The issue of nationalism continued to take the centre stage in the deliberations after party chief Amit Shah set the tone in his inaugural address on Saturday saying BJP will not tolerate any attack on the nation, with the dominant mood in BJP being to put the Congress in a corner on the issue. Though issues of government formation in Uttarakhand, where Congress government is facing rebellion in its ranks, and Jammu and Kashmir did not come up for discussion at the meet, Jaitley said the resolution emphasized the party's commitment to the 'agenda of governance' in J & K. Briefing the media on the resolution, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said "freedom of expression and nationalism do necessarily co-exist" and the Constitution gives full freedom for expressing dissent and disagreement, but not the country's destruction. Talks between BJP and PDP for reviving their coalition government in the J & K have fallen through but the saffron party has insisted that its doors are not shut on its former partner but it will have to stop putting more conditions. The issue of nationalism continued to take the centre stage in the deliberations after party chief Amit Shah set the tone in his inaugural address on Saturday saying the BJP will not tolerate any attack on the nation, with the dominant mood in the BJP being to put the Congress in a corner on the issue. "Our strength has risen a lot in Kerala," he said in a special mention of the southern state where it hopes to consolidate a share of Hindu votes to make its mark. Wooing Dalit voters who will be crucial in the UP assembly polls scheduled early next year, the resolution highlighted government's efforts like building memorials for Babasaheb Ambedkar in Maharashtra and London where he had stayed or how entrepreneurs belonging to weaker section being given loans under Mudra scheme to develop an "institution of Dalit entrepreneurs". The Finance Minister, a key party strategist, also targeted Congress over its political strength, saying the main opposition party has "lowered" its stature and was "content to be a tail ender of any alliance" in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Those who seek to break this political entity are posing a threat not only to the government at the top, but also to the rights and lives of the millions who form its base, and thus need to stopped and dealt with by the government through means that are consistent with ideals on which the nation is found. As far as I understand, it is into this category that the students who displayed support for terrorists and raised anti-India slogans fall, and that makes them clearly anti-national. Equally irresponsible and guilty are others who, in order to score political points against the present government, went to the extent of tagging themselves as anti-national and encouraged others to do the same. True to their claim, they indeed are anti-national, because through their actions they have sought to gain temporary political mileage (or viewership/readership in case of journalists and media houses) at the expense of the nation and the spirit of nationalism that binds it together. Though they may not be culpable under law, the people of India will do good to show them their place by democratically rejecting them along with their devious schemes. For any political observer who has followed the tactics used by the united opposition to hinder this government from doing their job, the motive for creating this controversy and blowing it out of proportion is not hard to see. With the budget session of the parliament set to begin, the opposition needs some new excuse to create a ruckus and prevent the passage of important bills that can set the nation back on a course of growth. With the debate raging on, the opposition which is focused only on creating hurdles in the path of the government, even if it means derailing the nation's progress, is making a wholehearted effort to show us the true meaning of the word anti-national. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the things they read (or watch, or listen to, or taste, or whatever). They're also entitled to express them online. Sometimes those opinions will be ones you don't like. Sometimes those opinions won't be very nice. The people expressing those may be (but are not always) assholes. However, if your solution to this "problem" is to vex, annoy, threaten or harass them, you are almost certainly a bigger asshole. You may also be twelve. You are not responsible for anyone else's actions or karma, but you are responsible for your own. So leave them alone and go about your own life."

- Aparna Tiwari

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