The most blatant manifestation of the pursuit of the communal agenda has been the campaign whipped up by the Saffron Brigade against the visit of the Pope. It is, in fact not so strange that on the one hand Mr. Vajpayee's government accords hospitality to the Pope as the State Guest and, on the other hand, the Saffron Brigade mounts a relentless offensive against this visit. Such is the diabolic character of this government. The argument put forward by the Saffron brigade is, indeed, specious. The Pope, we are told, should `apologise' for the so-called `conversions' that had taken place centuries ago. Apart from the ludicrousness of such a demand, it needs to be recalled that Christianity entered India in the first century of its birth, much much before the institution of the Pope was established in the Vatican. In any case, such 'apologies' for past history just does not make any sense. Should the Buddha or his representatives now apologise for, say, the conversion of Baba Sahib Ambedkar and his followers to Buddhism?

The campaign, obviously, is not to `correct historical wrongs'. It is directly aimed at continuing to spread hatred against the Christian community which began in the earlier Vajpayee dispensation with the brutal murder of Graham Staines. It is on the basis of such spread of communal poison and the consequent polarisation that the Saffron Brigade seeks to strengthen its political objective of remaining in control over State power. The Chandrababu Naidus, Karunanidhis and Mamata Banerjees will now have to answer the people as to how they are propping up such a blatantly communal dispensation that undermines the very foundations of India's secular democratic Constitution.

During the course of these two weeks, there is yet another not so hidden agenda that is surfacing. This relates to the total subservience of the Vajpayee government to US imperialism. During the course of the campaign itself, we had warned that the Vajpayee government's policies and conduct was best suited to advance imperialist interests in India.

A development that must shock every self-respecting Indian relates to reports that the notorious US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is pressurising India to allow it to open an office in our country. Reports reveals that 139 Indian agents have already been recruited by the FBI. The Vajpayee government is, therefore, guilty of allowing defacto a foreign investigation agency the right to operate from India and, thus, expose our country to its vile machinations. This is a direct onslaught on our sovereignty and self-respect.

Reports also suggests that US President, Bill Clinton, has written a letter to Prime Minister, Vajpayee, outlining the US vision for future cooperation with India. This was handed over by the US Secretary of Energy personally to the Prime Minister. While the contents of the letter are being kept secret, it is learnt that the US is pressurising India to begin immediate negotiations for a global Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), strengthen its export controls, restrain India's missile programmes and adhere to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) (The Hindu, October 27, 1999).

The Vajpayee government's proclivity to succumb to US pressures was eminently visible during the last innings. This time around in its eagerness to urge US President Clinton to visit India, the Vajpayee government is all set to accept these conditions, thus again putting India's interests and sovereignty in jeopardy.

No self-respecting Indian can allow the Vajpayee government to betray the country and suck up to US imperialism. Unless all these issues are discussed openly, transparently and threadbare within the Parliament and amongst the people, the Vajpayee government cannot accept these US conditionalities in return for President Clinton's visit.