Deep Bora writes...
about Post-Election Days in India
Deep responds to an invitation to discuss the Indian elections of May 2004. The results have been widely reported in North America, but Deep adds some details that raise another question: What might happen in the United States if its Constitution did not explicitly provide that the president must be a native-born citizen? In that light, the political maneuvering around Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s national origins may seem to be relatively civilized...
Apparently, the recent elections resulted in some surprises. But the peaceful transition of power, which you allude to in “Election Day in Assam,” is a model of democracy. And that is of inestimable value in a world threatened by authoritarian factions on all continents.
[Deep Bora] You know, Don, I alluded to the subject matter on purpose. I am not politically inclined to the BJP or even the Congress party as such. You see, I rarely get time to deviate from my intellectual work related to “The Fourth Dimension,” “The Fifth Dimension,” etc. But the matter under consideration is far from a “sedated” transition of political power. The undercurrents of political turmoil are not unfelt by the citizens of India.
You see, the majority of the electorate — which is conscious of its voting rights — is aware that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is the leader (party president) of the Congress Party. So if they vote for the Congress in majority, well, they directly encourage Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. The electorate is also aware of the supporting parties which the Congress (Indian National Congress) has acquired recently.
Conversely, the Communist Party of India had decided to abstain from supporting the Congress. I do not know what their party manifesto may state prior to the swearing-in ceremony; their ideology is dramatically opposed to the Congress ideology, at least on the political surface.
Few of the major bigwigs of the former ruling party — The Bharatiya Janata Party — have lost the elections. The BJP is also a hard-line Hindu party though with a broader outlook than what you would have expected about fifty years ago. There are many Muslim and Christian citizens forming the inner core of the BJP. However, all said and done, the BJP is secular. Surely. The constitution of India also states that it is a “sovereign, secular Republic.” It is also the longest constitution in the world.
What one fails to understand is why they are against Sonia Gandhi. In one statement they clarified recently, “BJP is not against Sonia, the person. She is a personality. We are opposed to her origin, a foreign origin, born an Italian.”
This is, therefore, a political overture. Now a lady parliamentarian (in opposition and with BJP) declares she will resign from the Parliament if Sonia Gandhi is elected Prime Minister. Again all the members of the leading opposition political party — the BJP — have declared they shall not attend her swearing-in ceremony! Only the outgoing Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee shall attend the ceremony, it is learnt!
You see, I ask you what is wrong if the lady was married to late Rajiv Gandhi in the traditional Hindu ways and again, what is incorrect if she has been wearing the traditional Indian saree since her marriage? The Hindu widow even today — wears no make up and lives a comparatively simple life. This is particularly true for the elder widowed women. Now, Sonia Gandhi is younger — about 58 years old in age. Like my (old)widowed Grand Mother, (a comparatively younger)Sonia Gandhi also does not apply the sindur on her head — a red coloured ‘religious’ powder signifying a Hindu woman is married and her husband — alive.
Again, when she publicly states she is Indian and not Italian, and that she has acquired Indian citizenship in 1983 and has lived and resided in Indian soil since then, well.....Her place of birth may be in Italy. That was then. Right now and practically, she is Indian and was married to an Indian citizen, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, whose family since the days of his grandfather Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru (former Prime Minister of India), has maintained a political career till date. Her children are also into politics.
A citizen is a citizen and is not a foreigner! Here Mrs. Sonia Gandhi conforms to all the dossiers required for a foreigner to become an Indian citizen. Who are we to challenge the mandate of the electorate, in this case, the public? Autocrats? Or democrats?
This matter does not end here. It begins here. And, all said and done, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (of the BJP) has conceded political defeat in the most gentlemanly attitude. He has accepted the consensus of the people of India. He will be present at her swearing-in ceremony.
Most ironically, if you are in the BJP and you oppose the electoral mandate and the Congress’s publicly claimed leader, well, you are in effect challenging the electorate, their attitude and their electoral rights. It is bewildering that no one has raised this issue! However, the BJP has definitely proved their worthiness to the citizens of India — and the world — that they are in reality and practically, a truly secular political party. Politics aside, hats off to them, too.
Copyright © 2004 by Deep Bora
