Rahul Gandhi's new sob story about his mother

In his election campaign in Madhya Pradesh which is going to the polls in November, 2013, Rahul Gandhi, the heir-apparent of the ruling dynasty, though a reluctant prime ministerial candidate against the BJP nominee Narendra Modi, narrated a sob story of his mother Sonia Gandhi. Despite her ill-health and deteriorating condition, Mrs Gandhi was adamant on staying in the Lok Sabha to participate in voting for her pet food security bill for which she had "fought". Rahul stated that she had difficulty in breathing and had tears in her eyes. He finally "dragged" his mother to the hospital.

Rahul's purpose in telling the story to poor MP tribals was to impress on them his mother Sonia Gandhi's "commitment" to provide "one rupee kg foodgrain" to the poor so that "no one goes hungry" after the bill is implemented. He did not explain that if his mother was so concerned about the hunger of impoverished Indians, why did she wait so long-nearly ten years of her govt's rule since 2004-and choose a few months before the State elections in Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere in November-December, 2013, and general elections in May, 2014, for the passage of the Food Security Bill? Why shed tears now when her coalition govt had numbers to pass the legislation without her vote? Why then this emotional drama?

This reminded us of Rahul Gandhi's younger, Pappu days when he was fond of recalling what he had heard from his parents about the greatness of Nehru-Gandhis. In one such narration, he recalled that had a Nehru-Gandhi been at the helm of affairs in December 1992, the "Babri masjid" would not have been demolished. He clearly did not know or deliberately overlooked the fact that it was during his father Rajiv Gandhi's regime, the shilanyas(stone-laying ceremony) took place in Ayodhya and the doors of the Ram temple were opened. With this Pappu mindset, it did not occur to Rahul that despite his grand mother Indira Gandhi's slogan of "garibi hatao"(remove poverty), during her Emergency rule, poverty is very much with us nearly four decades after the socalled sloganeering. Even if Sonia Gandhi's food security measure is implemented, and wheat is given at Rs 1 a kg, how will it help the poor when other necessities like oil, vegetables, milk, etc., needed for minimum nourishment, are beyond their reach because of the sky-rocketing prices? Will only cheap wheat and rice will satisfy their hunger and lessen their mal-nourishment? Without a job or skill, will the poor not remain beggars, perpetually dependent and at mercy of a corrupt babu and a middleman? By spending tens of thousands of crores of public money what Sonia Gandhi will achieve besides a temporary vote? What is the past experience of such ill-conceived, extravagant schemes like PDS, NAREGA, etc? Will the poor Indians be really impressed with Rahul Gandhi's juvenile sob stories of her mother shedding tears for their welfare when they hear that she flies to New York just for a health check-up?

     

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai goes international

The story of a 16-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, is a blend of  courage and sadness. The ruthless Pakistani Taliban, the most radical, violent outfit swearing by Islam to set up Sharia rule in the country, was in full control of the Swat Valley by 2008, where Malala was born. Having realised at a young age that sons were preferred over daughters in her society, she was determined to pursue education to come up in life. Hence, Malala was opposed to Taliban's diktat not to allow girls to attend school. Her courage to defy their orders brought young Malala in confrontation with the Islamist extremists' anger. One afternoon, two youthful gunmen boarded her bus when she was returning home from school and shot her from close range. She was hit in the head and bled profusely. She would have died but for a timely help and an emergency  operation in a military hospital in Peshawar with the assistance of two British surgeons who, luckily, happened to be visiting. After a few days, Malala was flown to the British doctors' hospital in Birmingham for major operations. She has now recovered and started attending a British school in that city.

She has been widely honoured for bravery in standing up to the dictates of Islamic radicalism in her country, with awards as well as an address to the United Nations General Assembly-perhaps the youngest person to do so. She was also invited to the White House by President Barack Obama. This extraordinary world-wide attention seems to have to affected the Pakistani teenager to an extent that she was expecting a Nobel Prize for Peace and talking of becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan like Mrs Benazir Bhutto! However, the western support and patronage caused adverse ripples in her country:many Pakistanis were angry with her for her "closer relationship" with the West. On her part, she has asserted that she still follows the Pushtun culture and wears salwar kamiz and duppatta, and regards Islam as a "true religion" that preaches peace and tolerance. But, she cannot run away from the bitter reality that she cannot return to her homeland with any sense of security and safety.

Hence, her dreams of promoting women's education in Pakistan will, unfortunately, remain just dreams. These could become a reality only if the Pakistani civil society becomes assertive, modern and progressive and unitedly fight the scourge of Talibanisation of Pakistan. Academics, intellectuals and the media have to show uncompromising determination to cleanse the Pakistani society of Islamic radicals, fanatics and jehadis, or, at least marginalising them. This cannot be done without de-emphasising the influence of Sharia in Pakistani lives. Islam has to adjust to modern times and not get mixed up with politics. All Pakistani citizens, regardless of religion, caste, sect and gender, have to be treated equally with equal opportunities for growth and upward mobility. Only then, Malalas of Pakistan can feel at home in their place of birth.       

Rahul Gandhi's anointment as new Congress supremo

Congress sycophants are overjoyed that their icon, the young crown prince of the ruling Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Rahul Gandhi has spoken the mind of the Indian people by publicly rubbishing the controversial Ordinance of his government to protect convicted MPs and MLAs, as "complete nonsense". The fact that the Congress party headed by his mother-Sonia Gandhi-he is its vice-president-and the UPA govt led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, put the final stamp of approval on Rahul's rejection of their Ordinance, seemed not only a slap on the face of the PM, as also his own mother, they implicitly accepted Rahul Gandhi as the new supremo of the Congress and UPA dispensation.

True, there were reports of initial unhappiness and sulk of the PM having been publicly humiliated by the young Gandhi when the former was in New York; several of Dr Singh's supporters urged him to resign in protest in the interest of his self-respect. But, a long-time yesman of the dynasty, publicly admitted that he was "thick-skinned" and, hence, there was no reason to quit his job. His dwindling band of sympathisers tend to forget that only the other day, Manmohan Singh expressed his readiness to work under Rahul Gandhi, nearly half his age. Hence, the bitter reality is that the PM himself is responsible for his own diminution and degradation, thus destroying the key stature of the office of Prime Minister by playing a second fiddle, the first time in the history of independent India.

It is also sad day because the party has got a young leader who is immature, impetuous, undignified, temperamental, unpredictable and unwise. He has shown no vision, no thoughtfulness and sagacity to solve India's complex political, social and economic problems. His dramatic appearance in a press conference to condemn the Ordinance as bad, to be torn and thrown away is a classic case of juvenile mind.