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Indian news has been abuzz with the meeting of Ved Pratap Vaidik with an internationally wanted Pakistani terrorist, Hafiz Saeed, while on a private trip to Pakistan. Much has been spoken on the rather unsavoury subject over the past few days, especially on the news channels. The Government of India, under fire from opposition, has tersely disassociated itself from the meeting. The embarrassment of the government is compounded by the fact that even though Vaidik holds no political office, he is known to be ideologically associated with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Experts feel that the kind of attention that the issue is getting is unwarranted. It is best to put the matter at rest but not before comprehensively listing the lesson learnt. 

While the Indian press is going overboard in decrying the meeting, the Pakistan media is having a time of its life. It is giving out “structured inputs” that portray India as rigid and dogmatic in its approach towards Kashmir. and is portraying Saeed as a maligned innocent in the entire incident. 

Saeed addresses peace congregations and speaks of brotherhood while eloquently articulating the active participation of JuD in relief and assistance to victims of natural disasters, internal displacements and other calamities. Significantly, he also leads the anti-India assault of fundamentalists in Pakistan, especially through the Urdu press. The focus is unmistakably to create an environment of hatred on religious grounds. 

In his capacity of being a journalist, albeit semi-retired and out of the mainstream, Vaidik has the right to meet all persons across the spectrum that he is engaged with. One, however, wonders as to how he could control his revulsion while coming face to face with a person like Hafiz Saeed who harbours so much venom against his country. The justification for the meeting that he is now presenting and the outcome that he is talking about is something that the nation is finding rather difficult to digest. 

PEOPLE'S DEMOCRACYThe revised list of business for the Rajya Sabha for July 16, 2014 was circulated in a printed form, as is the practice, before the proceedings for the day began. This listed a short duration discussion on this issue [ the Israeli armed attacks on the Palestinian Gaza strip] soon after the question hour that ends at 12 noon. The circulation of this printed list of business can never take place without the prior consent of the government through the minister for parliamentary affairs. However, at the appointed time, the government through the minister for external affairs and other senior ministers sought the postponement of this discussion... This is unprecedented. Once the list of business is circulated, it becomes the property of the house and no one can change its order, including the government. 

It is clear that the BJP government has changed its mind after the revised list of business was circulated. In this connection, the minister for parliamentary affairs, according to media reports, ruled out any resolution to condemn Israeli raids in the Gaza strip saying, “domestic politics should not affect our foreign policy”. He said the matter is “highly sensitive” concerning foreign policy and “any move by the government should not have any implications”. This led to a uproar with members of Parliament referring this and questioning what `implications’ was the minister talking about.

Arguments were also advanced by the BJP that since India has 'good relations’ with both Palestine and Israel, Parliament should not discuss this issue. This is a completely untenable logic. India officially has good relations with Sri Lanka, but this has not prevented Parliament from periodically discussing the issue of the plight of the Indian fishermen in the waters separating India and Sri Lanka. India has diplomatic relations with Pakistan, but repeatedly that country is discussed in connection with threats to our security and cross-border terrorism. 

Far from raising India’s voice in international fora in solidarity with the Palestinian right to their homeland, this BJP government appears bending over backwards in seeking to please Israel and its patron, the US.