The Great Indian Political Debate - 2

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->BJP tells PM to wind up Sachar Committee
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
The Pioneer
July 21, 2006

Muslim headcount will communalise judiciary, says Arun Jaitley ---- Taking
strong exception to the headcount of members of the Muslim community in the
judiciary, the BJP on Thursday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to wind up
the Justice Rajindar Sachar Committee.

"The Sachar Committee is on a path of national destruction. The Prime Minister,
who constituted the committee, must accept this reality and wind up the Sachar
Committee, a product of the perverse mindset," BJP general secretary Arun
Jaitley said on Thursday. 

The Sachar Committee had started a Muslim headcount in the armed forces but was
forced to abandon the exercise midway in face of fierce media criticism.

Asserting that the Sachar Committee was a product of a perverse mindset, Jaitley
said, "The committee tried to destroy the professionalism of the Indian Armed
Forces by seeking to communalise them. The public opinion and political
opposition prevented the Government and the Sachar Committee from proceeding on
a suicidal path."

"Having failed to communalise the Army, the Committee is now making attempts to
communalise the judiciary. At this rate, a situation would arise when the
litigants might ask for the judges of his caste or religion to hear the cases,"
Jaitley added.

With the UPA Government already under attack from the BJP for indulging in
minority appeasement, the Muslim headcount in the judiciary has given fresh
ammunition to the Opposition to target its gun at the Centre.

Jaitley said that a judge owes his commitment to law and law alone. "His
religion is a matter of his personal belief. His religious belief does not
dictate his interpretation of law. If religious representation was introduced
as a criterion for judicial appointment, it would embolden religious identities
in the discharge of judicial functions," he said.

Asking if the Sachar Committee was under the belief that the judicial
polarisation on the basis of religion would serve India best, Jaitley said: "If
the Sachar Committee has its way, litigants of a particular religion would be
more comfortable before a judge of that religion. Would the engagement of
lawyers be also on the basis of their religious denomination."

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