Opinion Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification: Who is really to blame for the decline of civility in politics?

In his article, M Rajivlochan warns that non-compliance with a court’s conviction of Rahul Gandhi will lead to a free-for-all where might is right. Is the writer not aware that the free-for-all has already begun, with civility becoming a casualty?

rahul gandhi, rahul gandhi disqualification

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi waves at supporters as he leaves from Surat District Court after filing an appeal challenging his conviction and sentencing in the 2019 criminal defamation case over the 'Modi surname' remark, in Surat, Monday, April 3, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Prem Singh

April 4, 2023 12:58 PM IST First published on: Apr 4, 2023 at 12:58 PM IST

M Rajivlochan’s article ‘An attack on civility’ (IE, March 30) has been published in response to the newspaper’s lead editorial of March 25, titled ‘Disqualified’. The editorial was about the cancellation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s membership of Parliament after his conviction by a Surat court in a defamation case. In the opinion of the newspaper, the swift action against Rahul Gandhi is yet another example of a politics of vindictiveness. The newspaper also opined that this action is another bad sign for a democracy. Disagreeing with the editorial, Rajivlochan has suggested that a better title for the editorial would have been ‘Deservedly Disqualified’ — which means, Rahul Gandhi should have been put in the dock for his disqualification, not the government.

Registering disagreement with the editorial, the author has served some assumptions about politics, the judicial system and civility in society, which can only be termed as surprising. Before proceeding further, I would like to make it clear that as a citizen, on the basis of the Constitution, and as a political worker, on the basis of socialist ideology, I am opposed to the politics of Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. I also see no point in lumping together Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal, as Rajivlochan has done in his article. My political belief is that the semiological universe of the RSS/BJP, the Congress and most of the political parties involved in the game of power is the same. This universe is formed by the nexus of corporate-communal-criminal forces — even if there is a difference of some degrees between these parties and leaders on this account.

Rajivlochan says in his article, “Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi seemed to be willing to make specific accusations that would actually torture the honour and dignity of other people on false grounds.” The article is about Rahul Gandhi. The editorial to which it was responding was also written regarding the question of Rahul Gandhi’s conviction and disqualification arising out of it. But Rajivlochan seems to have included Arvind Kejriwal in the later part of his article so that it does not appear that Rahul Gandhi, a “liar”, is the only target. The author further says, “No other political leader in India does this. At least I don’t know of anyone else who insists that their accusations against others are correct, especially since they have no evidence to back the accusations.” According to this assumption, the rest of the country’s politics and leaders should be considered beyond reproach. For those suffering from depression due to the present political decline in India, the author has presented this great recipe!

Before saying all this, the author has also stated in the article that allegations and counter-allegations have been common phenomena in the speeches of leaders in India. Their audience enjoys it. In the era of “wild TV news channels”, this enjoyment of the people reaches its zenith “even while everyone tut-tuts about the decline in standards of public discourse.” This means that by taking advantage of this trend of allegations and counter-allegations, Rahul Gandhi has deliberately committed the “crime” of degrading the honour and dignity of the people and the court has done the right thing by punishing him. His expulsion from Parliament is also right. Needless to say, this is the RSS/BJP line about Rahul Gandhi.

Rajivlochan probably does not consider Narendra Modi a leader, but, like many others, he seems to consider him the Messiah. Therefore, what Modi says about others is beyond reproach for the author. Otherwise, has the author not heard the speeches of Narendra Modi, as a chief minister and then as the Prime Minister? Mentioning only two things will be sufficient, without opening the box of his statements about dead and living persons, or about communities. One, by saying “nothing happened in the last 65 years” again and again, the achievements of independent India have been undermined over and over. Further, great disservice has been done to citizens, dead and alive, who had done their work with integrity and honesty in nation-building. Two, saying that “before now it was considered a shame to be born in India”, while on foreign trips, is a direct attack on the honour and dignity of the motherland. The propaganda that “the country has really got freedom now”, which started with Modi becoming the Prime Minister, has not stopped yet —even if it insults the countless Indians who sacrificed a lot during the country’s long struggle for independence.

It is a good thing that the author has full faith in the country’s judicial system, despite the “mysterious” nature of its decisions. He believes that disobeying the court’s decision is weakening the fabric of justice that is responsible for maintaining civility in society. The author warns that in case of non-compliance with the court’s decision, the gates will be open for a free-for-all situation where the norm of might is right would prevail. Does the author really not know that civility has already become a victim of a “free-for-all” in society? Is he really ignorant of the elements involved in eradicating civility from society?

It is a matter of regret that even scholars of history and political science often fail to show a mature understanding of complex reality. It is not only TV channels that provide hyper-excitement, day and night, in the name of news, thereby lowering the level of political discourse. Scholars are also not performing their role properly in this matter. This article by Rajivlochan is an indication of the same worrying phenomenon.

The writer, who is associated with the socialist movement, is a former teacher at Delhi University and a former fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla