Sonia's holy dip

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>vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com >[bJP News]: Sonia's holy dip >Fri,

26 Jan 2001 09:45:59 -0500 > >Title: Sonia's holy dip >Author: T V R Shenoy

>Publication: Rediff >Jan. 24, 2001 > > In 1999, Sonia Gandhi visited the

famed Hindu shrine at > Tirupati amid a blaze of publicity. There is nothing >

wrong with any politician choosing to do so. But many > people thought it

offensive that she, a practising Catholic, > would enter a place that is,

strictly speaking, forbidden to > non-Hindus. > > Worse, when one of the

priests chose to ask her about > this -- as he was legally entitled to do -- he

was brushed > aside by Rajasekhara Reddy, the prospective Congress > chief

minister of Andhra Pradesh in the election that was coming up. (As > everybody

in Andhra Pradesh knows, Reddy too is a Christian despite the > name.) > > This

led to a flurry of debate, not least on the Internet. Many people were >

offended by Reddy's reputed assertion that nobody could question her >

credentials, as Sonia Gandhi was a member of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. If this >

was a true report, I am intrigued to note that Reddy was implicitly associating

> 'Hindu' with 'Indian!' > > But mark the sequel: in the subsequent general

election, the Congress candidate > lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party man. The

margin was a meagre 9,346 votes. > That is a drop in the bucket given that

Tirupati's total registered electorate is > 1,199,710. In other words, the

difference between victory and defeat was less > than one per cent of the

whole. I think it is fair to say that Sonia Gandhi's > ill-advised visit did

more harm than good to her party! > > It was said of the Bourbon dynasty of

pre-revolutionary France that 'they > learned nothing and forgot nothing'. You

could say much the same of the > coterie at 10, Janpath. It is, I assume, at

the suggestion of her courtiers that the > Congress boss visited Prayag for the

Kumbh Mela. Will this have any happier > results than at Tirupati two years ago?

> > This, I suppose, is an exercise in 'secularism'. And so it is, come to think

of it, > in the proper sense of the word, 'secular' means worldly, something or

> someone removed from the purely spiritual. Sonia Gandhi's reasons -- by >

implication those of the Congress -- are purely worldly. She is doing precisely

> what she accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party of doing -- mixing religion with >

politics. May I note in passing that the 'secular' media has been unusually

quiet > on this aspect? > > Of course, I can understand why people in general

visit Prayag in such > numbers. This is a special occasion, a Kumbh Mela that

began with a lunar > eclipse. Such an event shall not take place again for 144

years. And in the wake > of the pilgrim, the researcher and the reporter are

bound to follow. (I wish that > the latter two weren't quite so keen to

sensationalise, but that is another story.) > I cannot, however, remember Sonia

Gandhi displaying any interest in > Hinduism, in scholarship in general, or in

journalism. > > What the Congress president has done is a complete fraud from

beginning to > end. It is a cheap attempt to win votes. Yet it is, of course,

all in the finest > traditions of the Congress. When V P Singh stood from

Allahabad as the joint > nominee of the Opposition, the Rajiv Gandhi

administration brought the troupe > of Ramanand Sagar's television serial

Ramayana to campaign. > > The late prime minister himself inaugurated his

election schedule from > Ayodhya in 1989, with a promise of 'Ram Rajya'. The

media would have > lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party had one of its leaders

tried these tactics. > Rajiv Gandhi and his wife are luckier. > > Truth be

told, I am more than little sceptical not just about Sonia Gandhi's > interest

in the Kumbh Mela, but her professed love for India itself. I recall that >

some television reporter asked Priyanka Vadra why her mother had taken so >

long to adopt Indian citizenship. The princess of 10, Janpath replied that it

was > only natural if someone took five or six years to make such an important

> decision. > > This was a misleading response. Sonia Gandhi didn't take five

years, but closer > to fifteen. There is plenty of evidence that in her early

years in Delhi, Sonia > Maino Gandhi had more European friends than Indian.

(This list included > Ottavio Quattrocchi and his wife, and Satish Sharma's

Dutch bride.) I refuse to > believe that a person who can't speak any Indian

language fluently is impressed > by India's culture. > > But forget all that,

the Congress boss's attempt to curry favour by visiting > Prayag isn't just

'secular,' it is also remarkably thoughtless. This, please > remember, is the

single greatest gathering of humanity in one place at one time. > The local

administration is under immense pressure to ensure that everything > goes

smoothly. The biggest rush is expected to take place on January 24 -- the > day

of Mauni Amavaasya. And now here was Sonia Gandhi throwing careful > plans into

disarray just two days before that! > > The Congress president is entitled to

Special Protection Group guards. As > irritated Delhiites shall attest, this

level of protection means inconvenience to > everybody else, with the roads

being cleared for the lady. Going to Prayag was > nothing more than a way to

irritate the genuine pilgrims. In effect, they were > being asked to keep away

from the sacred waters so that a silly politician could > hog the cameras! > >

I would like to note that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee too wished to >

attend the Kumbh Mela. He too was advised by the SPG of the difficulties that >

this would cause. The prime minister appreciated this, and decided to call off >

his plans to pray in Prayag on Mauni Amavaasya. > > The prime minister is a

devout Hindu, and steeped in the traditions of the > religion. Nobody expects

Sonia Gandhi to match him there. But is it asking too > much for her to be just

as considerate about the common people in Prayag? >

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