Praful Bidwai

04.07.06 Hear Praful Bidwai, the great secularist. [Here’s what Praful Bidwai, the Frontline columnist, had to say in the vein of secularism.] The party’s (BJP’s) gut-level instincts remain deeply Islamophobic and hawkish on questions of security.An instance is Mr Vinay Katiyar’s offer of a Rs 1 lakh reward to anyone who kills a terrorist in Kashmir. This was no different from Uttar Pradesh minister, Mr Yaqoob Qureshi’s offer to anyone who kills the Danish cartoonists who insulted Prophet Mohammed. [Only an avowedly Marxist Islamist like Praful Bidwai can say that Katiyar’s sentiments and Qureshi’s sentiments are alike. Katiyar’s was a sentiment of nationalistic frevour whereas Qureshi’s was a display of Islamic intolerance. While the former mindset will strengthen India, the later will destroy India – as it did partially in the creation of Pakistan.] It must be condemned equally strongly.