Addressing the Lok Sabha, Congress de-facto supremo Rahul Gandhi lambasted the Narendra Modi government on centralisation, saying India is a union of states in the Indian Constitution and it cannot be ruled as a “kingdom”. Rahul remarked, “India is described in the Indian Constitution as a union of states and not as a nation. One cannot rule over the people of a state in India. Different languages and cultures cannot be suppressed. It is a partnership, not a kingdom.”
Turns out his understanding seems vaguely flawed given that the very basic fabric of ‘unity in diversity’ has been in existence since centuries and that the Indian monarchs, back in their days, never seemed to attack one another. This can be seen as some sort of familial accord, and this forms the crux of what defines the Idea of India — the very Hindu philosophy of APARIGRAHA (non-possession) against expansionism.
Although there was no formal or legal documentation stating the ground rules with fancy vocabulary, there was freedom to profess one’s belief or even mis-belief, in some cases. We never needed a royal decree to assert and identity ourselves as HINDUS. For what we were, what we are and what we have is the privilege of being born in a land which is considered the cradle of civilisation.
Rahul Gandhi needs to move away from durbari history. Politics is temporary and our civilisational existence, enshrined in the cultural values that we inherit as a nation, can’t be undone or obliterated by any political party or leader.
Furthermore, Rahul Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Modi’s ineffective foreign policies have strengthened the relationship between Pakistan and China, but this was soon rebutted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. “Some history lessons are in order,” he tweeted. In a fitting response to the Gandhi scion’s comments, the United States said that it would not endorse Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy has strengthened the Pakistan-China relationship. The US State Department spokesperson Ned Price added that there was no need for countries to choose between the US and China. Rahul Gandhi should ponder that passing such unwanted, unsolicited and frivolous remarks only hurt and denigrate India’s name globally.
Continuing to work relentlessly to lacerate PM Modi’s idea of New India, Rahul added, “Congress smashed the idea of a king in 1947, but now it has come back. There is a vision that India can be ruled by a stick from the Centre. Every time that has happened, the stick has been broken.”
This statement contains the same measure of truth as the belief that the former prime minister was ‘regularly consulted on all important matters’ by Sonia Gandhi! Perhaps, the heirloom politician is oblivious to the history of his own party, but welcome to the circus of the absurd. The circus where hypocrisy is no longer surprising. The surprising part is the confidence in slandering while a long trail of evidence exposes the person accusing others. We can discuss facts, not risk inanity all the time. But since the entitled prince is still engaging in diatribes of this kind, I am compelled to make a few points.
1) Rahul Gandhi needs to be reminded of the time when dictatorship earned a more affable synonym, “the Emergency”. On June 25, 1975, Empress Indira Gandhi declared an Emergency, but perhaps according to Rahul, the Emergency was a good thing for the citizens as “the trains were running on time” and the voters were so impressed by this fact that they were in a queue to vote Mrs Gandhi back to power. Am I right or am I right?
2) In a country where nationalists, freedom fighters, sport stars, artists, performers and war veterans fight for space in public memory, the scions of one family have always cornered the market for memory. Their misdeeds may have been forgotten, but their names are enshrined forever, for the family and their yes-men have given Nehru-Gandhi names to 457 central schemes, 98 educational institutions and 51 awards over decades.
3) When talking about the kingdom and the king, it is no secret how the Gandhi family has insulted popularly elected leaders from non-privileged backgrounds, like Congress leader and Andhra Pradesh CM, T. Anjaiah, making him cry and beg before Rajiv Gandhi for forgiveness. The insult and humiliation of T. Anjaiah reeked of arrogance and hubris and was a slap on the face of the electorate by the Congress party, which to this date believes that democracy is a gift granted by Nehru to India. But the sense of humiliation among the people of Andhra Pradesh was so strong that in the 1984 elections, when Rajiv Gandhi went on to create a record by winning over 400 seats in Parliament, his party could manage only a paltry six seats out of 44 seats in AP.
4.) Not so long ago, it was revealed that according to some highly classified KGB records, the Soviets supplied clandestine money to the Congress and individual politicians, with up to 40 per cent of Indira Gandhi’s parliamentarians receiving political contributions from Moscow. The documents claimed that Indira Gandhi was sent money in suitcases for the Congress by the Communist government of the Soviet Union. Imagine the politicians who were singing slogans of “Garibi Hatao” were the ones committing a crime that can only be classified as high treason. The humiliation doesn’t stop here. The papers also described India as if the entire country was for sale and a model state of KGB’s infiltration in third world governments. If anyone has treated India as their fiefdom, it is the Gandhi family.
5.) Since its inception, the Congress has adhered to the feudal system. The Gandhis have been on top, followed by the feudal lords from their own political feudal family, who have bowed to the Gandhis without a word. These smaller political dynasty factions benefit from the dynasty system just as much as Rahul Gandhi. India’s democracy was thus in the hands of family enterprises dedicated to dynasty service and not a political party working for public service.
6) Following the death of former Prime Minister Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao, his mortal remains were denied entry at the Congress headquarters. The media, as they were told, reported that Rao was cremated in Hyderabad “as per the wishes of his family members,” but nothing could be farther from the truth. It was clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not even consulted on this matter and an unseen power was at work. This is the ‘gracious’ history of the Gandhi family.
These questions and points beg to be answered. ‘Ashamed of nothing, offended by everything,’ is how I see the Wayanad MP’s speech during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
Yuvraj Pokharna is a Surat-based educator, columnist, and social activist. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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