Is Sonia an honorary Hindu ?

Bharat has had a succession of foreign born friends and allies in the past and will continue to do so. Among the women one can easily remember the names of two illustrious women in the Independence era, the intrepid Annie Besant who fought for Bharat’s freedom from colonial rule and Margaret Noble who took the name of Sister Nivedita when she became a disciple of the Ramakrishna Mission and its leading exponent Swami Vivekananda.

But today among the better known women’s names no one comes to mind that has comparable stature. Indeed, in the opinion of the present writer some have debased the standards set by such figures as Besant and Margaret Noble. We have the Congress icon who not only rose to power without much effort or commitment on her part but who seems to have co operated with the cynical  Congress attempt at a makeover.

Readers are by now familiar with the story of Sonia’s fake educational qualifications:
for the longest time the public had been misled into thinking that she holds a degree from Cambridge University(U.K.). when in fact she had been enrolled in a language teaching
school in the town of Cambridge. In effect, reports by reliable researchers , state that she does not have anything higher than a high school diploma from her native Italy. Now, there is nothing wrong in being only a high school diploma holder. Millions of  decent people the world over are just that.Many more millions have done and will continue to be honourable and productive citizens of their societies.

It is the element of deception that is unworthy of an icon. Then there are the shady associations with people of questionable character such as Quattrochi, the entire Bofors scandal which will not go away despite legalisms, the somewhat unusual alliance with members of parties that were linked to the assassination of her husband and so on. . . . .

However, the most disgraceful deception was politically motivated and no doubt inspired by stalwarts of the Congress party. But the fact that the icon went along with this deception speaks to her character (or lack thereof) in the opinion of this writer.

Nearing election time she visited Tirupati temple, a red flag if ever there was one. Sonya has been described as a devout Roman Catholic, but on this occasion the word was put out that she was not a practising Catholic. Further, and this is the most schocking of all, she was coached to utter one of the great  ancient sayings of Hinduism:  Ekam satyam, vipraha bahudha vadanti(Truth is one , the wise pursue it variously). This was reported in India Today,Feb.1,1999. The writer of the article narrated the story as if it were a plus in the Sonia record of dissembling !

This too, might have been acceptable, if Sonya genuinely believed in the truths of the
Hindu faith. This is clearly not the case, because as a dedicated monotheist she cannot accept that any other religion can show the way. To her Jesus would be the only way, the truth and the light.

Again,had she stuck to her belief in Jesus she would have commanded the respect of people.
Afterall, Bharat is a democratic country and the Hindus are known for their religious toleration. But once again this attempt at deception(deceiving the majority Hindu public) is the key feature amongst many others. Some of that story has been unraveled. More will come as the people of Bharat begin to ask leading questions  which deserve honest answers. It is not a pleasant story.

Does such a person deserve to be placed in the gallery of honorable Bharatiya figures?
It is not just that Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion . Bharat deserves better.

(The writer is a Political Philosopher and taught at a Canadian university)

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