03-15-2005, 07:25 AM
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald...05/n15.asp
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Modi debates his way to glory
The chief minister tilted the scales in a debate on uniform civil code and emerged victorious.
KOLKATA, DHNS:
He had a stormy reception in this citadel of Marxists as hundreds of slogan-shouting demonstrators sought to hold him at bay as he tried to wind his way to the venue of the debate on Sunday evening.
Yet, much to the chagrin of the demonstrators, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his team emerged victorious in the debate where the motion was âTo be truly secular, India needs a uniform civil codeâ.
A different storm
Not that Mr Modiâs able competitors in Mani Shankar Aiyar, Salman Khursheed, Fali S Nariman and Syed Shahabuddin failed to perform; but aided and assisted by none other than Arun Jaitley, Vasundhara Raje and Seshadri Chari, Mr Modi managed to build up a different storm that evoked a spontaneous ovation from the audience replete with representatives of the cityâs elite.
Supporting the motion, the first salvo was fired by Mr Jaitley who wondered if the Hindu could shake off the shackles of deadwood like Sati and polygamy, what were the real impediments before the Muslim community to stick to Shariat regulations.
The former law minister of the BJP sank after Mr Aiyar questioned Mr Jaitley for doing nothing as a minister.
âHe (Jaitley) knew it was not possible and hence, Mr Ambedkar and others who framed the Indian Constitution were a far better breed than the BJP,â the Petroleum Minister countered.
âThe codeâ
Mr Chari who quoted from Tagoreâs verses to prove his point, made a retreat after Mr Nariman, the famous Constitutional expert, charged the saffron club with confusing between patriotism and the uniform civil code.
âThey (BJP leaders) will also seek to introduce uniform food practice, uniform language and a uniform dress code,â he said, leaving the audience in splits.
Ms Vasundhara Raje, the lone woman speaker on the panel, made a valiant attempt to highlight the gender bias in the religious laws and earned instant support from the crowd when she asked why the present society is doing little for those mothers who are only accused of killing the female embryo.
However, before Shahabuddin could turn menacing, the Gujarat chief minister began letting out âmissilesâ from his arsenal. <b>âSecularists swear by two mantras simultaneously â go for emotional blackmail of the minorities and abuse the Hindu as much as possible in the same breath. This takes you high, up on the ladder of secular domain,â was the first reaction from Mr Modi.</b>
Even as Mr Nariman who described himself as âneither a Hindu nor a Muslimâ but just âa poor fish in a shoal of political sharksâ, endeavoured to score some brownie points over Modi, the latter fired his final missile, flooring Salman Khursheed, Shahabuddin et al.
<b>âYou are visibly threatened by the prospect of a uniform civil code in India; but ask the same Muslim from India travelling to the United States and he is too aware of the fact that he must practise the civil code there and he accepts it without hesitation. Why?â â Mr Modiâs googly had his rivals clean-bowled.</b>
The motion, when put to vote, was carried with loud margin, courtesy Modi & Co. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Modi debates his way to glory
The chief minister tilted the scales in a debate on uniform civil code and emerged victorious.
KOLKATA, DHNS:
He had a stormy reception in this citadel of Marxists as hundreds of slogan-shouting demonstrators sought to hold him at bay as he tried to wind his way to the venue of the debate on Sunday evening.
Yet, much to the chagrin of the demonstrators, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his team emerged victorious in the debate where the motion was âTo be truly secular, India needs a uniform civil codeâ.
A different storm
Not that Mr Modiâs able competitors in Mani Shankar Aiyar, Salman Khursheed, Fali S Nariman and Syed Shahabuddin failed to perform; but aided and assisted by none other than Arun Jaitley, Vasundhara Raje and Seshadri Chari, Mr Modi managed to build up a different storm that evoked a spontaneous ovation from the audience replete with representatives of the cityâs elite.
Supporting the motion, the first salvo was fired by Mr Jaitley who wondered if the Hindu could shake off the shackles of deadwood like Sati and polygamy, what were the real impediments before the Muslim community to stick to Shariat regulations.
The former law minister of the BJP sank after Mr Aiyar questioned Mr Jaitley for doing nothing as a minister.
âHe (Jaitley) knew it was not possible and hence, Mr Ambedkar and others who framed the Indian Constitution were a far better breed than the BJP,â the Petroleum Minister countered.
âThe codeâ
Mr Chari who quoted from Tagoreâs verses to prove his point, made a retreat after Mr Nariman, the famous Constitutional expert, charged the saffron club with confusing between patriotism and the uniform civil code.
âThey (BJP leaders) will also seek to introduce uniform food practice, uniform language and a uniform dress code,â he said, leaving the audience in splits.
Ms Vasundhara Raje, the lone woman speaker on the panel, made a valiant attempt to highlight the gender bias in the religious laws and earned instant support from the crowd when she asked why the present society is doing little for those mothers who are only accused of killing the female embryo.
However, before Shahabuddin could turn menacing, the Gujarat chief minister began letting out âmissilesâ from his arsenal. <b>âSecularists swear by two mantras simultaneously â go for emotional blackmail of the minorities and abuse the Hindu as much as possible in the same breath. This takes you high, up on the ladder of secular domain,â was the first reaction from Mr Modi.</b>
Even as Mr Nariman who described himself as âneither a Hindu nor a Muslimâ but just âa poor fish in a shoal of political sharksâ, endeavoured to score some brownie points over Modi, the latter fired his final missile, flooring Salman Khursheed, Shahabuddin et al.
<b>âYou are visibly threatened by the prospect of a uniform civil code in India; but ask the same Muslim from India travelling to the United States and he is too aware of the fact that he must practise the civil code there and he accepts it without hesitation. Why?â â Mr Modiâs googly had his rivals clean-bowled.</b>
The motion, when put to vote, was carried with loud margin, courtesy Modi & Co. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->