Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 8, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/344210/Vulgar-display-of-power.html
Congress descends to foul-mouthed abuse
The Congress showed its fascist streak last
Sunday night when it ordered Delhi Police to brutalise thousands of men, women
and children who had gathered at Ramlila Ground to peacefully protest against
the most venal cash-and-carry Government India has ever had and which is led
by the party. Since then, the Congress has also demonstrated how low it can
stoop by taking recourse to coarse bazaar language while defending the morally
and legally indefensible police crackdown it ordered on sleeping protesters
and then attacking the Opposition for taking up cudgels on behalf of the victims
of Sunday night's atrocity. High on the conviction that nothing or nobody
can stop it from abusing power and misusing authority, the Congress has sought
to tar the reputation of the RSS and the BJP, launching a scurrilous attack
on both organisations and their leaders. The tone and tenor of those speaking
on behalf of the party are not dissimilar to that of hoodlums who seek to
scare people into submission; their loutish language makes the most scurrilous
reportage of cheap yellow rags that made Page 3 popular among the under-classes
appear sanitised and clean. The lexicon of political discourse, it would appear,
in the case of the Congress has suddenly shrunk to terms of abuse as foul-mouthed
spokespersons compete with each other, with more than a little help from 'friendly'
media, to prove who is more boorish. Is this the new loyalty test set by the
party president? For nothing else explains why Ms Sonia Gandhi has chosen
to remain silent as her foot soldiers unleash volley after volley of uncouth
verbal assault on the Congress's political opponents. The political commentary,
if at all this expression can be used given the low level of discourse, that
emanated from the Congress on Tuesday when party leaders made shockingly disparaging
remarks that can be construed to be repulsively sexist against the Leader
of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj, has left many people wondering
whether Ms Gandhi endorses such vulgarity. It is a sad reflection of the state
of affairs that prevails in India's Grand Old Party that its president should
maintain a stunning silence as her colleagues betray their true character
and class.
Political debate can be acrimonious, but it
should never descend to abuse and character assassination. Nor should parties
seek to score political points by directing their ire at individuals, unless
the issue merits such attack. The issue that agitates India at the moment
is not about individuals but an institution, namely the Congress and the rampant
corruption it has spawned in high places. Linked to this is the Congress's
arrogance, its criminally callous indifference to popular disquiet simply
because it wields power and believes it can ride roughshod over the people
of this country. The Congress forgets that it has been humbled by the people
on more than one occasion in the past, that too when the party was led by
stalwarts. Tragically, its current leaders have not learned any lessons from
the party's post-1975 history; worse, they have elected to become one with
the hooligans who populate the Congress's ranks. It's a shame and a pity.
The shame is entirely that of the Congress; it's a pity that India should
be saddled with a Government that has to depend on goons masquerading as Gandhi's
political heirs.
