No 'enemies' within

The Congress was forced to withdraw the Enemy Property Bill this monsoon session for lack of consensus but it is not short of suggestions for the process of redrafting a law that seeks to make the government the sole arbitrator of such assets in place of the courts. The Bill has antagonised the Muslim community since it focuses on the property left behind by those who migrated to Pakistan after Partition. Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who is strongly opposed to the new Bill anyway, has suggested changing the name altogether. “It was called the Defence of India Act after the Chinese aggression. Then it was changed to Enemy Property Act after the war with Pakistan. I suggest restoring the original name,” he recently said at an informal gathering of reporters. The implication being that the new title would not suggest that Muslims are India’s “enemies”.