20 SOCIAL SCIENTIST the line of unity with the Left. This, in fact, is the one redeeming feature of the entire political situation. This description of the political situation in the country would be incomplete if we do not touch upon the attempts being made by the BJP to embellish itself as a "secular" party dedicated to the cause of "Gandhian Socialism" and trying to take the country along a path which is "opposed to capitalism as well as Communism". Several well meaning individuals and groups in the democratic political parties are likely to be, and are in fact being, taken in by this new posture of the BJP leadership. It is, therefore, necessary to briefly outline where this party stands in relation to various burning issues. On communalism, the BJP does not recognize the very existence of such a problem. "The British policy of divide and rule" was, according to this party, "primarily responsible for introducing the communal virus in the body politic" and "the same was continued by the ruling Congress leaders during the post-independence era. Mrs. Gandhi's brand of sccularisim is the root cause of disunity and distrust among various sections of the Indian people".3 On protection of minorities, the Bombay convention denied the need for any such protection. Rejecting an amendment suggesting protection of minorities, the mover of the resolution at the convention said: "Minorities arc no second class citizens and have equal rights as the majority community. The use of the terms majority and minority should be avoided," On Urdu, the same mover said at the convention that his party "favours the prosperity of all Indian languages, including Urdu. The special favour shown by the Bihar Government to Urdu providing it the status of second language was a political gimmick." On the foreign police question, BJP is frankly anti-Soviet and repeats all the slanders against the Soviet Union. It has not a single word to say against American imperialism. On economic question, it demands full facilities for the private sector to compete with the public sector; reduction in direct taxes on the rich; replacement of sales tax by the additional excise and so on—every one of them demanded by the big business. Its package of economic policies does not include the demand for any procurement measure which alone will enable the government to get physical possession of stocks through which the public distribution system can be supplied. A clear indication of the landlord-wholesaler bias of the party.