Panthnirpekshta or Dharmanirpeshkta, Left ask government

New Delhi, Feb 23 (UNI) The Left parties today asked the Manmohan Singh government to take cognizance of the Hindi translation of the word 'secularism' used in the President's Address to Parliament, saying 'dharmanirpeshkta'( secularism) had been turned into 'panthnirpeshkta'(only Hindu religion).

Reminding the government that the very purpose of forming the United Progressive Alliance was to defend the country's secular edifice, they asked it to look into the matter to find out how the mistake had crept into such an important policy document of the government.

At a joint press conference convened to brief the media about the issues the Left proposed to raise during the Budget Session of Parliament, CPI(M) Parliamentary Group leader Sitaram Yechury said whether it was a 'bureaucratic' or the translator's mistake, it had to be corrected as Indian Republic was based on separation of religion from the state.

Explaining the meaning of 'panthnirpeshkta', Mr Yechury claimed that very connotation of the word was 'reflective of the pernicious philosophy' which means that there is only one religion in the country, that is Hinduism and all others are sects.

On developments in Uttar Pradesh, the Left leaders made it clear that after the announcement of the poll schedule for state Assembly, all questions relating to imposition of President's rule had now become redundant.

Mr Yechury and CPI Floor leader in the Lok Sabha Gurudas Dasgupta stuck to their respective position on electoral tactics and strategy for the polls there.

While Mr Yechury said his party's decision to go it alone in the UP polls was still valid, Mr Dasgupta said so was the case with his party. The CPI is in the Jan Morcha camp, floated by former Prime Minister V P Singh, supported by the RSP, Forward Bloc and Lok Janshakti Party among others.

UNI