Rahul’s ‘Foot in the Mouth Syndrome’

Learner at large

Rahul needs to read a bit of history

Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070417/edit.htm#1

CONGRESS MP Rahul Gandhi suffers from the foot-in-the-mouth syndrome. Every time he makes a statement, he lands the Congress in an embarrassing situation. His latest assertion that the Nehru-Gandhi family does what it promises has created a controversy. He says the family not only got the country its freedom but also got Pakistan vivisected. The Pakistan government has rightly taken umbrage at his statement as he belongs to the “ruling family” and the “ruling party”. Earlier, he embarrassed all the Congressmen associated with the Narasimha Rao government when he said that if the Nehru family was in power, Babri Masjid would not have been demolished. All this suggests he does not have a proper understanding of history.

For instance, take the case of Mr Gandhi’s reference to the creation of Bangladesh. Unwittingly or otherwise, he has repeated what General Yahya Khan and his successor Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had alleged at that time that India was instrumental in the division of Pakistan. The young MP seems to have no clue that the people of East Pakistan had got so fed up with being second-class citizens that they gave a massive mandate to the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Instead of respecting their verdict, the ruling clique went to the extent of tricking the Sheikh to come to Islamabad only to be incarcerated in a jail where even a grave was dug for him. When the Pakistani Army unleashed atrocities against the people of East Pakistan, lakhs of them poured into India as refugees. They were provided all possible humanitarian assistance. It was only when Pakistan launched a war against India that it retaliated. This is what his grandmother had all along told the world.

Mr Gandhi’s statement also amounts to showing disrespect to the people of Bangladesh, who had to sacrifice a lot to gain freedom. The role the Mukti Bahini played in the creation of Bangladesh can be written only in letters of gold in the history of Bangladesh. By ignoring all these historical truths and claiming credit for the vivisection of Pakistan, the young MP has exposed his utter ignorance. It is a different matter that the day he made this controversial statement Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extolled him as the future of Uttar Pradesh. If the future of UP is indeed in Mr Rahul Gandhi’s hands, the state rightly deserves the fullest sympathy of the nation.

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