Kashmir. Similiarly, the BJP says we have nothing to do with what VHP, Bajrang Dal says. Should we listen to Laxman or to Kalraj Mishra, Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Pravin Togadia? Ultimately the BJP has to make a choice. So long as they keep their relations with these fellows, how can they expect Muslims to take them seriously.
I think we should respond to Bangaru Laxman’s statements the same way that the Indian government responds to Musharraf’s statements. We have justifiably have told Musharraf that no dialogue is possible until his deeds match his words. As long as Pakistan continues supporting terrorism, there is no point in talking to Pakistan because it shows they are not really interested in dialogue. We should treat Laxman’s statements similarly. We should treat all fundamentalists on par; we should not communicate either with Musharraf or with the BJP.
Archived from Communalism Combat, September 2000 Year 8 No. 62, Cover Story 5