We've Sonia at Rajiv's 'request'

We’ve Sonia at Rajiv’s 'request’

By Amba Charan Vashishth

“Myself and Rajiv (Gandhi) were never interested in politics. Rajiv joined politics on the request of Indiraji, while I joined it at Rajiv’s request”.
This is what INDIA TODAY (August 13 2007 issue) quotes Congress President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi as having said.

There is no dispute as far as the first part of the statement of both Sonia and Rajiv “never (being) interested in politics” is concerned. But it is the second part that “Rajiv joined politics on the request of Indiraji“ and me “at Rajiv’s request” that rattles the ears.

It is true that after the death of Sanjay Gandhi whom Mrs. Indira Gandhi had groomed as her political heir in preference to the ‘disinterested’ Rajiv, she did make the latter reluctantly agree to quit his Indian Airlines job as pilot and join politics as she wanted the mantle of political leadership fall on her own son and none else. But to say it was at his mother’s “request” may be too much given the Indian traditions and culture. The word “request” she used may be because of her not being that much acquainted with the Indian traditions and ethos. In India mothers do not request their sons, the former only wish or desire which need not be expressed in so many words. Sons come to understand their parents’ wish in the normal course because of the family chord of understanding. It is the sons who act to fulfil the wishes of their parents.
But her claim that she joined politics “at Rajiv’s request” looks quite incongruous.

Those who know the facts know that immediately after the unfortunate assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi refused to jump into politics join and lead the Congress Party despite the likes of Arjun Singh and others making numerous pleadings before her at 10 Janpath. If it genuinely was Rajiv’s ‘request’, nothing could have been a better tribute from her than to instantly ‘join politics’ in fulfillment of his ‘request’ and enrol as a Congress worker (leader) to accomplish the work left unfinished by Rajiv’s sudden and untimely death.

On the contrary, it was only in March 1996 (about five years after Rajiv’s death) that she ultimately relented and joined as an ordinary Congress worker. It was a different matter that immediately after that she was catapulted to the centrestage of Congress politics and became the Congress President consequent upon the then Congress President, Sitaram Kesri, having been made to make a departure most humiliating for a person of his stature.

So the question still remains: When did Rajiv “request” her to join politics?
If he did ‘request’ her in his life time, she should have given Rajiv the pleasure of acting as per his ‘request’ when he was alive. Did she have some reservations then? Further, why did she wait for five years after his death to accede to his ‘request’?

Therefore, it remains a mystery as to when did Rajiv ‘request’ her to join politics and whether her decision to join politics was genuinely prompted by Rajiv’s ‘request’.

At the time of resigning as MP as also Chairman of the National Advisory Council after some opposition parties had filed a memorandum with the President of India for her disqualification on account of her holding an office of profit, she said: 'I have stated earlier also that I am in politics and public life not for my selfish ends …I have taken a pledge to serve the people of the country and to protect secular ideals. “

To cherish and realize these high ideals, she should have joined politics much earlier and, at least, the moment Rajiv made a ‘request’ to do so. Why she didn’t is anybody’s guess! ***

My inviolable right to hypocrisy

My inviolable right to hypocrisy

By Amba Charan Vashishth
Words: 922

Delivering a lecture on “Living Politics: What India has Taught Me?” at Tilburg (The Netherlands) on June 9, 2007 Congress President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, said: “The plain fact is that power for itself has never held any attraction for me”. Explaining why she turned down the prime ministership after being unanimously elected as the party leader in Parliament, she said”…I always knew in my heart that if I ever found myself in that position I would decline the post of Prime Minister…..it was dictated by my inner voice…Indeed that voice has been my wisest guide in my political life”.

So far so good, if the lecture was meant for foreign consumption only. But since the text of the speech has trickled down to India, it is difficult to stomach the stuff.
One cannot help recall the events. When the NDA government led by Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was defeated by one vote on the floor of Lok Sabha in May 1999, it was the same Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who as leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party had declared that her party would form a government. According to a BBC report on May 17, the senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh added that Mrs Gandhi had shown "no displeasure or hesitation or protest" at the prospect of becoming prime minister.
Claiming majority she did go to the then President K. R. Narayanan, with a list of her supporters to stake claim to form a stable government. Her family members from Italy had all landed in New Delhi to witness the epoch-making oath taking ceremony. But it was the Samajwadi Party leader. Mulayam Singh, who put a spanner in Mrs. Gandhi’s designs by declaring that he could not support a person of foreign origin to be the Prime Minister. That dashed to the ground all the hopes and dreams of Mrs. Gandhi to be the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy.

Not only that. There was a revolt within the Party on the issue. Three very senior
Congress leaders, Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar wrote a joint letter to Amba Charan Vashishth is a political commentator and on the editorial board of a political fortnightly.


Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on May 16, 1999 that:
-- “It is not possible that a country of 980 million, with a wealth of education, competence and ability, can have anyone other than an Indian, born of Indian soil, to head its government.
-- “We believe that it is our responsibility as Congressmen and political leaders to formally place on record our view and request the CWC and you to consider the … suggestion (that) the Congress manifesto should suggest an amendment to the Constitution of India, to the effect that the offices of the President, Vice President and Prime Minister can only be held by natural born Indian citizens.”

In response to this letter, had Mrs. Sonia Gandhi then declared what she stated at Tilburg now after eight years, she could easily have saved the Congress of the turmoil and split. Perhaps history and outcome of 1999 Lok Sabha elections would have been different. On the contrary, as a counter-offensive she resigned from the post of Congress President in a huff. Her resignation skirted the real issue. This is what she wanted.
The issue raised by these senior Congress leaders was never discussed and instead, the trio was expelled from Congress.
During 2004 Lok Sabha election campaing, Mrs. Gandhi was projected as the Congress candidate for the post of Prime Minister. The people rejected her and did not give Congress an absolute majority to make her Prime Minister. Congress tally of seats (145) was just 7 more than BJP’s (138) while its percentage of votes fell from in 1999 to . Yet Congress did succeed in gobbling up a majority by bringing in those very political groups against whom it had waged a bitter electoral battle. On May 15 she was unanimously elected the Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party which is the sine qua non for being invited to form a government. Later, on May 16, according to The Hindu, she was unanimously "elected" the alliance's prime ministerial candidate at a meeting of the allies and other supporting parties.
On May 18 she met President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam staking her claim to form a government when the President made some queries about support to her. After a 20-minute meeting with President she declared she would meet him tomorrow again. And then after meeting the President, she stunned her supporters and opponents alike by announcing her refusal to be PM. Rest is history.
What made her “inner voice” vocal and know “in my heart that if I ever found myself in that position I would decline the post of Prime Minister” only after meeting President on May 19 is known only to her or the President.
It would be too much to assume that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was so innocent and ignorant that she didn't know what it meant to be unanimously elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and leader of the alliance which staked claim to form government. If “it was dictated by my inner voice…", why did she not "decline" to get herself elected as leader? On the other hand, she got the Congress constitution amended to provide for the post of a chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party, an office over and above the leaders of Congress in the two houses of Parliament.
I have an inalienable, fundamental right to hypocrisy. I won’t allow anybody however high or low he/she may be to encroach upon my right! ***

My Inviolable Right to Hypocrisy

My inviolable right to hypocrisy

By Amba Charan Vashishth
Words: 922

Delivering a lecture on “Living Politics: What India has Taught Me?” at Tilburg (The Netherlands) on June 9, 2007 Congress President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, said: “The plain fact is that power for itself has never held any attraction for me”. Explaining why she turned down the prime ministership after being unanimously elected as the party leader in Parliament, she said”…I always knew in my heart that if I ever found myself in that position I would decline the post of Prime Minister…..it was dictated by my inner voice…Indeed that voice has been my wisest guide in my political life”.

So far so good, if the lecture was meant for foreign consumption only. But since the text of the speech has trickled down to India, it is difficult to stomach the stuff.
One cannot help recall the events. When the NDA government led by Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was defeated by one vote on the floor of Lok Sabha in May 1999, it was the same Mrs. Sonia Gandhi who as leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party had declared that her party would form a government. According to a BBC report on May 17, the senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh added that Mrs Gandhi had shown "no displeasure or hesitation or protest" at the prospect of becoming prime minister.
Claiming majority she did go to the then President K. R. Narayanan, with a list of her supporters to stake claim to form a stable government. Her family members from Italy had all landed in New Delhi to witness the epoch-making oath taking ceremony. But it was the Samajwadi Party leader. Mulayam Singh, who put a spanner in Mrs. Gandhi’s designs by declaring that he could not support a person of foreign origin to be the Prime Minister. That dashed to the ground all the hopes and dreams of Mrs. Gandhi to be the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy.

Not only that. There was a revolt within the Party on the issue. Three very senior
Congress leaders, Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar wrote a joint letter to Amba Charan Vashishth is a political commentator and on the editorial board of a political fortnightly.


Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on May 16, 1999 that:
-- “It is not possible that a country of 980 million, with a wealth of education, competence and ability, can have anyone other than an Indian, born of Indian soil, to head its government.
-- “We believe that it is our responsibility as Congressmen and political leaders to formally place on record our view and request the CWC and you to consider the … suggestion (that) the Congress manifesto should suggest an amendment to the Constitution of India, to the effect that the offices of the President, Vice President and Prime Minister can only be held by natural born Indian citizens.”

In response to this letter, had Mrs. Sonia Gandhi then declared what she stated at Tilburg now after eight years, she could easily have saved the Congress of the turmoil and split. Perhaps history and outcome of 1999 Lok Sabha elections would have been different. On the contrary, as a counter-offensive she resigned from the post of Congress President in a huff. Her resignation skirted the real issue. This is what she wanted.
The issue raised by these senior Congress leaders was never discussed and instead, the trio was expelled from Congress.
During 2004 Lok Sabha election campaing, Mrs. Gandhi was projected as the Congress candidate for the post of Prime Minister. The people rejected her and did not give Congress an absolute majority to make her Prime Minister. Congress tally of seats (145) was just 7 more than BJP’s (138) while its percentage of votes fell from in 1999 to . Yet Congress did succeed in gobbling up a majority by bringing in those very political groups against whom it had waged a bitter electoral battle. On May 15 she was unanimously elected the Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party which is the sine qua non for being invited to form a government. Later, on May 16, according to The Hindu, she was unanimously "elected" the alliance's prime ministerial candidate at a meeting of the allies and other supporting parties.
On May 18 she met President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam staking her claim to form a government when the President made some queries about support to her. After a 20-minute meeting with President she declared she would meet him tomorrow again. And then after meeting the President, she stunned her supporters and opponents alike by announcing her refusal to be PM. Rest is history.
What made her “inner voice” vocal and know “in my heart that if I ever found myself in that position I would decline the post of Prime Minister” only after meeting President on May 19 is known only to her or the President.
It would be too much to assume that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was so innocent and ignorant that she didn't know what it meant to be unanimously elected leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and leader of the alliance which staked claim to form government. If “it was dictated by my inner voice…", why did she not "decline" to get herself elected as leader? On the other hand, she got the Congress constitution amended to provide for the post of a chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party, an office over and above the leaders of Congress in the two houses of Parliament.
I have an inalienable, fundamental right to hypocrisy. I won’t allow anybody however high or low he/she may be to encroach upon my right! ***

Not only anybody, even nobody can be President!

Not anybody, nobody too can be President
By Amba Charan Vashishth

Now that only two candidates – UPA-Left nominee Mrs. Pratibha Patil and NDA-supported independent incumbent Vice-President Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat – are left in the fray for election to the office of the President of India and the nature of allegations that are surfacing each day against Mrs. Patil, the call of Mr. Sheikhawat to the electoral college consisting of MPs and MLAs that they should “vote according to their conscience” has become all the more topical and relevant.
The election, according to Mr. Shekhawat, is not “contested on a party symbol …..no whip can be issued” and “therefore there is no question of cross-voting” as the election is conducted through “a secret ballot”.
The Congress spokesperson, Mr. Abhishek Singhvi joined issue with Mr. Shekhawat and dismissed as “misapplied and inapposite” NDA’s plans to seek a conscience vote in favour of Vice-President Shekhawat in the presidential election as had happened in 1969. According to him, “1969 was a case when the ruling party was itself divided and conscience vote was sought because of the division.” To buttress his argument Shri Singhvi claimed that this time the ruling UPA “was completely united and all constituents had signed the nomination papers for Pratibha Patil”.
Perhaps, Mr. Singhvi is himself not aware of the fact – or he wishes deliberately to gloat over it – that in 1969 the late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who had, later, called upon Congress MPs and MLAs to vote “according to their conscience” had, earlier, herself signed the nomination papers of the official Congress candidate, Mr. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the office of President. In these circumstances, Mr. Shekhawat’s call for a “conscience vote” is as much morally right -- or wrong -- as was then the call of Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
There remain two elements of similarity in the present Presidential election. At that time the person at the helm of affairs was Mrs. Indira Gandhi and this time it is her daughter-in-law. Then also, the choice of candidate by Mrs. Indira Gandhi was motivated, as it is today, not by merit or interests of the nation, but by personal ego, individual whim and self-interest. There was hardly anything against Mr. Reddy except Mrs. Gandhi’s personal dislike of him.
By coincidence, the individual for whom Mrs. Gandhi sought Congressmen’s “conscience vote” was the incumbent Vice-President, Mr. V. V. Giri.
By contrast, the independent candidate, Mr. Shekhawat, commands a stature, political standing, maturity, vast riches in experience and a much cleaner image than does his opponent possess.
On the contrary, Mrs. Pratibha Patil cannot be ranked as a model personality with an ideal image, given the kind of allegations that have been hurled against her own self and family. Unfortunately, the candidate herself has, so far, failed to come out with convincing rebuttal as concretely as are the allegations, except for dismissing these as “malicious, frivolous, unsubstantiated and politically motivated”. This is the stock claim and reaction of every politician accused of a crime. Mr. Shibboo Soren too claimed – and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh support him as do they stand by other tainted ministers – himself ‘innocent’ till he was sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of murder by a court of law.
Surprisingly, the UPA and the Left parties are vocal in defence as against the mute voice of the person accused of. It appears, as if these parties and leaders know more than does the person accused. They are taking the shelter that she cannot be held responsible for the conduct of her brother or husband going to be the “First Gentleman” if she gets elected.
While Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, from whom Mrs. Patil claims to draw inspiration, is proud of her Nehru-Gandhi family legacy, Mrs. Patil herself wishes, strangely, to wash her hands off of her own family legacy – that of her husband and brother disclaiming their acts of omission and commission. If she wins, will they -- or will they not -- join her in the Rashtrapati Bhawan? Nobody explains.
That our politicians are lacking in the moral courage is also explained by the fact that those who are claiming her or her family ‘innocent’ -- the way they argue in favour of the ‘tainted’ ministers as none of them has been convicted by a court of law, so far, – nobody has solemnly declared that she will quit Rashtrapati Bhawan if she herself, her husband or her brother were to be found guilty by a court of law.
Once in Rashtrapati Bhawan, the incumbent President cannot be proceeded against in any court of law. Neither can any law enforcing agency effect arrest as long as the person is sheltered in Rashtrapati Bhawan. In this way, is the UPA – and inversely, the nation -- not going to provide protection against law to a person who if not found guilty has also not been exonerated of a volley of charges she and her family is confronted today?
Let the UPA and the Left declare – if they are on so high a moral ground -- that her election will not turn the allegations against her own self, her husband and brother, into acts of virtue the moment she enters the Rashtrapati Bhawan! ***

Voting in Presidential Poll out of bounds for defection law

Voting in Presidential Poll
Out of bounds for defection law

By Amba Charan Vashishth


On June 28, 2007 Congress sought disqualification from membership of Rajya Sabha of suspended Congress Member, Mr. K. Natwar Singh, on the ground that he had proposed the name of Vice-President, Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as a candidate for the post of President of India.

Congress had throughout been playing politics with him. It suspended him about a year back but did not expel him from the membership of the Congress Parliamentary (Legislature) Party just to keep a tab on his activities within the House, because even as a suspended member he has to fall in line with the whip issued by the Party. It turned a blind eye to Mr. Natwar Singh releasing, alongwith Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto for Uttar Pradesh. He extensively campaigned for Mulayam Party against his own Congress Party.

The Congress plea is not likely to stand the test of law in view of the provisions of the Tenth Schedule (Articles 102(2) and 191(2) of the Constitution of India. In the case of Mr. Natwar Singh, only provision No. 2 in the Tenth Scheduled can be invoked: that “..a member of a House belonging to any political party shall be disqualified for being a member of the House –
(b) if he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party to which he belongs ….”.

Firstly, proposing the name of Mr. Shekhawat does not amount to “voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party (Congress in this case)”. Even otherwise, till the time he proposed the candidature, no “direction” had been issued by the Congress Party to any member of the House, not to speak of, to Mr. Natwar Singh.

It also needs to be understood that MPs and MLAs are just voters to the election of the President as they constitute the “electoral college” for the purpose in terms of the provisions of Article 54 of the Constitution. Exercising their right to vote for the office of the President does not constitute “voting in such House” as it is through a secret ballot.

The voting takes place not in the Parliament in a meeting presided over by the Speaker of Lok Sabha or by Chairman of Rajya Sabha or respective Speakers of State legislatures. It is the Election Commission -- and not the Speaker or the Chairman -- who appoints the Presiding Officer for election to the post of President. It is, again, not the Speaker or the Chairman, who declare the outcome of the voting and the final result. This is done by the Presiding Officer who is, normally and as a matter of precedent and convenience, the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

Since the electorate consists of MPs and MLAs, it is but natural that the polling booth too should be within the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha premises. As the Presiding and Assistant Presiding Officers are all officers of the Parliament or Vidhan Sabha, there is no difficulty in identification of the voters also.

Therefore, not to speak of the act of Mr. Natwar Singh proposing the name of Mr. Shekhawat, even taking part in voting for election to the office of President cannot, in any manner, be construed as “voting in such House”. To attract disqualification in terms of the provisions in the Tenth Schedule, the “voting in such House” has to be “voting in” Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha when the Central and State legislatures are having a sitting of their respective houses presided over by the respecting presiding officer.

At the same time one needs to distinguish between the election of President and that of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House. The former is not elected in a sitting of any House, the latter is elected in a sitting of that particular House. In the latter case, the provisions of Defection Law do get attracted.
Any “direction” issued by any political party for voting for a particular candidate in election to the office of President cannot, therefore, attract the provisions of the Tenth Schedule.

UPA has now patent on 'innocence'!

UPA has no patent on 'innocence'!

By Amba Charan Vashishth


A very important news failed to get the media attention it deserved: When UPA government celebrated its three years in office over an official dinner in the third week of May 2007 in which the elite high dignitaries exclusively invited, among others, included UPA’s former ‘honourable’ minister and JMM chief Shiboo Soren presently in jail for over seven months undergoing a life sentence for the crime of murder.

The invitation may be correct politically, but cannot be right morally, legally and constitutionally.

How could a convict find his name in the honours list of invitees to an elite official dinner? It is beside the point that he could not have joined this noble gathering without the jail authorities being permitted by a competent court of law. And an invitation to dinner by the head of government in the country, in the eyes of law, could be no justification for grant of a parole, in public interest, to a convict. It is also a fact that no permission was sought even. The dinner passed off without the glitter of Soren's presence.

Affront to Constitution

The invitation to an official dinner to a convict by a government constituted as per provisions of the Constitution is an affront to the word and spirit of law as also against the oath the Prime Minister and his colleagues had taken at the time of being sworn to office: “to do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”.

The former minister and MP Shibboo Soren and the convict Shibboo Soren are not two different identities; both are one and the same individuals in body and soul. Even if motivated by considerations of political expediency, the solicitation extends an honour to a person convicted of a heinous crime.

On assuming office the UPA invented a new alibi to save itself of the embarrassment and also its government -- the alibi that every person is 'innocent' till convicted by a court of law. This it did because without propagating this high principle, it could initially neither garner majority to form a government nor could the government subsist for a moment

Shibboo Soren stands condemned for the crime of a murder. If UPA wishes to stretch the argument that he continues to be 'innocent' as the highest court of the country, the Supreme Court (his case is as yet pending in Delhi High Court), has not as yet given the final word, it could be accused of being illogical just to stick to power. Despite the glare of reality, UPA continues tosee this reality as accepting Soren as a convict as per court verdict has disastrous political ramifications for its life in power.

Harshad Mehta 'innocent'?

Surprisingly, UPA invokes this 'innocent' doctrine only when it serves its political purpose. Not otherwise. In numerous cases has it demanded resignation – or dismissal -- of chief ministers and ministers of non-UPA governments and politicians even where no criminal case had been registered against them, not to speak of their having been charge-sheeted or convicted, like Shibboo Soren and many others in UPA, for any crime by any court of law.

Congress hasn't have got, as yet, this alibi of 'innocence' patented in its name that no one else can use it. Tomorrow late Harshad Mehta's family can, with the equal vehemence of moral force, also claim that he was 'innocent' because although convicted by a lower court, the Supreme Court had not said the final word in his case because his appeals against conviction were pending consideration in courts at the time of his death.

New President may bring new life to Afzal

New President may fetch new life to Afzal

By Amba Charan Vashishth

The way the process of selection of candidates for the country's highest office of President of India is moving, it makes amply clear that political expediency will prevail over merit for the august office. The kind of political haggling and the spirit of give-and-take pervading at the moment leaves no one in doubt that interests of individuals, political parties and commitment towards the powers-that-be are overtaking the interests of the nation. Prime minister's office already stands eroded. God save the new President!.

The decision on the mercy petition submitted to the President of India by Parliament attack main accused, Mohammad Afzal Guru, sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India, seems to have been made to hang fire with a definite plan and design. President, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, had forwarded the mercy petition to the Manmohan government whose Home Ministry sent it onwards to the Delhi government, again ruled by the Congress. The Delhi government could find no time to send its comments and recommendations to the Union government for the last over seven-eight months.

Now it looks it is being done according to a well thought-out plan. President Kalam is on record having declared that he will take a decision on the mercy petition as per law of the land. As the things stand, the UPA government is not sure that Dr. Kalam would put his thumb mark on whatever recommendation it makes to him. Therefore, to avoid any political embarrassment it preferred to wait for a few months. In the process, Afzal Guru too has got a breather for life. If his petition were rejected, everybody knows he would have been hanged by this time.

Everybody is aware that it is the discretion of the government in power to take a decision within hours or prolong it for months and years. The mercy petition of the killers of late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and that of General Vaidya was rejected within hours. It is difficult to say whether the government in power at that time was more efficient and prompt than the present one.

Whatever it is, the fact remains that the delay is being done with a definite political purpose. If the UPA is able to get a pliant individual elected to this august office, as the present course of events indicate, it looks the Parliament attack accused Afzal who was instrumental in the killing of about eight security men who staked their life in saving the life of the nation's top leadership then holed up in the Parliament House, may get reprieve and be saved from going to the gallows.

As the events seem to be unfolding, the UPA government may either get his mercy petition accepted before the Gujarat assembly elections due in October-November 2007 or just before the Parliament elections due in early 2009. In both the events, Afzal Guru and the politicians stand to gain.

A Challenge to Arundhatis, MF Hussains, Nanditas

A Challenge to Arundhatis, Nandita, MF Hussain, and Chandermohans


By Amba Charan Vashishth


On May 25, according to press reports, Police had to use tear gas to disperse an angry crowd that had collected at Gandhinagar over posters with nude sketches depicting two nudes in front of the Kaba in Mecca that were posted on the walls of the MS University in Vadodara night before. Muslims in Muslim-dominated localities in the city carrying photographs of Osama Bin Laden took to the streets.

The same reports quotes Prof. JS Bandukwala, President of Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberty, say: “Ten days ago a Senate member of the MSU, Deepak Shah, had openly offered a reward of Rs. one lakh to anyone who could paint Prophet Mohammad in the nude”. He does make a reference to this provocation, but obviously fails to make a distinction between painting Prophet Mohammad in the nude and some nudes standing before the Kaba. It certainly does not amount to the same crime.

But there is another side to the story. Only two weeks back, in the same university a painting student Chandramohan, so far unknown, following the footsteps of the great painter M. F. Hussain, shot into controversy – thereby fame – by painting Lord Jesus Christ and some Hindu goddesses in erotic scenes. There was a great furore and violence erupted. The likes of writer Arundhati Roy, film actress Nandita Dass, many renowned painters, intellectuals, liberals and human rights activists thronged the streets beating their chests for the freedom of expression of Chandramohan, the same way as had this tribe, in the past, jumped into the defence of M. F. Hussain when he painted Bharatmata and some Hindu goddesses in the nude.

Everybody -- Chandramohans, M.F. Hussains included -- has a right to freedom of expression, as does the unknown painter who had taken the liberty to paint some nudes standing before the Kaba.

But where were the likes of Arundhati Roy, Nandita Dass, and other intellectuals, liberals, human rightists and liberals when there were violent demonstrations in India over some cartoons published, not in India, but in Denmark? Why did they not crowd the streets in favour of the Danish cartoonist and against those who were there violating his freedom of expression? They have, as yet, not opened their mouth and come into action in support of this unknown painter’s freedom.

Surprisingly, the people in the PUCL, who are now taking cudgels against the MSU Senate member Deepak Shah, had preferred to keep mum when a UP Minister had announced a reward of Rs. ten crores for the head of the Danish cartoonist? Not to speak of taking any legal action against him, he was not even removed from the ministry. Is the concept of freedom of expression not a conviction with them, but only a subjective and selective principle? Do they support freedom of expression of Hussain, Chandramohan but not that that of Danish cartoonist or the unknown painter who has surfaced now at Vadodara ?

Where was this tribe of liberals and human rightists when journalist Alok Tomar was hauled up and imprisoned for publishing the Danish cartoons in his weekly? Did Tomar not have the freedom of expression as have the elites, like MF Hussain and Chandramohan? If he had, why did they go dumb and blind over the treatment meted out to Tomar?

M. F. Hussain did avail himself of the freedom of expression to paint in the nude the deities of a religion not his own. He owes an explanation why did he not first look into his own religion and follow the principle: charity begins at home (his own religion). He dared not, because he knows very well that his life would have then turned a hell for him at the hands of his own fellow religionists.

Lord Jesus Christ is the father to hundreds of billions of people all over the world. So is Prophet Mohammad. Similarly, Hindu goddesses are mothers to hundreds of crores of people in India and the world over. I don't know -- I am may be an ignoramus -- if any great painter in the world has ever painted in the nude his own wife or his own mother. I am open to be corrected. M.F. Hussain needs to tell the world why did he not try? Had Hussain done it, he would have known how it hurts. We are reminded of the common saying that only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches.

The likes of Hussain seem to be following the common practice. Everybody likes to cast an amorous eye on other's wife, sister or mother. But when somebody does so with their wife, mother or sister, it hurts them. It could end up in a crime, even murder.
It is very easy to be liberal and preach tolerance when somebody else’s sentiments are hurt. But it is not always so if someone’s own feelings get injured. It is an open challenge to the likes of Arundhati Roys, M. F. Hussains, Chandramohans, Nandita Dasses: Let Chandramohans and Hussains paint their own wives, mothers and sisters in the nude and display in public. Let Arundhatis, Nanditas declare in public that they will respect the freedom of expression of a painter who paints them or their mothers in the nude in the same way as they have done in the case of Hussain and Chandramohan. If they fail to declare so publicly, they will stand exposed as hypocrites and humbugs preaching others what they don’t practice themselves. ***

Media persons as cross-examiners?

Media persons as cross-examiners?

By Amba Charan Vashishth

According to Press reports, media men in Gujarat have petititoned the Supreme Court of India that the Gujarat Police has shut themselves to media glare and are refusing to talk to them.

What I wish to say or not say on an issue is my right and discretion. Nobody can force me to say something. If Gujarat police -- and for that manner, any individual, public figure or politician -- have something to say on an issue at any time, it is their prerogative or privilege to do so at the right time. They cannot be forced to say something when the media want or press. What they say or not say is their right. Nobody can make anybody say what the other wants. Nobody has a right to put words in the mouth of a person by a media person trying to put loaded questions.

Those who are used to watch our news channels know how our anchors and media persons pester people to say something and try to cross-examine persons concerned. If a person doesn't want to say anything or comment on an issue, they like to know why doesn't he wish to say anything? Is he afraid of somebody? Is he trying to withhold some vital information and the like? Is it reasonable to put such questions and embarrass the individual?

It is true that media persons and news channels are just trying to make their viewers aware of the latest. But do they have the right to interpret in their own way the silence of an individual however important or unimportant he may be? Does the person put a question not have the right to refuse to answer? Is a person duty bound, legally and socially, to say something when he is put a question by some media person?

Are media persons not trying to encroach upon the individual's privacy and right of expression which includes not to say anything?

It is time the media persons also know their limits and recognise the rights and privileges of the individuals whom they wish to put questions. ***

Narad-shaktistambh

MPs ‘guilty’; Ministers ‘innocent ?

By Amba Charan Vashishth

What the honourable MPs involved in the cash-for-questions scam and those facing human trafficking charges have done is not something honourable either for the individuals themselves, or the Parliament or for the Indian democracy and the nation. The Honourable Speaker of Lok Sabha has asked the earlier MPs and the latest ones, not to attend Parliament till Parliament takes a decision in their case. The Parliament in its own constitutional right, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court, expelled the MPs in cash-for-question scandal from the membership of their respective Houses. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that the Supreme Court had only put its seal of approval to the expulsion of MPs accused in cash-for-questions scam; it did not hold them guilty of their having committed any crime under the Indian Penal Code. Nor has any of them, so far, been charged for any criminal act in any court of law.

In the matter of those now allegedly involved in human trafficking, their conduct is, so far, under investigation for the crime under various sections of concerned law. But no court has so far pronounced anyone of the MPs or legislators allegedly involved guilty of the crime. Yet, they have been ‘punished’ with the diktat from attending the proceedings of the House to which they are, otherwise, legally and constitutionally entitled.

Similarly, the office of a minister, whether in the State or at the Centre, is an institution of the Constitution, doubly respectable because the incumbent besides being an honourable MP or MLA also acquires the added honour of being a minister. Yet, we have many of the Honourable Members of Parliament providing a halo of respectability to the office of ministers in the States and at the Centre although their conduct remains under investigation or they are facing charges in courts for heinous crimes, like rape, murder, dacoity, corruption, amassing wealth beyond known sources of income, mafia connections, and what not. In their cases, the Parliament and the Union Government have taken the stand that everybody (meaning MPs and legislators holding ministerial offices) have to be treated as ‘innocents’ till held guilty and sentenced by the highest court of the country. country. By this logic the honourable MPs censured and expelled by Parliament last year continue to be ‘innocent’ as no court in India has, so far, convicted any one of them for any crime. Nor has any court given its verdict in the matter of human trafficking against MPs recently hauled up.

If the MPs allegedly involved in the cash-for-questions and human trafficking scams have lowered the prestige and dignity of Parliament, the epoch-making conviction of an honourable Union Minister in office who was also an honourable MP did surely not enhance the glory of Parliament. He has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of murder. Although he is rubbing his heels with other life convicts in jail for over six months now, yet he continues to be as honourable as other Members of Parliament. It is not sure whether he is still drawing his pay and perks while in jail. The only saving grace was that somehow or the other he was made to resign as honourable Minister and the government did not put forward its moral dictum to treat him ‘innocent’ till the final word had been said by the Supreme Court.

In the kind of democracy we have in India, do we have standards different for ordinary MPs and legislators and the others holding the honourable posts of ministers in the same house of Parliament and legislatures? *** ____________