RAHUL GANDHI AS PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA – WHY NOT?
By
A.JAISON
Member, Social Justice Monitoring Committee, Govt.of Tamil Nadu
(Samaj Weekly)
Know the Truth and see the Reasoning
Ever since Mr. Narendra Modi came to power as Prime Minister of India, Mr. Rahul Gandhi has been in the centre stage of Congress as well as the opposition parties in the national level drawing the attention of the people and the Parliamentarians and the BJP has been indigestible over his charisma and unbending attitude of debates in the Parliament. Modi and Co., started making sarcastic comments about Rahul Gandhi and more particularly as a small boy (chottawala or pappu). This write-up may appear to show that I am favouring Rahul Gandhi, while it is not so. Buddha has said, “Know Truth as Truth and Untruth as Untruth.” Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in his famous treatise “ANNIHILATION OF CASTE” has reproduced the quote of H. Drummond:
“He that WILL NOT reason is a bigot
He that CANNOT reason is a fool
He that DARE NOT reason is a slave”
Pragmatic Approach to identify a Leader to lead the country under crisis
With pragmatic approach and keeping in mind the turmoil created by the current regime which is bent upon polarizing the country and with a view to see that the fascist regime is dethroned in the 2024 Lok Elections and to save Democracy, Constitution and the vast population of India, I have chosen to write this piece, adhering to the spirit of the above quotes, in order to justify that Rahul Gandhi of Indian National Congress(INC), the national party despite its shrunk position, is the only best choice available as of now to deal with and tackle the disproportionately growing fascism. As the former Prime Minister H.D.Devegowda has said, INC has its pan India presence. He inherits some amount of charisma along with the political knowledge and wisdom. More than anything else, acceptability by the majority cannot be ignored. Ultimately what matters is this aspect. Among all other political leaders, this much of acceptability can’t be seen. The ultimate goal now is to save the country from the fascist BJP under Mr. Modi. Hence, some sort of adjustment, understanding and sacrifice is required from every political group or else the notion of ‘India’ will get fragmented into pieces.
Save India from Dictatorship, the off-spring of Blind Hero-worship
India is not free from hero worship and in every State and every political party, hero-worship has been thriving and is promoted, of course, not without the support of the majority of the people due to lack of literacy on which the rulers have not given adequate importance. Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar is against Hero-Worship and he has wardned the people of India of the impending danger with a serious caution:
“The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not ‘to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions’. There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long service to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness. As has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel O’connel, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.”
(Dr.B.R.Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly on 25-11.1949)
Caution far more relevant today
This caution is far more relevant today than ever before because the Modi Government is bent upon not just adopting Hitler’s dictatorship but overtaking him by crushing the ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, dividing the people in the name of religion, caste, creed and gender and unconstitutionalizing the Constitution because the people, including most of the so called intellectuals, have been led to blindly believe and accept him as a ‘Saviour’, ‘Prophet’, ‘Avatar’, ‘Demigod’ and finally as ‘Vishwaguru’ whereas he has not even been a ‘Guru’ for his own nation but with his sweetened lies, he has been converting the people to have sheep-mentality so that he can rule and ruin the country from its present shape. Hence, the need of the hour is to save India from the dictatorship and the undeclared emergency of Mr.Modi. He claims to hail from an OBC but his heart and soul are only for Brahmins as a quid pro quo of the position he has been enjoying for the past 10 years.
Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister- Why Not? Any disqualification in Age?
The political journey Rahul Gandhi has undertaken, more particularly during the last 10 years, cannot be undermined and as a Parliamentarian he has delivered his uncompromising best. Apart from BJP-RSS combine, other political leaders were/ are of the view that Rahul Gandhi is a small boy or pappu as indecently called by BJP. Is it because of his age and youth or his hereditary/ dynastic background?
Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister of India in 1984 at the age of 40! Media came with the news: “A Pilot has come to pilot the nation” Has he not delivered well despite a few common shortcomings? Most important, among others, are the Special Drive for filling up the backlog for SCs & STs and the Reservation in Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations for SCs, STs and women.
When Mr. Rishi Sunak son-in-law of India’s Narayanamurthy of INFOSYS became Prime Minister of United Kingdom in 2022 at the age of 41!
When Mr. Vladimir Putin became President of Russia in 2000 at the age of 48!
When Mr. Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister of Canada in 2015 at the age of 44 !
When Mr. Gabriel Atta became the Prime Minister of France in 2024 at the age of 35!
When Mr. Emmanuel Macron became the President of France in 2017 at the age of 41!
When Mr. Joko Widodo became President of Indonesia in 2014 at the age 52!
When Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu became Prime Minister of Israel at the age of 46!
When Ms. Giorgia Meloni became Prime Minister of Italy in 2022 at the age of 47!
When Mr. Mark Rutte became Prime Minister of Netherlands in 2010 at the age of 47!
When Mr. Kim Jong Un became the Supreme Leader of North Korea in 2011 at the age of 28! (though he is a dictator)
WHY SHOULD Mr. RAHUL GANDHI NOT BECOME PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA AT THE AGE OF 53? Is he not aware of the history, geography and political dirt and nuances of Indian politics? Is he not matured enough to understand the minds of the people of India across 28 States and 8 Union Territories? Is it not high time that the fascist BJP could be dethroned through 2024 Lok Sabha Elections? Are not the Indians destined now to save India’s Democracy and Constitution from the Mobocracy which is keen to annihilate the Minorities and subsequently suppress, oppress and repress the SCs, STs and OBCs in order to fully empower the Brahmins under Sanatana Dharma which is antithetical to JUSTICE, LIBERTY, EQAULITY and FRATRENITY? People have to decide – Now or Never!
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A.JAISON,M.A.,B.L.,
Writer, Ambedkarite & Social Activist &
General Secretary of
Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Dr.Ambedkar Rationalist Youth Movement (ARMY)/
Ambedkar World Federation of Emplyee Associations (AMBU)/
Buddha Dhamma Sangam, Chennai-600011.
