TAMASHA
I have
always been wonderstruck at the congress party’s absolute surrender to their
High Command. It is more than awe , it
is more than discipline. Except for the brave soul Chandrsekhar, I have never seen any congman doubt the wisdom
of the High Command , much less criticize it .Not that there are no wise people
in the party, nor that there is any
dearth of politically astute leaders in its ranks. But the hold of the High
Command is absolute , undeniable and strangulating . And what keeps baffling me is that the High Command is not a group of
leaders who have emerged and risen by proving themselves but the members of
Gandhi-Nehru family whatever be their background or achievements. We move on
from Indira to Sanjay to Rajeev to Soniya to Rahul
to………
I made an effort to find out the reasons for
this family-worship. I do not find an iota of truth in the family-espoused idea
that it has made huge sacrifices for the nation and therefore commands huge
following everywhere. Sanjay Gandhi’s death was an accident of his own making
and although Indira was assassinated we must not forget that the trouble in
Punjab and Bhindranwala was her own creations . Rajeev Gandhi was
killed by the LTTE but again the question is—who created the
LTTE and what was its purpose . There is hardly any sacrifice made by the
family for the nation or for any national cause.
To me
the reason for this back-bending of cong-men appears umbilical. The Indian
National Congress was created by A.O.Hume in 1885 not for the purpose of enabling its
members fight for the freedom of India. It was to be a forum where
educated Indians could discuss their problems and request their British masters
to grant them favours . The culture of Congress therefore,
right from its inception has been one of servant approaching master in supplication.
I am not being sarcastic , unfortunately that is
a fact of history. Hume was a civil servant and before he formed the INC he
had had elaborate discussions with the local British officers as well as those
in London responsible for India affairs. Although W.C.Bonnerji was elected President , Hume was appointed
Secretary and effectively ran the show. Gokhale accepted later that had it not
been for Hume the authorities would not have allowed the formation of INC . As
most historians agree the party went on giving petitions to the British authorities till 1905 without
much change or impact . The nature of demands did change after 1905 but this
did not change the basic character of
the party or its members .The ruthless dominance of Gandhi-Nehru family in
post-independence era can be understood as a continuation of this character. “The
British have a right to rule and we can
request them for favours....the High Command has a right to rule….” is only a
continuity. It is a blasphemy to challenge this . In 1988 a senior congress leader said, “In
order to be successful in our party one has to have 3 basic qualities.” When I
looked askance he added, “You must know English, you must be fair and you must
be a Kashmiri, preferably Brahmin.” It means you must resemble a European in as
much as you can.
This explains the special affiliation or commitment
of the congman to the Nehru-Gandhi family. Simply put they are as good as
Britishers —tall, fair, English-speaking—different
in culture and style of living . This also explains Sonia’s acceptance by the
party without much demur. With her at the helm only one preference seems to
have changed. Instead of Kashmiri Brahmins the first choice now goes to
Christians.
Considering
the above one can understand the cult of Nehru-Gandhi family in Congress and in
Indian politics. Unfotunately for this nation most other parties have evolved
from INC and have retained the culture in some form --generally
family-dominance and family –worship. Even those parties which evolved
independently have been influenced by the culture of INC- the party that
dominated the Indian political scene for a very long time .
Not only this ,even the so-called intellectuals of this country are so
enamoured of the family cult that they
find it difficult to accept and understand the idea of a collective leadership
or the idea of a party in which issues could be discussed hotly, strongly and
threadbare. Alas! That is the essential requirement of a vibrant and successful
democracy.
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