Rising communal temperature a worry

The national capital, which has largely remained peaceful ever since the demolition of the Babri Mosque in December 1992, is witnessing communal polarisation, of late.

Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's communal speech in West Delhi has come in the wake of a series of violent incidents, including communal riots in east Delhi's Trilokpuri in end-October, communal tension in the Bawana area in early November and the burning of a church in Dilshad Garden on Monday.

Observers fear that the increase in communal incidents has more to do with the forthcoming Assembly polls in the state for which all political parties have been campaigning ceaselessly.

Jyoti, a first-time MP from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, during one such election meeting, told the gathering that they should choose between a government by "children of Ram" and a government by "illegitimate children".

On Tuesday, Opposition MPs protested the inflammatory speech in the House, with both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha coming to a standstill. Jyoti though was unrepentant about her remarks initially. But she gave in and apologised after senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders disapproved of the comments by the minister.

But to add to the worsening communal tension was the incident of the burning of the church. Parish members alleged that the case was of arson and that somebody had deliberately set the church on fire. They also staged a protest outside the Police Headquarters.

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) team of MPs also visited the site. CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury and P Karunakaran alleged that police came to the spot only at 3 pm, though the church was burnt in the morning. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien also met community leaders and the Delhi Archbishop.

The BJP, however, contests insinuations by opposition parties. A BJP leader said the party was being maligned and communal incidents were being engineered to take away the focus from the Modi government's development agenda. "We had done well in Delhi in the Lok Sabha elections, winning all seven seats and securing a vote share of above 46 per cent. We will repeat that performance. It is our opponents who are frustrated at the erosion of their support base and resorting to such tactics," the leader said.

In the Upper House, Yechury led other opposition members to demand that an FIR be lodged against Jyoti and she be sacked.

Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned the blatant communal antics that the BJP was resorting to. Azad, who has been busy with campaigning in Kashmir, met party MPs to plan strategy. He indicated that the party would not let the matter die down.

At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi demanded to know why the PM was quiet about the inflammatory speech by Jyoti. Singhvi said PM by his silence was communicating to law enforcement agencies that they shouldn't take any action in such incidents.

BJP's M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajiv Pratap Rudy said Jyoti's remarks were regrettable. Naidu said the issue should be treated as closed, as she has apologised.