The Tribune, October 9, 2008
No consensus on Bajrang Dal ban
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 8
The marathon meeting of the union cabinet today failed to arrive on any consensus on the controversial issue of banning the Bajrang Dal ahead of Assembly and general elections.
The issue came up for heated discussion when the Cabinet reassembled at 8 pm but did not end conclusively, with some members questioning its feasibility and legal standing. The Cabinet, however, decided to send a ministerial delegation to Orissa, even as home minister Shivraj Patil told the members that his ministry was in process of gathering evidence for banning the Bajrang Dal.
Meanwhile, sources told The Tribune that there was lot of discussion in the Cabinet on the practicability of imposing a ban on the Bajrang Dal, which has been on the forefront of anti-Christian violence in Orissa. Such a ban would have to be ultimately enforced by the state and the state’s role in this regard is crucial, sources said. It was on this ground that some members questioned feasibility of the ban.
Although the UPA allies, including the RJD, the LJP and the SP have been very vocal about their demand to ban the Bajrang Dal and the Congress, too, today pitched for similar action, saying there was enough evidence to proceed, a decision in this matter is likely to be advanced at least till the National Integration Council (NIC) meets. The idea, UPA sources said, is to not politically jostle the BJP at this time but to isolate it on a broader platform.
Moreover, sources said the matter regarding banning an extremist organisation needed not come to the Cabinet at all. Such a ban can simply be enforced through notification by the centre.
The government, however, feels the need to raise the issue at the NIC first, said sources, adding that the NIC is a 103-member forum of union ministers, Chief Ministers, political leaders, heads of national commissions and eminent public figures, and can be used to gauge broader opinion of the intelligentsia on sensitive matters.
The NIC is meeting here on October 13 to discuss ways of fighting divisiveness in the country. Orissa violence will feature in discussions, so will the matter of banning the Bajrang Dal and imposition of Article 356.
Also, discussions in the Cabinet today on the imposition of Article 356 in Orissa remained inconclusive. Senior Cabinet members like external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar were absent from the meeting, which, sources said, was another reason why vital decisions on Orissa could not be taken.
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