Daddy
is in doldrums, and the dutiful daughter has come out
with the helping hand— what daughter would not! A dotting
father, Pandit Jawaharlal, should feel highly elated
to find his one and only daughter, Mrs. Indira Gandhi
attempting to extricate 'papa' from the coils in which
he is caught. So, out goes the daughter, to offer suggestions
for recovery and plans for resurrections. Daddy is in
doldrums because, the Congress party has been fast losing
its hold over the masses. True, Pandit Nehru, is still
the mass-charmer—but now-a-days, he is called upon to
play the tune too often—and that with diminishing returns!
The masses do hiss, now and then, and the charmer is
tired, worried, sometimes dismayed.
Pandit Nehru plans grandiloquently—but the finances
available being meagre and fast dwindling, he is asked
by stark reality to heave a sigh and make feverish efforts
to save at least the core of the plan!
Pandit Nehru as presented a rosy picture about the success
of the first plan—especially on the food front—but the
people find, desolation threatening them.
"What has become of those 'Statistics' about the
increased food production?" asks the Pandit, and
the answer comes quick, "they are being studied
anew, and we would be in a position to find out in a
short while, how and why these statistics, have become
faulty, unreliable." "To what heights have
I raised the hopes? And how woefully are they being
shattered!"—thinks the Pandit and naturally he
is depressed.
At least, Gauhati should have give the much-needed vim
and vigour—but no, these elephants and rhinos, damn
these animals, they have spoiled the whole show! So
Daddy is depressed! And as if briefed by that hard Master
'Time', to tease the Pandit, there arose this Mundhra
affair! Oh! Yes! Much depressed! And Mrs. Indira Gandhi,
scented this sorry state of affairs, long before this
lamentable Mundhra affair, and as a dutiful daughter,
and a true patriot, attempts to extricate daddy from
the doldrums! Delightful Mrs. India Gandhi! It is indeed
a delightful sight but, 'be prepared for a shock, the
attempt is sincere, but the results are not going to
alleviate papa! For, believe us when we say, that the
situation is beyond redemption—the disease is too deeply
seated, palliatives are of no use.
There is a press report that Mrs. Indira Gandhi, a member
of the Congress Working Committee called on Congress
workers to develop their thinking capacity!
A more dangerous suggestion could not have emanated—even
from the worst enemy of the Congress. Asking Congressmen
to develop their thinking capacity. Oh! God! What a
dangerous suggestion!!
Are you imagining Mrs. Gandhi, that the moment Congress
workers develop their thinking capacity, they would
remain in that camp? Certainly not!
"Although ten years had passed since India attained
freedom, she was sorry that many of the problems which
confronted the people had not been solved"
It is reported in the "Times of India", that
Mrs. Indira Gandhi has stated thus!
Ten years have passed—No tangible results!
When this is the state of affairs, how could Madame,
ask Congressmen to develop their thinking capacity?
Where would it lead to? Would they not ask, why are
the problems unsolved? We have vested unquestioned and
unrivalled powers in the hands of leaders—Daddy above
all others—and yet problems remain unsolved. And why?
Are they not capable of that? Do they find themselves
unfit for that task? Are they just indifferent? Or,
are they cajoled by some sirens, into complacency? What
is the cause?
Would not the Congress workers, begin to question—if
as per Madame's advice they develop their thinking capacity?
And after that, where would that process lead to? To
frustration! To disillusionment! And then? Oh! We shudder
to think—it is just throwing daddy into something more
dirty than doldrums!
The report points out, "Mrs. Gandhi also deplored
the growing tendency among Congress workers to be mere
YES-MEN."
It is just because of this fact, that 'Papa' is allowed
to rush from one folly into another, and present rhapsodies
as explanations. Dutiful daughter, as Madame is, should
it fall to her lot to unwittingly undermine 'papa's'
pedestal—the moment the Congress workers cease to be
yes-men, the pedestal comes tottering down! That surely
is not the way to extricate Daddy from the doldrums.
Mrs. Indira Gandhi should have tasted the bitterness,
then and there itself. Some of those assembled there,
began thinking—aloud!
Several workers drew attention to the growing unpopularity
of the Congress and said that the national organisation
was fast losing its hold on the masses.
A worker wondered how many of the Congress workers had
understood the meaning and implications of the socialistic
pattern of society, and complained that many paid lip
sympathy to this ideal. He said that the Congress was
fast giving up the glorious traditions handed down to
the people by Mahatma Gandhi.
Another worker was critical of the policy of the Congress
in regard to middle class. He said that Congress workers
were only interested in personal publicity.
To what lengths, they would go, if they develop their
thinking capacity, could be gauged by these remarks.
And Madame, wants them to think, and also to carry the
message to every lane and by-lane!
Carry what? That the Congress has become unpopular!
That they pay but lip sympathy to socialism! That they
have not been good towards the middle classes!!
Surely, carrying these 'messages' to the lanes and by-lanes,
is to court chaos—nothing short of it. In her anxiety
to be of some service to papa—a very natural and much-to-be
appreciated sentiment—Mrs. Gandhi, is not only attempting
the impossible, but is offering a method that would
aggravate the situation and quicken the pace for the
final chapter!
Daddy is certainly in doldrums, but the prescription
is worse that the disease! Daddy needs, Yes-men, all
around, more! Daddy finds himself in doldrums, just
because, here and there some raise up their voice of
protest against the policies adumbrated by him. To ask
all to develop the thinking capacity and to carry the
message to lanes and by-lanes, is not the solution—no—it
is too dangerous an attempt.
Madame would not have seen lanes and by-lanes—the dirt,
the squalor, the hunger, the cruelty, there! Sometimes,
'papa' sends his men there, just to shoot them down—as
in Bhangi Colony at Delhi. At other times, he himself
goes to such places, to offer solace to widows and orphans,
and to assure them that there would not be an unnecessary
increase in such 'shootings' during the second and third
plans as the amount earmarked for ammunition would be
cut down, and diverted to other useful channels.
These lanes and by-lanes, Madame, are not fit places,
for receiving those 'messages'. Better confine them
to seminars and consultative committees.
We are sorry Mrs. Gandhi, is thus, attempting the impossible.
The situation is not as simple as Madame imagines it
to be. The dirt is not skin-deep, to be washed away
by a liberal use of lux! Let us quote a notable's words,
to substantiate or statement.
Mr. N.V.Gadgil, Vice-Chairman of the State Bank, Bombay,
addressing the Students' Union of the Department of
Economics, Sociology, Civics and Politics and Statistics
of the Bombay University said:-
"The Congress then (40 years ago) was out of bounds
for wealth and pomp. To-day it is out of bounds for
honesty and poverty. The traditions then were of struggle
with no prospect of office or sacrifice. To-day it was
no longer one of struggle. It is a scramble for power
and position."
(Editorial
- 23-02-1958)