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Anti-Christian attacks intended to checkmate Sonia: V P Singh

Former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh has said the Sangh Parivar-sponsored attacks on Christians in Gujarat were intended to checkmate the emergence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the national political scene.

''But these desperate attempts will not cut ice with the people. Rather they would become counter-productive,'' he noted while addressing the media in New Delhi.

Singh maintained that the attacks gained ground after the Congress defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party in the latter's strongholds of Rajastan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. ''The competition among Christian missionaries and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to wean away the tribals of Gujarat could also have contributed to these attacks,'' he added.

The former prime minister said that, though Sonia is a practising Christian, she was not championing their cause in isolation. ''For the first time the Christians who have mingled with the national mainstream feel threatened and insecure. This does not augur well for the country,'' he observed.

He said the political situation in the country was ripe for the Congress to ''strike against'' the Union government lest anti-incumbency factor in the states where that party recently assumed power would overtake it and contribute to the consolidation of the BJP.

He envisaged the emergence of the Congress as a ruling party in the next Lok Sabha elections, adding that ''from a spell of Congress rule will emerge a third front''.

Stressing the need for the third front to maintain a separate identity, Singh said it should revert to the original plank of being opposed to both the BJP and the Congress. ''I feel the third force has got dissipated in the recent past. An extra effort is needed to revive it,'' he added.

In a sharp dig at the Rashriya Loktantrik Morcha for targeting the Congress, the former prime minister said that one cannot accuse the Congress for defeating the BJP in several states in the recent assembly elections.

He praised the Congress, particularly Sonia, for ''mature handling'' of the situation, especially the reluctance shown to form a coalition at the Centre with different allies.

''For the first time the party has evolved a social policy by reserving posts for deprived sections in the organisation,'' he said, adding that both in the selection of candidates and projection of a backward caste person as chief minister of Rajasthan, she has revealed her political sagacity.

He also supported the Congress contention that Hinduism would contribute to secularism. ''One should oppose only the regimented version of the religion by the Sangh Parivar.''

UNI

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