 Stay Order
Delhi: The RSS headquarters at Jhandewalan in Delhi is in a
fix. The reason: a request from Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to exert pressure on
the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Foreign Office to grant her a visa, allowing her
to stay in India for a while. Taslima, who had a fatwa issued against her by Muslim
organisations following the publication of her controversial book Lajja, has been calling
influential RSS leaders from Paris, where she currently resides, pleading that as she
"is not a practising Muslim", she should be allowed to stay in the country. One
RSS leader she spoke to was reportedly enraged at her logic and told her she should not
add to the prime minister's already overflowing list of woes. "It's better that you
stay in Paris," he bluntly told her. Ringing Broke
Hyderabad: Ministers in the N. Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet have
literally taken to the dictum, "Follow thy leader". If Naidu acquires a new
gizmo, they too want it. The latest to have caught their fancy is the mobile handset that
their chief uses. Problem is all of them want the same model and each costs in excess of
Rs 65,000. Add to that the Rs 6,000 that the Government spends on the phone bills of each
minister and you know why Andhra Pradesh is going broke.
Breach of Protocol
Delhi: As former president of the Republic, R.
Venkataraman knows a lot about protocol. It was therefore no surprise that at a lunch
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee hosted for visiting US President Bill Clinton,
Venkataraman found it odd the guests had to queue up to meet Clinton. The norm is that the
prime minister takes his guest around for introduction. The former president didn't
appreciate the breach of protocol. So he simply didn't join the queue.
Lest We Forget
Bangalore: For politicians attempting a comeback, there is no
better weapon than a political rally. So it was with H.D. Deve Gowda who organised a
farmers' rally in Mysore last week. A Doordarshan crew recorded the event but the item did
not figure in any of the news bulletins. Deve Gowda then called up Information and
Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley and a clip was shown on the third day. Better late than
never.
CONFESSIONAL
Left parties stayed away from Parliament's Central Hall during
US President Bill Clinton's address. CPI(M) Politburo member Prakash Karat explains why.
Why did your party boycott the function?
A. It was not an official boycott. Clinton addressed MPs in the Central Hall, so it
was like a public meeting. We asked our MPs to stay away and work on the anti-imperialism
campaign.
The Congress has criticised you, saying it smacked of
lack of grace.
A. That is the view of one leader. Anyway, I do not expect everyone to think like us.
Don't you feel the Left is in splendid isolation?
A. We are getting a lot of support. Let Clinton go and the dust settle, the support
will grow. The RJD also boycotted the function.
Do you think the Clinton visit will have a positive impact on Indo-Pak relations?
A. After the 1998 nuclear tests, the US has become the only arbiter for Indo-Pak
nuclear equations. It is talking to us on not only whether we should have nuclear tests
but how much fissile material we can stock. The Vajpayee Government's servile policy had
made us dependent on the US.
-Sumit Mitra
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