[Reader-list] FW: FW: ATTEMPT OF TARNISHING GUJARAT IMAGE

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Rajen

If you think that I am a Congress supporter, nothing can be far from the
truth. But yes, I do like the values which the Congress while it was
fighting the struggle for independence, be it the idea of socialism or
democracy. The Congress, as Ramachandra Guha once remakred, represents the
symptomatic decline of politics in India.

Also, I do agree that Nehru practised Muslim appeasement. But he did so not
out of being an appeaser, but because he didn't want Muslims in India to
feel threatened. The Congress under him was still democratic and the state
units could take decisions which Nehru would not like but had to adhere to.
It's his daughter Indira Gandhi who destroyed not only the Congress but
Indian politics.

If political parties today are turning into dynasty-breeding grounds, the
credit goes to Indira Gandhi. If Indian police, judiciary and administration
are extremely politicized today, it's because of Indira Gandhi. If today
corruption is one of the major problems of Indian polity, it's thanks to
Indira Gandhi. If today communalization of politics has taken place (to the
extent where the major opposition party to the Congress is the BJP), one
should thank Indira Gandhi for it. If there was one politician who made it
easier for politicians after her to indulge in extra-constitutional measures
and use armed intervention with no regard for human rights, it was Indira
Gandhi, through her Operation Bluestar. If there was one person who gave
rise to the concept of state-sponsored terrorism in South Asia (namely :
LTTE) it was Indira Gandhi (and RAW).

If Lal Bahadur Shaastri had not mysteriously died, the political history of
India would have been a lot different.

Rakesh