A Secular State
The character of history, whether it is Ancient, Medieval or Modern, cannot be changed overnight or after every few years as has been decided by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) under the ruling dispensation at Delhi. India is a secular state and NOT a Hindu State.
It is not only dangerous but also suicidal to abolish the Mughal period from the curricular of education.
Mughal Emperor Akbar was not only secular but also promoted Hindu scriptures. The attempts to abolish the Mughal period should have been made after denouncing India as a secular state and declaring it as a Hindu state.
- Datta
Kolkata, West Bengal
I Fully Agree with You
I invite your kind attention to the signed editorial under the heading “Are Indian Muslims Enjoying Equal Rights?” vide Radiance of 29 April 2023. You have shown the mirror to the honourable Union FM Ms. Sitaraman with facts and figures. I do not agree with her statement which she made at Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE) at all. She has misguided the foreign media by giving false information.
Respected editor Saheb, as an Indian Muslim, I fully agree with you and NOT with our honourable FM.
Farooq AbdulgafarBawani
Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Pre-Poll Alliance
As the parliamentary election in India is coming nigh, the political parties have chalked out different plans and strategies to win the election. BJP, one of the major political parties in India believing in Hindutva ideology and aiming to turn India from secular state into a Hindu state, evermore resorts to communal politics to win any election. In fact, it does not need secular votes but engineers divisions among secular political parties to win the election. It was seen in the last some assembly and parliamentary elections that the divisions of secular votes had greatly assisted the BJP to capture power in some states and at centre.
Buoyed with the decision taken by the Election Commission of India to accord the status of national political party to Aam Admi Party (AAP), it is now contemplating to independently contest the parliamentary election in Assam though it has not so far gained much popularity in the state needed to win the election. I think, it is most probably to divide and spoil the secular votes especially between Congress and AAP and pave the way for BJP for securing majority seats in the state. In the assembly election of Assam in 2017, the Congress could not form government in the state as it marginally lost as many as 26 seats to the BJP because of divisions of secular votes mainly between Congress and AIUDF led by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal. Consequently, the BJP came to power in the state even if the percentage of votes secured by it was less than that of secular political parties in the state.
So, it is the need of hour that the secular political parties get united and form a pre-poll alliance and accordingly contest and try to win the parliamentary election 2024 with absolute majority.
Muhammad Abdus Samad
Dhupdhara, Assam
Operation Kaveri to Evacuate 500 Citizens from Sudan
India has launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan. About 500 Indians stranded in this African country have reached Port Sudan. India, on April 23, announced that Air Force C-130J are on standby in Jeddah and INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan to evacuate its nationals.
More than 150 people from various nations reached Saudi Arabia on April 22, in the first announced evacuation of civilians. Other than Saudis, it had nationals from 12 other countries, including India. The three Indians evacuated by Saudi Arabia were crew members of the Saudi Arabian airline that was shot at as the fighting began on the ground last week. On April 24, France evacuated 388 people from 28 countries, including Indian nationals.
We hope and pray all the Indians stranded in the battle-torn country return here safely.
Ashfaque Ahmed
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh