editorial

India’s Freedom is not for Sale

THE aam admi, the common man about whom neither Sonia Gandhi nor her chosen Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh are tired of talking is slipping out of the agenda. It is the realpolitik that now leads the United Progressive Alliance government in India, nay the Congress government. The partners in the government or the Left parties supporting the government from outside do not mean anything except as the prime minister recently said “some necessary noises”.  This despite that Congress after to power had lost elections in several states and even a coalition government in Karnataka this month. It is not worried about its impending defeat in West Bengal and Kerala.  We are told that this is in the best interest of the party as one day, the country would realise its value and vote for it as did during 1985 polls when Rajiv Gandhi triumphed home with four fifth majority.  People would be soon be very sick of all other parties including the Left and the only choice would be Congress under Rahul Gandhi, fourth generation scion of the Nehru- Gandhi family. So do not hark on coalition dharma and all that.

So make as many shifts the government wishes to please the American bosses. Take deals with America on nuclear programme or vote on Iran at the coming meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Make small noises when Americans openly twist the arms by telling cancel the oil deals with Syria, which India and China have jointed struck or stop moving even an inch towards the gas pipeline project from Iran to India via Pakistan.  A coward government follows the dictates or what other message is there in Divesting   Mani Shankar Aiyar, from the petroleum and gas ministry where public and media had judged his work as the best among the cabinet ministers. Not only that a business tycoon close to private oil sector Murli Deora has replaced him.

Aiyar's laudable initiative to draw up a long-term road map for achieving energy security has been frowned upon by the U.S. The Prime Minister and his coterie have left none in doubt that U.S. pressure works in portfolio allocation too. A dangerous sign for democracy indeed!

India will cast its ballot once again against Teheran if it is called upon to make a choice, but if it would like to avoid a vote on the Iranian nuclear issue at the February 2-3 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

This is the proverbial  "writing was on the wall."  India, ideally, would want to be bailed out by a last-minute compromise deal; it would not alter its pro-American, anti-Iran vote of September 24, 2005 at the IAEA's governing board.  Manmohan Singh's decision to retain the External Affairs portfolio, despite Cabinet expansion, is significant.

Conceding that the Government's decision became more difficult after the recent comments by American ambassador David Mulford that India's civilian nuclear deal with the United States would "die" if New Delhi did not vote against Iran, the officials maintain India’s stance remained unchanged since September 2005.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had to go to satisfy the same lobby and the pretext was the Volkar Committee Report. Why there has been no action against 25 big Indian business houses that had clandestine and other deals with the deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. No independent minded self respecting minister, please. And, we are pleased to have a bunch of tainted or inefficient ministers like the law minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj or Shivraj Patil or even A.R.Antulay.  Bhardwaj is there for refreezing Ottavio Quattrocchi’s bank accounts in London and doing other biddings and manipulating judicial process. It is another matter that the ghost of Bofors once again there to haunt Sonia Gandhi and her Congress party. Yardstick was neither efficiency, nor drive for new ideas and nor age, it was loyalty and sycophancy.

Indeed as the latest expansion with the addition of 19 members showed the Congress prefers loyalty to efficiency. In fact, it is sycophancy that each Congress ruler has admired among his subjects. Such leaders are neither saviours of democracy nor protectors of sovereignty or freedom won after years of struggle.  The aam admi who participated in that glorious struggle and made huge sacrifices shall not allow that.