Saturday, January 03, 2009

Politics with martyr's blood

It looks like Indian politicians and political parties will never rise from the political mire they love to indulge in. The opprobrious manner in which our political fraternity behaved during the action on the roads and iconic buildings of the 'city of dreams' is a standing example of the unethical – and true – face of Indian politicians.

When the entire nation was mourning on the last day of the gruesome terror attack in Mumbai on November 29, the two major political parties Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were busy sledging. Eying the Delhi and Rajasthan assembly elections, the BJP issued huge newspapers advertisements, accusing Congress of being “soft on terror”. Congress retaliated by saying BJP is trying to “milk a national tragedy”. For Congress, strengthening its hold on the traditional minority and backward community vote banks is crucial. And the BJP is trying to woo the backward communities and even a part of the minority vote bank using the national tragedy as a powerful tool.

The point both lost is simple: the people of India hated this sledging. They were disgusted with the politicians, one and all, and this provoked the mass protests, silent but explosive at the same time. SMSes ran thick and fast: “Tell Raj Thakrey that the 200 NSGs were not Marathi manoos, but south and north Indian bhaiyyas, sent to ensure that he sleeps well,” was perhaps the most poignant one.

And it was Raj who (it seems) first realised the mass disgust and chided the BJP for playing politics with the blood of martyrs. He had a word of praise too for Congress boss Sonia Gandhi in this context. But she herself stooped as low as she could: insiders say she was furious when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly asked leader of the Opposition LK Advani to visit Mumbai jointly. That would be the perfect gesture in a democracy facing a national crisis. But Gandhi wanted nothing of that… may be Advani would hijack the prime ministerial platform to denounce Congress? In a glaring show of partisanism, she decided that she would accompany Singh.....Continue

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