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Journalism of Courage
It is time again for Congress organisational elections and Sonia Gandhi rests assured of being elected Congress party President unopposed. This is hardly surprising given the way she has conducted the party affairs during all the years of her presidency. Her greatest achievement has been binding the party together and for the first time in more than a decade, we are witnessing the entire rank and file of Congress closing its ranks behind the President. Despite of this, one thing that I find quite remarkable is the way she takes the elections for Congress Presidency.
She is far above making a fuss or harbouring any ill-will if anyone should decide to run the election against her. This was evident when late Jitendra Prasada filed his nomination for Congress Presidency against Sonia Gandhi in the previous elections.Of course she went on to become Congress President, but even after Prasada’s unfortunate demise, she did not have any prejudices against the only man ever to challenge her to Congress Presidency.
Father figure
Everybody remembers late Sunil Dutt as legendary actor, a compassionate social worker and politician, and a champion of secularism. But few people know Dutt in his real-life role as a resolute and doting father. When his son Sanjay was languishing in jail, I remember how Dutt Saab toiled day and night to bail him out despite being under attacks from a hostile media.
I had the opportunity to be part of his efforts to rescue Sanjay, not only in the government circles but also in the legal battles. And he let it be known that while he was convinced that Sanju was wrong on certain counts, he was equally hurt that Sanju was being wronged and made to suffer for actions he did not commit. Dutt Saab believed that a former Police Commissioner of Bombay acting at the behest of a Maharashtra politician had implicated Sanjay for wrong reasons.
However, the father stood resolutely in his son’s support, openly confessing his son’s mistakes but never faltering on his belief that Sanju was wrongly implicated. He fought a long, hard battle and as if the mental agony of going through all this was not enough, the ever mounting legal costs crippled him financially. Dutt Saab didn’t earn a single rupee from politics. At the end of it all, when Sanju had been in jail for 50 weeks, when elder daughter Namrata was staying with him along with her husband Kumar Gaurav, and when legal battles demanded steady supply of funds, he was left with no choice but to give away his bungalow to a builder for a multi-storeyed complex. A home that he had built with Nargis was demolished to sustain finances for the ongoing fight for his son, and today a high-rise stands in place of it, substituting many storeys for one romantic story. Dutt Saab later lived in a small flat in an adjacent building.
I still remember during Sanjay’s struggle when we approached the then Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiyya for intervention. He confided to me moments later, ‘‘Though I have heard so many bad things about his son in media, but his father’s resoluteness and unflinching efforts have impressed me. I have never seen such a doting father and I have to help him.’’
Siachen meltdown
One more round of talks have begun to end the troop deployment on Siachen frontier in Kashmir. I think both India and Pakistan should take advantage of improving sensibilities on both sides and press for an urgent end to this costly extravagance of man and money. The Siachen frontier is rated as one of the most inhospitable places to live, let alone fight. It is distinctly inhuman to keep losing our loyal soldiers not to enemy’s bullets, but to hostile weather. While most of the troops posted at Siachen barely survive, those who are fortunate to return alive are also crippled with lifelong diseases. Siachen is hardly a place deserving of a standoff for both neighbours and I would be glad if it is soon declared as a demilitarized zone. Now that relations are improving, both sides should be willing to give up whatever strategic advantage the place offers.
The writer is a Congress MP from Rajya Sabha. He can be reached at shuklarajeev@gmail.com
