New Book Release: Time To Put Down Critics ?

New Delhi, May 15 (UNI) Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh today obliquely put down his critics from Indian National Congress ranks by praising a staunch government critic for speaking his own mind.

Singh's remarks came at the release of a book titled Vichararth written by onetime socialist activist Raghu Thakur and published by the Nagpur-based Lohia Study Centre.

A target of political barbs over the past week or so from some of senior Congress functionaries, Singh praised the author as someone who speaks his own mind-- not others, as many today are wont to do.

The remark was interpreted as a reference to some of his critics within the Congress party.

Opposition to India's World Trade agreement and the currently stalled nuclear deal with the United States are among the highlights of the book which compiles 47 essays on contemporary issues.

The author paints the World Trade Organisation as a sort of Ravan-- a hydraheaded monster which must be rid of totally.

''Chopping off any one head of it would be futile.'' The book described the stalled nuclear deal as ''a version' of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which India always rejected despite US pressure, citing its unequal dispensation and her own concerns over sovereignty and independence.

The essays are written in Hindi.

The book attacks misgovernance in many areas-- including judiciary-- and faults government handling of agricultural policies and practices and the farmers' suicides.

UNI MJ RP BD2022