03-08-2005, 10:25 PM
Pioneer -Op-ed
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Needed, moral clarity to see evil </b>
Kanchan Gupta
We must "understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom," explains <b>Natan Sharansky in his book The Case for Democracy, a must read for those opposed to tyranny at home and abroad</b>, "In the former, the primary challenge is finding the inner strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil."
The shockingly amoral politics of smash and grab witnessed this past week, with the Congress brazenly trying to manoeuvre itself into power after winning nine of the 81 seats that constitute the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly by making a mockery of constitutional norms, have no doubt revived memories of the "world of fear" that was India during Ms Indira Gandhi's ruthless and despotic rule in the dark days of Emergency.
But 30 years after that summer when Ms Indira Gandhi stripped Indians of their fundamental rights to put "democracy back on the rails", <b>Ms Sonia Gandhi and her fawning courtiers will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recreate the terror of 1975-77 when the Congress ruled with an iron fist after packing the country's jails with Opposition leaders, activists and independent journalists</b>.
The "world of freedom", such as it exists in India today, may be under assault from carpet-baggers, but they are unlikely to succeed beyond causing temporary damage to democratic institutions, even while inflicting tremendous injury to the Congress and its image which had a fortuitous makeover last year after the maudlin renunciation of power by Ms Sonia Gandhi.
Living as we do in a "world of freedom", let us then meet "the primary challenge" of "finding the moral clarity to see evil". In the immediate context of last week's tumultuous political developments<b>, that evil must necessarily be described as the devious politics of the Congress that appears to have rediscovered what drove Ms Indira Gandhi in her pursuit of absolute power: The presumed divine right to rule even in the absence of a popular mandate.</b>
Hence, last week's forced installation of an illegitimate Government in Jharkhand, in which the Congress is a complicit partner, and before that the sacking of the BJP Government in Goa and its replacement with an equally illegitimate Congress regime. Pliant Governors eager to prove their loyalty to Ms Sonia Gandhi were more than happy to subvert the democratic process of government formation.
<b>Only the naïve would have believed that there would be no backlash and criticism</b>, if any, would be subsumed by the popularity of Ms Sonia Gandhi: <b>After all, with her halo and larger than life image, who would believe that she could think evil, leave alone act in an evil manner? In the event, the carefully cultivated image of Ms Sonia Gandhi - as also that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who holds office but wields neither power nor authority - has failed to carry the day for the Congress.</b>
On the contrary, <b>she is now seen as nothing more than an avaricious, self-aggrandising politician who is willing to go to any extent to grab power</b>. In one swift move, she has taken the Congress back to the era when it was perceived as a destabilising force that would rather subvert democracy than allow another party to rule - either in the States or at the Centre.
By sanctioning the appalling abuse of gubernatorial authority in Ranchi and Panaji, she has revived memories of the manner in which Ms Indira Gandhi sacked non-Congress State governments in 1980. Later, she used her stooge in the Raj Bhavan at Hyderabad to remove NT Rama Rao from office; Dr Farooq Abdullah was summarily dismissed and replaced by GM Shah in Srinagar. The destabilising game played by Ms Indira Gandhi in Punjab where she promoted Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a countervailing force against the Akali Dal extracted a terrible toll, including her life.
All the while, of course, Ms Indira Gandhi kept on insisting, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, on her innocence. Memories of Ms Indira Gandhi's protestations have been revived by the pathetic damage control exercise launched by the gatekeepers of 10, Janpath, one of whom let it be known that "Madam Soniaji" is mightily unhappy with the turn of events in Ranchi about which, we are now expected to believe, she came to know only the day after.
If <b>Ms Sonia Gandhi's halo no longer sparkles in the spotlight of public adulation,</b> the Congress no longer appears as a reliable ally to those who joined ranks with it to form the United Progressive Alliance Government that, for all practical purposes, does not exist beyond the confines of Parliament. In Bihar, the three major UPA partners - RJD, LJP and Congress - are at the moment daggers drawn.
In Tamil Nadu, the DMK is sulking over an unguarded and considered statement made by a local Congress satrap. In Andhra Pradesh, the TRS is straining at the leash. <b>In Maharashtra, the NCP is biding time</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â All of a sudden, the carefully constructed alliance that saw the Congress' return to power at the Centre in last year's parliamentary election, seems to be developing deep fissures.
Even within the Congress, the authority of Ms Sonia Gandhi is not as unassailable as her courtiers would have us believe. The manner in which the Chief Minister of Haryana was selected, and the subsequent fallout of that selection, is only indicative of the thinning of Ms Sonia Gandhi's authority. In Kerala, Mr K Karunakaran is leading an open revolt against the party; <b>in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh has demonstrated that he is not answerable to either her or the Prime Minister</b>.
The Left, meanwhile, finds itself increasingly in a quandary. Last year, it chose to back a Congress-led UPA to keep the BJP out of power. But in 2006, the Left will find itself fighting the Congress in West Bengal and Kerala: Given the nature of voter polarisation in both the States, it has to be a bitter, no holds barred fight if the Left wants to win and survive.
If the political instability engineered by Ms Indira Gandhi's destabilising politics gave rise to strident anti-Congressism, the inherent instability of the UPA and the destabilising manoeuvres of Ms Sonia Gandhi and her coterie are gradually resuscitating anti-Congressism once again, paving the ground for the resurgence of competitive politics which by definition is confrontational and combative.
Apologists of the Congress have been quick to point out that confrontation will work against national interest and affect governance. But there are moments in a free nation's life when a pacific response to deviousness and worse perpetrated by those in power is akin to failing to summon "the moral clarity to see evil".
Only moral cowards would acquiesce in the evil perpetrated last week. And moral cowardice is the first step towards losing the "inner strength to confront evil". If that were to happen, Sharansky's "world of fear" could yet become a reality for the people of India, notwithstanding the fact that Ms Sonia Gandhi lacks the chutzpah of her mother-in-law.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Needed, moral clarity to see evil </b>
Kanchan Gupta
We must "understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom," explains <b>Natan Sharansky in his book The Case for Democracy, a must read for those opposed to tyranny at home and abroad</b>, "In the former, the primary challenge is finding the inner strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil."
The shockingly amoral politics of smash and grab witnessed this past week, with the Congress brazenly trying to manoeuvre itself into power after winning nine of the 81 seats that constitute the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly by making a mockery of constitutional norms, have no doubt revived memories of the "world of fear" that was India during Ms Indira Gandhi's ruthless and despotic rule in the dark days of Emergency.
But 30 years after that summer when Ms Indira Gandhi stripped Indians of their fundamental rights to put "democracy back on the rails", <b>Ms Sonia Gandhi and her fawning courtiers will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recreate the terror of 1975-77 when the Congress ruled with an iron fist after packing the country's jails with Opposition leaders, activists and independent journalists</b>.
The "world of freedom", such as it exists in India today, may be under assault from carpet-baggers, but they are unlikely to succeed beyond causing temporary damage to democratic institutions, even while inflicting tremendous injury to the Congress and its image which had a fortuitous makeover last year after the maudlin renunciation of power by Ms Sonia Gandhi.
Living as we do in a "world of freedom", let us then meet "the primary challenge" of "finding the moral clarity to see evil". In the immediate context of last week's tumultuous political developments<b>, that evil must necessarily be described as the devious politics of the Congress that appears to have rediscovered what drove Ms Indira Gandhi in her pursuit of absolute power: The presumed divine right to rule even in the absence of a popular mandate.</b>
Hence, last week's forced installation of an illegitimate Government in Jharkhand, in which the Congress is a complicit partner, and before that the sacking of the BJP Government in Goa and its replacement with an equally illegitimate Congress regime. Pliant Governors eager to prove their loyalty to Ms Sonia Gandhi were more than happy to subvert the democratic process of government formation.
<b>Only the naïve would have believed that there would be no backlash and criticism</b>, if any, would be subsumed by the popularity of Ms Sonia Gandhi: <b>After all, with her halo and larger than life image, who would believe that she could think evil, leave alone act in an evil manner? In the event, the carefully cultivated image of Ms Sonia Gandhi - as also that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who holds office but wields neither power nor authority - has failed to carry the day for the Congress.</b>
On the contrary, <b>she is now seen as nothing more than an avaricious, self-aggrandising politician who is willing to go to any extent to grab power</b>. In one swift move, she has taken the Congress back to the era when it was perceived as a destabilising force that would rather subvert democracy than allow another party to rule - either in the States or at the Centre.
By sanctioning the appalling abuse of gubernatorial authority in Ranchi and Panaji, she has revived memories of the manner in which Ms Indira Gandhi sacked non-Congress State governments in 1980. Later, she used her stooge in the Raj Bhavan at Hyderabad to remove NT Rama Rao from office; Dr Farooq Abdullah was summarily dismissed and replaced by GM Shah in Srinagar. The destabilising game played by Ms Indira Gandhi in Punjab where she promoted Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale as a countervailing force against the Akali Dal extracted a terrible toll, including her life.
All the while, of course, Ms Indira Gandhi kept on insisting, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, on her innocence. Memories of Ms Indira Gandhi's protestations have been revived by the pathetic damage control exercise launched by the gatekeepers of 10, Janpath, one of whom let it be known that "Madam Soniaji" is mightily unhappy with the turn of events in Ranchi about which, we are now expected to believe, she came to know only the day after.
If <b>Ms Sonia Gandhi's halo no longer sparkles in the spotlight of public adulation,</b> the Congress no longer appears as a reliable ally to those who joined ranks with it to form the United Progressive Alliance Government that, for all practical purposes, does not exist beyond the confines of Parliament. In Bihar, the three major UPA partners - RJD, LJP and Congress - are at the moment daggers drawn.
In Tamil Nadu, the DMK is sulking over an unguarded and considered statement made by a local Congress satrap. In Andhra Pradesh, the TRS is straining at the leash. <b>In Maharashtra, the NCP is biding time</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â All of a sudden, the carefully constructed alliance that saw the Congress' return to power at the Centre in last year's parliamentary election, seems to be developing deep fissures.Even within the Congress, the authority of Ms Sonia Gandhi is not as unassailable as her courtiers would have us believe. The manner in which the Chief Minister of Haryana was selected, and the subsequent fallout of that selection, is only indicative of the thinning of Ms Sonia Gandhi's authority. In Kerala, Mr K Karunakaran is leading an open revolt against the party; <b>in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh has demonstrated that he is not answerable to either her or the Prime Minister</b>.
The Left, meanwhile, finds itself increasingly in a quandary. Last year, it chose to back a Congress-led UPA to keep the BJP out of power. But in 2006, the Left will find itself fighting the Congress in West Bengal and Kerala: Given the nature of voter polarisation in both the States, it has to be a bitter, no holds barred fight if the Left wants to win and survive.
If the political instability engineered by Ms Indira Gandhi's destabilising politics gave rise to strident anti-Congressism, the inherent instability of the UPA and the destabilising manoeuvres of Ms Sonia Gandhi and her coterie are gradually resuscitating anti-Congressism once again, paving the ground for the resurgence of competitive politics which by definition is confrontational and combative.
Apologists of the Congress have been quick to point out that confrontation will work against national interest and affect governance. But there are moments in a free nation's life when a pacific response to deviousness and worse perpetrated by those in power is akin to failing to summon "the moral clarity to see evil".
Only moral cowards would acquiesce in the evil perpetrated last week. And moral cowardice is the first step towards losing the "inner strength to confront evil". If that were to happen, Sharansky's "world of fear" could yet become a reality for the people of India, notwithstanding the fact that Ms Sonia Gandhi lacks the chutzpah of her mother-in-law.
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