Furore in LS over Mahajan's remark

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 5. As the Opposition in the Lok Sabha again raised the issue of continuing attacks on Christians today, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, touched off a furore with his remark that in many such cases, the National Commission of Minorities (NCM) had found that there was no communal angle.

He said that while it was the Government's responsibility to protect the minorities, all such incidents should not be turned into a ``minority-majority'' issue. Many of the incidents raised by members were actually cases of ``atrocities against citizens of the country and not aimed at minorities.'' This theme was later elaborated by other BJP members, who accused the Opposition of politicising innocuous incidents and raising the communal temperature.

Mr. Mahajan's remark, even though prefaced by the acknowledgement that the Union as well as State Governments had a constitutional obligation to protect minorities, had the Opposition on its feet. The Congress(I) member, Mr. Priyaranjan Das Munshi, said the Minister had questioned the ``bonafides'' of the members and recalled that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, had himself expressed concern over the attacks and promised to look into them.

Mr. Das Munshi, supported by several of his partymen and the Kerala Congress leader, Mr. P.C.Thomas, demanded that the Government place the NCM's report on the table of the House. Since Mr. Mahajan had cast doubt on the credibility of the members, they had a right to see the report which, according to him, had held that the attacks on Christian missionaries were not of a communal nature.

Mr. Mahajan, however, did not react and simply shook his head when the Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi, asked him if he wanted to say anything.

Even as the Opposition was protesting, a BJP backbencher, Mr. Kharabela Swain, quoted a newspaper report which said that at least three cases of alleged atrocities against Christians had no communal motive. He appealed to the Opposition ``with folded hands'' not to generalise all incidents or give them a communal colour.

Earlier, Mr. Mahajan was involved in an angry exchange with the former Prime Minister, Mr. ChandraShekhar, when the latter suggested that the Government clear the air to avoid giving the impression that it had failed to protect the minorities. He pointed out that almost every day, members were raising the issue of attacks on Christians and a Congress(I) member had made certain allegations about anti-Sikh activities in Punjab. He said if such charges went unchallenged, it would send out wrong signals.

The controversy erupted as soon as the zero hour began with the Congress(I) and Kerala Congress members drawing attention to a newspaper report on another attack on a convent in Uttar Pradesh - this time in Jhansi.

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