The Congress’s reluctance to take positions forthright on issues of minorities has always been taken note of by leaders, but rarely spoken aloud in public. On Saturday, Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor did so, in his intervention at the AICC plenary in Raipur, giving his party a blunt message: to speak out on issues of minorities and work on “Congress jodo”.
Without mincing his words, Tharoor told the party in his seven-minute speech to be “absolutely clear” in its ideological stance in favour of inclusive India.
“The tendency to downplay some positions or avoid taking a stand on some issues in order not to alienate what we assume to be the sentiments of the majority only plays into the BJP’s hands. We must have courage of our conviction. We could have been more vocal on the Bilkis Bano outrage, attacks on Christian churches, murders in the name of cow vigilantism, bulldozer demolition of Muslim homes and similar issues,” Tharoor, who fought the polls for the Congress presidency last year, said.
“These are India citizens who look to us for support. India is of all Indians. If we don’t speak out in such cases we are only surrendering our core responsibility of standing up for India’s diversity and pluralism, which should be central to the Congress’s core message. We need to make every effort possible to strengthen the secular democratic roots of our country,” he added.
“The fact is that India’s future is bright as long as the Congress fights the good fight,” Tharoor said.
Asserting that the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra was a huge success and has revived the confidence of party cadres, he also said that now, from the Raipur plenary, “let us send out a message of Congress jodo”.
On economic policies too, the Thiruvananthapuram MP called for clarity on what the Congress stands for. “We should outline the elements of a progressive economic policy agenda that addresses head on… the challenge of unacceptable inequality in the country. The truth is that rampant crony capitalism is concentrating wealth in the hands of a few friends of the ruling regime and is damaging the economy, leading to massive problems of rising unemployment and diminished futures for young Indians. We must launch a direct assault on inequality and its causes,” he said.
Tharoor called for the Congress to work towards ensuring free public healthcare, universal school and higher education, a decent basic income for the poor, higher minimum wage, strengthening MGNREGA, increased MSPs, decent housing for all, removal of hunger and reduction of unemployment.
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“Of course we need to specify in practical terms how we will ensure all these, and be confident of our numbers. At the same time we should reassure those who fear we are anti-business… that we stand by the liberalisation measures that were the gift of a Congress government to the nation, but along with a strong commitment to social justice,” he said.
“We want economic growth but we must ensure that the fruits of that growth reach the poor and the marginalised. We know that the magic of the market will not appeal to those who cannot afford to enter the marketplace. We must lift the poor up so that they can enjoy the full benefits of our economy,” Tharoor added.
“India will not shine until it shines for all and business people have a crucial role to play as wealth generators and job creators,” he said.
Tharoor also made a pitch for the Congress to appeal to the urban middle class – considered a BJP support base. “In urban India we must speak for the necessities that basic urban voters lack”, Tharoor said, such as public utilities like city transport, good roads, affordable housing, clean drinking water, decent education in government schools. “All of this requires our voice as well,” he said.
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On international affairs, Tharoor pointed out that foreign policy was long seen as an area of national consensus, “in which there was no Congress foreign policy or BJP foreign policy, only Indian foreign policy and Indian national interests”. “This tradition has sadly been undermined by the Modi government which speaks ill of its predecessors abroad and refuses to take the nation into confidence on vital foreign policy issues, including what is happening on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) with China.”
The Congress leader added: “It is shocking to hear our Foreign Minister say or imply that China is too rich to stand up to. We must demand that Parliament be taken into confidence, that the nation be told what is our thinking on vital national security interests. Foreign policy must again return to being a consensual national endeavour with bipartisan agreement and support.”
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