DAYS after he admitted at his occasion’s conclave that the Congress had misplaced its “connect” with the folks, senior Congress chief Rahul Gandhi stated the nation was sitting on a “powder keg,” and accused the BJP Government of getting “crushed” the nation’s voice and its institutional framework. Calling Indian democracy a “global public good,” Gandhi stated that if it “cracks,” it’ll trigger a “problem for the planet.”
Participating within the ‘Ideas For India’ convention organized by Bridge India, a non-profit assume tank in London, Gandhi echoed a chorus from a sequence of his seminars at international campuses over the past two years: from the “capture” of establishments to the polarization in politics and society.
Gandhi claimed European diplomats had informed him that the Indian international service has develop into “arrogant,” a remark which drew a pointy rebuff from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar who tweeted: “it’s not called arrogance…it’s called confidence.”
Comparing India’s scenario with Pakistan’s, Gandhi drew a parallel between the border standoff with China and the Russia-Ukraine battle and argued India is sitting on a powder keg due to huge polarization and unemployment and will go the Sri Lanka manner.
Asked if he noticed any similarity between right this moment and the pre-1947 scenario in India when, because the moderator stated, the soul of India was suppressed beneath British rule, Gandhi stated: “Yes…from the soul of India comes the voice of India… India’s voice has been crushed. It has been crushed by an ideology. It has been crushed by the way technology has moved. It is being crushed by the institutional framework of our country…So the deep state, the CBI, ED…the stuff that is hidden is now chewing the Indian state. It is eating the Indian state…much like what happened in Pakistan.”
On why the BJP is profitable elections and Congress will not be regardless of points like unemployment and rising costs, he claimed it was due to “polarisation and total dominance of the media.”
“We are sitting on a powder keg. We are sitting on an India that is primed…we have massive level of polarisation, we have huge unemployment…we have the backbone of employment broken, we have massive concentration of wealth, we are going to have social problems. They are coming. Without any doubt. There is going to be a mass upsurge,” Gandhi said. “The question is can the opposition make that upsurge peaceful, effective in changing the politics. You could also have a situation where you have an uncontrolled upsurge which is what we are seeing in Sri Lanka. India is not in a good place. The BJP has spread kerosene all over the country. You need one spark and we will be in big trouble. That is also the responsibility of the Opposition, the Congress, that brings the people together. Bring the communities, states, religions together…say, listen we need to cool this temperature down because if this temperature doesn’t cool down, things can go wrong.”
On the border rigidity with China, he stated: “That is exactly the task of foreign policy. That is exactly what Mr Jaishankar should be doing…I like what Indira Gandhiji once said. Do you lean to the left or do you lean to the right? No, we stand up straight. And I think there is a place for India, an opportunity for India to stand up straight.”
Democracy in India is a world public good. We’re the one individuals who have managed democracy at our unparalleled scale.
Had an enriching alternate on a variety of matters on the #IdeasForIndia convention in London. pic.twitter.com/QyiIcdFfjN
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 20, 2022
Asked if he was suggesting a return to multi-alignment, he stated: “No, I’m saying pragmatically navigate the waters you might be in…Don’t simply say bhaiya theek hai hum aise karenge. And to hell with every part, to hell with our historical past, to hell with our understanding.”
“We have huge capabilities but no one listens to them. When you stifle conversation at the national level, you also stifle conversation in the Prime Minister’s Office. You cannot have a country that is not allowed to speak and a PMO that tells the Prime Minister the truth. You cannot have those two things…Our Prime Minister doesn’t listen and because our Prime Minister doesn’t listen no bureaucrat thinks he needs to listen. I was talking to some bureaucrats from Europe and they were saying that the Indian foreign service (has) completely changed. They don’t listen to anything. They are arrogant. .. now they are just telling us what orders they are getting…there is no conversation. You can’t do that,” he stated.
Soon, Jaishankar hit again. “Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has modified. Yes, they comply with the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it is not known as conceitedness. It is named confidence. And it’s known as defending nationwide curiosity,” he stated in a Twitter put up.
Asked how India may contribute to resolving the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Gandhi drew a parallel between Ukraine and Ladakh.
“Please acknowledge the parallels…the identical thought is at play. There are Chinese forces sitting in Ladakh and there are Chinese forces sitting in Doklam. The Doklam forces are designed for Arunachal Pradesh and the forces in Ladakh are designed for Ladakh. The identical precept is there. My drawback with the Government is that they do not enable a dialogue. Chinese troops are sitting inside India right this moment. They have simply constructed an enormous bridge over the Pangong lake. Why are they doing that? They are organising the infrastructure. They are clearly making ready for one thing. But the federal government would not wish to discuss it. Government desires to stifle the dialog… I’m fearful that Chinese troops are sitting inside India and I can see precisely what is occurring in Ukraine,” he stated.
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“I said this to our Foreign Minister…and he says, you know what you have a point. That is an interesting way to look at it. Please realise there are parallels to what is going on,” he added.
On US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s latest feedback that Washington was “monitoring” “a rise in human rights abuses” in India, Gandhi stated: “I am glad that the US has woken up to the idea…We don’t need the United States to tell us that there is polarization in India… We are, of course, fighting polarisation…But I think what the gentleman reflects is that a destabilized India, a India which spirals out of control is a problem for the globe. It is not just a problem for us. Democracy in India is a global public good. It is a central anchor for the planet. Because we are the only people who have managed democracy at the scale which we have…we are three times the size of Europe. And we have managed it for the last many decades. If that cracks…it is going to cause a problem for the planet. And that is what I think the US is realizing.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
