Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan continues to have his foot in his mouth. In his latest diatribe against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he has rhetorically asked whether Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif8217;s daughter could be a contender for Indian prime ministership if she married an Indian. The straight answer is: yes, under the Indian Constitution, she would indeed be eligible to contest for the post. She could even become prime minister if she won the election and got the support of a majority of the members of the Lok Sabha. Of course, in asking this silly question, Mahajan was trying to stress his party8217;s point that naturalised citizens should not be eligible for certain high posts in the country. However, he has used the wrong simile. Sharif is the head of government of a neighbouring state with which India has diplomatic, if not friendly, relations. There was no need to drag his or his daughter8217;s name into the election campaign when they had no connection with it. ACabinet minister holding a portfolio as important as Information and Broadcasting is expected to be more thoughtful and discreet in such matters. Who does not know that diplomatic etiquette demands that no such references are made in an election, which is entirely the internal affair of a country?
Obviously, Mahajan has not learnt any lesson from the flak he received for his reference to Monica Lewinsky in one of his election speeches in the early phase of the campaign. Whether or not he quot;comparedquot; the Congress chief with the former White House intern, it was certainly distasteful of him to have mentioned her name in the context in which he made it. All his subsequent explanations and quot;regretsquot; did not detract from the incalculable damage he caused to the BJP8217;s campaign by his thoughtless reference. Small wonder that it had forced Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and BJP president Kushabhau Thakre to advise party leaders not to indulge in personal attacks which didn8217;t redound to the credit of the party. Pastelections have conclusively proved that the use of undignified language never pays. In fact, Mahajan8217;s reference to Monica and Defence Minister George Fernandes8217; vituperation against Sonia Gandhi seem to have had the opposite effect, if the reaction from a cross-section of the people is anything to go by.
