Must give credit to Modi: he forced Congress leaders to at least remember Nehru, others!

It was amusing to see Congress reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi omitting the name of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from the names of those who fought for India's freedom. Of all persons, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said, the party "will oppose the wrong statements made on historical facts for political benefits and every attempt to question great national leaders like Gandhi-Nehru-Patel-Azad on the basis of lies.”
Ironic though it may seem, whatever I know of Congress, its leaders or cadres (whatever they are left, now) have paid scant respect to the "Gandhi-Nehru-Patel-Azad" legacy. My visits to Congress office in Ahmedabad as also offices and residences of party leaders has made me firmly believe: they don't care about the foursome Sonia has sought to identify. In fact, visit any of these places, and you will only see photos of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and (now) Priyanka Gandhi -- as if the four towering persons didn't exist.

A visit to the Rajiv Bhawan, the Congress office which the party leaders at one point sought to consider "ominous", and had even worked out plans to shift (going against the rational thinking symbolised by Nehru and rejection of superstition by Gandhi), suggested, the photographs great four Sonia mentions were pushed to a corner. Sonia and Rahul were prominently displayed both outside and inside the building. The leaders would talk only about the family and its great sacrifices, nothing beyond.
Modi may have omitted Nehru's name -- but has at least forced the Congress leaders to remember the person who surely laid the foundation of strong democracy in India. Will the Congress leaders in Ahmedabad care to follow Nehru's rational worldview, Gandhi's non-violent struggle, recognising that he and others stood heads and shoulders above Sonia and Rahul, who are virtual non-entities before the great freedom fighters?
Only future will show...

Photos displayed here, clicked by me in 2018, show Rahul is more prominent in Congress Bhawan than Nehru, Sardar or Ambedkar.

Comments

Anonymous said…

Very well pointed out Sir! Congress needs to go back to basics… it has a very rich legacy to choose and project and build upon! Infact they have even failed to capitulate on the current works done by states with inc govt. Right now hope is missing in a lot of households across India…INC has these stalwarts who essentially gave hope and did work to fulfil those to some extent. Negativity of RW can be countered effectively if INC goes to the drawing board and draws out the very character of each of these four names. Rising above differences and prejudices is the only way forward for India and inc can lead if only it delves into its rich legacy!

September 10, 2022 at 6:44 AM

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog