|
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of systematically dismantling India's democratic institutions, suppressing dissent and centralising political and economic power. She also alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has brought most educational institutions under its ideological control.
In her memoir titled Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi offers a sweeping criticism of the BJP's political and ideological approach while also touching upon the functioning of constitutional institutions, the mainstream media, central investigative agencies, electoral processes, welfare schemes and the treatment of religious and political minorities. She also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2016 announcement to demonetise high-denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. She said that it was a telling example of PM Modis autocratic methods. Sonia stated that the hardship faced by millions due to demonetisation was made extreme due to the imposition of a complicated Goods and Services Tax. A telling example of the prime minister's autocratic methods was his sudden announcement in November 2016 of a currency demonetisation: All notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 were proclaimed null and void-overnight. Since the operation had been carried out under a cloak of secrecy, even the banks hadn't been prepared for the resulting avalanche of currency exchange demands. None of the stated objectives of the move were met, while at one blow it threw trade into disarray, shut down vital sectors of the economy, and drove millions to hardship, Gandhi wrote in her memoir. Accusing the ruling party of using central investigative agencies to target political opponents, Gandhi also alleged that executive agencies have been captured and used to intimidate opponents through tax raids, legal cases and imprisonment. The BJP has systematically dismantled our democratic institutions. They're unwilling to acknowledge that the opposition has a vital role to play in a democracy. They've pushed draconian laws through Parliament by expelling opposition MPs or just bulldozing bills through without any discussion. The ruling party has captured the government's executive agencies and uses them to intimidate or threaten opponents with warnings of tax raids, trumped-up legal cases, or outright imprisonment without due process, Sonia said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), she wrote, "has been turned into a tool for political vendetta and persecution of opponents, whose numbers run into hundreds." She further alleged that the ECI has been crippled by the ruling party and turned into an accomplice in its pursuit of power. "Most dangerous to our country's future, the ruling party has crippled the guardian of democracy, the Election Commission of India (ECI), turning it into a willing accomplice in their objective of grabbing power by any means, and at all costs," the memoir read. Gandhi also expressed concerns over the ideological control of the RSS on educational institutions. She said this has been done through rewriting of school textbooks and appointments of university vice-chancellors. In her memoir, Gandhi accused sections of the mainstream media of abandoning their independence and functioning as propaganda arms of the government. "TV anchors and private channels were once mostly credible and independent, offering viewers a variety of points of view. Today they're no better than propaganda arms of the government," she wrote. She also refers to the role of social media trolls in targeting critics of the government, saying paid troll armies brand those who expose corruption or criticise the Prime Minister and his policies as "traitors" and "anti-nationals". "Many dissenters have been imprisoned on false charges without bail or trial," she adds. Recalling the tradition of democratic protests in India, Gandhi said the space for public demonstrations has been severely curtailed, with protests by students, teachers, farmers and women from minority communities allegedly being crushed. She also contrasts the present situation with the period when prime ministers regularly addressed press conferences and faced questions from journalists. "Rajiv and other prime ministers held press conferences regularly, often fielding tough questions," she wrote, adding that PM Modi has not held a single press conference in the twelve years he has been in office. Gandhi also took aim at the BJP's Congress-free India agenda, arguing that it seeks to eliminate not just the Congress but also its policies and ideology, where she attributed this antipathy to the conditioning of PM Modi by the RSS. She argued that the RSS has inculcated in its cadre a commitment to an exclusionary and hardened version of Hinduism that has been crafted into a political agenda. "The BJP's stated aim is what they call a 'Congress-free India'-free of the party, its policies, and its ideology. I tend to believe that this antipathy stems from the conditioning of the prime minister by the RSS. It has inculcated in its cadre a commitment to an exclusionary, hardened version of Hinduism that has been crafted into a political agenda," she wrote. Contrasting this with her understanding of Hinduism, Sonia describes a faith that embraces diverse beliefs and paths and adheres to no single deity, dogma, prophet or scripture. She invokes the Vedic mantra 'Ekam Sat Vipra Bahuda Vadanti', translating it as "The truth is one, the paths to it are many". The memoir authored by Sonia Gandhi also levels allegations of increased attacks on religious and political minorities, including Dalits, since the BJPs coming to power. She said that most of such incidents have gone unpunished. "Ever since the BJP came to power, brutal attacks on minorities as well as Dalits have increased exponentially and mostly gone unpunished," she writes. She also alleges that propaganda videos, social media content and films designed to generate resentment and suspicion against minorities receive official approval. Propaganda videos, social media content, and movies designed to create resentment and suspicion of minorities receive official approval. The message has gone out: Let people dwell in fear. That fear will overcome their dissatisfaction with the promised "achche din" ("good days"), with unemployment, inflation, price rise, all the ills that afflict them in their daily strugglewith no possibility of their concerns finding a place in public discourse, Sonia wrote. Sonia Gandhi also accused the Narendra Modi-led government of appropriating more than 30 UPA-era programmes while renaming and reducing them in scale. It (BJP government) has failed to come forward with any new ideas of governance and instead has adopted no less than thirty of our UPA-era programmes-but retitled under catchier names and considerably reduced in scale; some of these welfare schemes the prime minister himself had earlier criticised, she said. One of the schemes she singled out is the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) programme, which she said has been virtually hollowed out after being renamed as Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G. Gandhi acknowledged the NDA government's expansion of digital public infrastructure, which has connected millions of poor people previously outside the formal financial system to banks. However, she raises concerns over its implementation. The actual working of this structure leaves a great deal to be desired: The government's own audit agency, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has pointed to widespread misuse, corruption, and failures in implementation, the memoir read. (ANI)
|
