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Anti-Christian attacks dominate CWC meet

George Iype in New Delhi

Attacks against Christians in Gujarat and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's failure to provide protection to minorities across the country dominated the deliberations of the apex Congress Working Committee in New Delhi on Saturday.

The four-hour meeting chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi reviewed the political situation in the country, specifically discussed atrocities against minorities like Christians and Muslims and adopted a resolution on the communal disturbances.

However, the CWC did not take up for discussion any plans for dislodging the 10-month-old Vajpayee government even though a section of senior leaders have been advocating the formation of a Congress-led coalition at the Centre.

The meeting also debated how the party leadership should go ahead with the crucial follow-up programmes of its Pachmarhi declaration and the constitutional changes adopted by the All-India Congress Committee following the Kunnoth Karunakaran committee report.

Troubles in the party in Orissa under Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik was also informally discussed. "But Orissa is not our concern. Our concern is states like Gujarat and Karnataka where communal flare-ups have considerably increased after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power at the Centre," CWC member Ghulam Nabi Azad told Rediff On The NeT.

"Minorities are being threatened in all parts of the country and it is shameful and shocking that the Vajpayee government is turning its attention away from communal disturbances like the increasing attacks against Christians in Gujarat," he said.

Most of the CWC members who spoke during the meeting felt the party should take up the Vajpayee government's failure to protect minorities as a major issue during the Budget session of Parliament next month. "It seems the BJP government is deliberately permitting the Sangh Parivar to whip up a communal frenzy in the country in the name of Hindutva," senior CWC member Madhavrao Scindia told Rediff On The NeT.

"We don't want an Ayodhya-like situation in the country. It is time the Vajpayee government made a national pledge that it will rein in the Sangh outfits who are bent upon creating communal disturbances in the country," he said.

Sonia's decision to reserve 33 per cent posts for women in the party also came up for debate during the CWC meeting and most members urged the party president to get cracking on these crucial changes as early as possible.

Though the CWC is dominated by male politicians, no one in the apex policy-making body gave the hint that they are frightened of the prospect of being dropped from it when Sonia starts re-organising the party and implements 33 per cent reservation for women.

"No senior Congress leader wants to discuss the issue in party fora because being in the good books of Sonia is the best method to remain in committees like the CWC," a Congress official remarked.

Sonia, who spoke about her plans to induct more women into the key party committees by March, did not explain to the CWC members her strategy of how to go about it: whether she would sack the members or expand the committees.

At present, for instance, the 18-member CWC includes just two women -- Sonia herself and Meira Kumar. The CWC also has three permanent and two special invitees, all men -- Sitaram Kesri, Karunakaran, Motilal Vora, Madhavsinh Solanki and Vithal Gadgil.

While the CWC unanimously entrusted the party president with the task of revamping the organisational structure by inducting more women, it also authorised Sonia to launch a series of women's uplift programmes especially in the rural areas.

Senior CWC member Rajesh Pilot said, "A new-look Congress party will emerge in 1999. The Congress constitution is being amended and reservation to women members in key party posts will be the Congress rule soon."

"Soniaji's priority now is not to somehow form a government at the Centre. She is in the process of re-building the party. But we are waiting for the coalition partners of the Bharatiya Janata Party government to desert the prime minister to make our future plans," Pilot told Rediff On The NeT.

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