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Defending an icon

It is nothing less than a national disgrace that no one holding office either in New Delhi or Gujarat today…

Defending an icon

Amit Shah (Photo: Twitter)

It is nothing less than a national disgrace that no one holding office either in New Delhi or Gujarat today ~ little need to dwell on the authority overlap ~ thought it honourable or appropriate to refute the allegation from a BJP leader that the celebrated “Milkman of India”, Dr Verghese Kurien, diverted the funds of milk cooperatives for conversions to Christianity.

True that as his innings drew to its close there was some criticism of the man who was deemed a prime mover of the White Revolution, but does the silence of Mr Narendra Modi and Amit Shah ~ both of whom have first-hand experience of Dr Kurien’s essay ~ actually endorse the allegations of Dileep Sanghani, a former minister of the Gujarat government? It has become customary for the BJP leadership to opt for cowardly silence when any of its legions of loudmouths make provocative statements against rival politicians, or play the religious card, but surely the accomplishments of Dr Kurien demand better? Or is it the BJP’s case that every member of a minority community is anti-national and merits denigration? Maybe KJ Alphons is best-posited to answer that query ~ thus far he has kept his lips sealed on the Kurien charge.

The “milk community” is presently celebrating the 97th birth anniversary of Dr Kurien so it was with malice aforethought that the BJP man levelled his charges ~ compounding his crime by saying that what Kurien had done was known years back but he had not raised the issue when the Congress was in power. If so, that is craven.

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Now he mustered the courage to hit out on two fronts: the Congress and Christians. Maybe Sanghani is too petty a “leader” to whip up a storm in Opposition ranks, but his comments have invited sharp rebuke from Nirmala Kurien ~ she had to defend her father against vicious calumny, pointing out that Dr Kurien had been an atheist. Not that such facts come in the way of the anti-minority tirades of some within the BJP.

Should the Christians in Mizoram make Sanghani’s comments an election issue the BJP would be certain to cry “sedition” and seek to polarise the electorate there. Yet the larger question arises about the place of minority communities in the scheme of things being crafted by the Modi-Shah duo. The Muslims have had it tough for years, but with Rahul Gandhi opting far a soft-Hindutva line Christians are also getting apprehensive.

After all, Verghese Kurien’s contribution was never perceived from a religious angle and if the BJP is diffident about speaking out about his professionalism and dedication to a hitherto neglected section of society, there would be expected to be non-political forces to correct a sinister misrepresentation. Or have they all lost the moral courage to “speak up”?

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