Author: Balbir K Punj
Publication: South Asia Analysis
Group
Date: June 6, 2003
Greenhorn as she is in the wonderland
of Indian politics, Ms Sonia Gandhi has the added disadvantage of having
been born and brought up in an alien land and culture. No wonder most of
the time she is still a 'reader' and not a 'leader' and frequently underscores
the sad reality (through her words and silence as well) that she is yet
to mature and strike roots in the Indian tradition. Her faux pas outside
Rashtrapati Bhavan when she claimed a majority after the fall of the Atal
Bihari Vajpayee Government in 1999 is still fresh in the mind. Also the
fact she could resort to slander, such as in Guwahati last August when
she said "the Prime Minister has lost his mental balance".
The lady can also resort to distortion
of palpable realities as she recently did in Srinagar. Her Congress ka
haath may arguably be garib ke saath, but her valedictory speech at the
Chief Ministers' conclave clearly showed where Congress ka heart lies.
Her prickly utterances against nationalistic organisations like the RSS
and Saraswati Shishu Mandirs show that it lies with jihadis and Islamic
fascists threatening the peace of not only India but her country of origin,
Italy, as well.
In her "crush the Sangh" call to
the faithfuls, Ms Gandhi has spoken of an "effective ideological counter
to the Saraswati Shishu Mandirs (SSMs) where the seeds of bigotry are first
planted in young and impressionable minds". Given her domicile status,
one would have expected her to develop some sensibility, if not sensitivity,
towards India and Hindus, but she fails us miserably. Unfortunately, the
fault lies with none else but those who -steeped in colonial obsequiousness-
have surrendered their rationality, conscience and dignity at the feet
of creeds, ideologies and leaders of alien origin, and control the levers
of powers in the country's establishment and English media.
Did Ms Gandhi have one critical
word for madrasas, the hate-industries mushrooming along the India-Nepal,
India-Pakistan (Rajasthan) and Indo-Bangla borders? Probably she lacked
the guts to take on Islamic terrorism, standing in the heart of Srinagar.
This was the place where, in 1989-1990, loudspeakers were installed atop
every mosque blurting messages for Hindus to leave the Valley or pay the
price with their lives. These were not hollow threats and have been executed
all across the Valley. Its latest manifestation was the Nadimarg massacre
in Pulwama district on March 23, underscoring the jihadi message that Hindus
would not be tolerated in Kashmir.
Some people have methods in their
madness, while others have plans in their forgetfulness. Was Ms Gandhi's
forgetfulness with regard to the plight of Kashmiri Pandits deliberate?
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya had at least publicly
voiced his concern about the 'anti-national and disruptive activities'
going on in 'some' illegal madrasas in February last year before his 'secular'
party comrades and a massive Jamait-e-Ulema-e-Hind rally in Kolkata forced
him to develop cold feet. But Ms Gandhi is immune to any criticism from
partymembers, owing to her dynastic background and the sycophant's mindset
of her flock.
Ms Gandhi vouches for the 'fact'
the Congress's 'hand' is with the poor, and she demands special reservation
in fields of education and employment. Obviously, the hounded-out and displaced
Kashmiri Hindus don't qualify as poor-so they should be left out without
a helping hand like a foundling! Their houses and commercial properties
in Kashmir have been taken over or forced to be disposed at a paltry price.
No Congressman has ever asked for special compassionate treatment for the
Kashmiri Pandits. Mr Balasaheb Thackeray did, and the Shiv Sena- BJP Government
had extended special quotas in medical/engineering and other colleges for
them.
So while Ms Gandhi warned against
a 'Gujarat-like experiment', it is clear that she is not against a 'Kashmir-like
experiment' of Hindu minority-cleansing, leaving the Pandits with little
hope of returning ever. Did you ever hear Ms Gandhi open her mouth about
the dastardly slaughter of eight Hindu fishermen in Marad? On May 2, in
southern State of Kerala ruled by a Congress-led coalition -which ironically
includes the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)- these fishermen were hacked
down in bid to cleanse the coastline of Hindus, already a minority in that
area. The Pioneer was one of the first newspapers to report this brazen
incident.
It is significant to note that incidents
of communal violence, especially those involving the Islamic extremist
group, the National Development Front (NDF), are on the rise ever since
the UDF came to power in Kerala in 2001. The IUML Minister Kunkalikutty
has a high profile presence in the coalition Government. He is alleged
to have pressured Chief Minister AK Anthony to get the Coimbatore bomb
blast accused, Abdul Nazzer Madhani, released. He is also alleged to be
maintaining ties with Muslim extremists and is said to be instrumental
in securing the release of Muslim criminals.
The NDF made it to the news shortly
after the Babri demolition, when it circulated distorted maps with India
without Jammu & Kashmir. It also committed gross atrocities at Nanda-puram
that were a total recall of the Mopla massacres in Malabar during the Khilafat
Movement. So why has the Congress President, who spewed venom at the RSS
and SSMs, ignored the Marad incident? Are we heading towards 'Kashmir-like
experiment' in Kerala under the Congress?
The Congress's antipathy for Hindus
was evident in Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, who sought to constitute 'Bange-Islam'
by incorporating Assam and West Bengal into erstwhile East Pakistan. He
supported largescale infiltration of Bengali-speaking Muslims into Assam
to serve as a votebank, and single-handedly made Barpeta a Muslim majority
district. Therein lies the root of the Assam agitation that was later exacerbated
by Indira Gandhi's atrocious mishandling of the situation. Though, ironically,
Ahmed acceded to the Presidency of India, his actions made him very unpopular
in Assam.
Last month, when the Guwahati Medical
College was sought to be renamed as Fakruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College,
it drew instinctive reproach and protest from students. The State Congress
unit fumbled to defuse to the situation somehow. If Assam sits on the volcano
of Muslim infiltration today, the 'credit' goes to the Congress. Was it
not the Indira Government that blighted its fate through the Illegal Migrants
(Determination by Tribunals) Act, which made it virtually impossible to
deport any illegal migrant from the State's territory? Should we see these
'experiments' in Kashmir, Assam and Kerala in isolation or as a part of
larger gameplan aimed at India's Balkanisation?
Congress insensitivity towards Hindus
is actually more draconian than its apathy. The party could orchestrate
an orgy of violence on innocent Sikhs in Delhi (in which Muslims goons
were also mobilised) after Indira Gandhi's assassination. This was a conspiracy
to alienate Sikhs from Hindus, thus giving a fillip to jihadi forces in
the long run. The Congress displayed its regressive mindset in the Shah
Bano case, thus pandering to the conservative Shariat-ist section of Indian
Muslims. Rajiv Gandhi sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka
to help the Jayawardane Government crush Tamil Hindus, already persecuted
by Sinhala majoritarianism.
If Ms Sonia Gandhi is keen on crushing
the Sangh, let her make an attempt. Such attempts had been made in the
past by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. But history shows that neither
the British nor their ideological successors in the 'secular' establishment
of free India have been able to counter the Sangh because it is deeply
rooted in Indian traditions. As for what is taught in the Saraswati Shishu
Mandirs, it is character-building, love for India, reverence for its epics,
pride in the country's freedom fighters and regard for elders. It is an
open curriculum for anybody to see. I have no doubt that civil society
will crush the 'crushing' mindset of the Congress sooner rather than later.
