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Jaya goes hammer and tongs at HRD minister

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham supremo J Jayalalitha today castigated the human resources development ministry at the Centre for attempting to push through a sectarian agenda at the education ministers' conference in New Delhi yesterday and wondered whether HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi receives directives and inspiration from sources other than the prime minister.

Jayalalitha's strongly-worded statement, however, did not directly say that Dr Joshi's agenda was RSS-inspired.

She, however, noted that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seemed alive to legitimate questions and implications of the move going by his inaugural speech in which he emphasised his government's secular values. However, the HRD minister seemed to be intent on 'steering the ship of state in a diametrically opposite direction', she said

Jayalalitha declared that her party, a senior constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition at the Centre, was not in agreement with any proposal which will "erode and undermine the secular character of the Constitution and traditional values cherished by India".

It was regrettable that the ministry attempted to 'sneak' the agenda through in spite of stiff opposition from various state governments and political parties.

The BJP should realise that the criticism that it did not have the mandate to push through its controversial agenda was not entirely devoid of merit, she said.

Controversial issues do not figure in the national agenda for governance adopted by the coalition and they have been put on the backburner, she pointed out.

The 'fiasco' could have been avoided had the ministry stuck to the national agenda or had the proposal been discussed in the coordination committee of the ruling coalition.

UNI

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