Centre communalising education: Karat

By Our Staff Reporter

KANHANAGAD, FEB. 5. The CPI(M) politburo member, Mr. Prakash Karat, has said that the Sangh Parivar is utilising the Vajpayee Government to communalise education, administration and culture in preparation for implementing their real agenda of establishing a `Hindu Rashtra'.

Inaugurating the eighth State conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) here today, Mr. Karat said the recent lifting of the ban on Government employees joining the RSS by the Gujarat Government and the earlier takeover by the RSS of the educational and research institutions such as the NCERT and the ICHR were indicative of the Sangh Parivar's design to divide the people on the basis of religion to saffronise the country. Christian and Muslim minorities in different parts of the country were under tremendous psychological pressure as RSS men were continuing to terrorise them, he said.

Stating that the BJP had retreated from its original idea of rewriting the Constitution in the face of strong opposition to it, he said the BJP's real plan was to tamper with the Constitution. Their idea of stability would destroy the parliamentary democracy in the country, he said. He accused the Congress(I) of not confronting the challenge of fighting the communal forces head on. While the Congress(I) and the BJP were behaving like twins as far as their economic policies were concerned, the former was opportunistic in their stand on secularism.

Instead of condemning the RSS-sponsored violence in the district, the Congress(I) leader, Mr. A. K. Antony, engaged himself in accusing the CPI(M) of indulging in political fascism. A senior Congress(I) leader, Ms. Meira Kumar, who was a CWC member till recently, was now negotiating with the BJP, he said adding that the party would continue to lose the support of the people, Mr. Karat said.

Reiterating the importance of a third alternative in the country, he said the National Democratic Alliance could not sustain itself along as it was an opportunistic alliance. Fissures in the NDA were already visible in Orissa and Bihar, he added.

The CPI(M) leader said the scheduled visit of the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, in March was a signal that the Vajpayee Government had come to a strategic understanding with the U.S. Administration.

The Government had already agreed to the U.S. demand for signing the CTBT and accepted the pressures to open up not only the Indian economy but also other spheres of Indian society. The BJP had promised to generate one crore employment, but the Vajapayee Government's policies would destroy the existing jobs, he said. The number of people below the poverty line increased by three per cent over the last 10 years of liberalisation, he added.

The DYFI State president, Mr. C. N. Mohanan, presided over the conference. The Electricity Minister, Mr. S. Sarma, the DYFI all- India president, Mr. N. N. Krishnadas, MP, the CPI(M) State secretariat member, Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Mr. T. Govindan, MP, were present.

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