October 15, 1979, Forty Years Ago: Mill Strike Off

Prime Minister Charan Singh denied casteism charges levelled against him by Congress (I) and Janata leaders and said they themselves were perpetuating the division of society on the basis of birth. How could they accuse him of casteism when they preached a system which could not be got rid of except by change of religion, Singh asked while inaugurating the election campaign of the Lok Dal in Kaithal, Haryana. The PM offered to retire from politics if Indira Gandhi and the Janata Party leader, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accepted his thesis that only those would be allowed to enter government service who married outside their “biradari”.

Stop Immigrants

The Minister of State at the London home office, Timothy Raison, is visiting India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, this week to study how best he can control the inflow into Britain of those who claim that they have a right to come and stay here permanently as British citizens. Last week, at the Conservative Party annual convention at Blackpool, immigration became an emotive issue — the rightwingers vehemently demanded immediate stoppage of immigrants, especially South Asians, into Britain. They demanded that the “small” island of Britain be not overwhelmed by immigrants and that jobs be available to “our own people” only.