Had Karamjit Singh’s bullet hit Rajiv Gandhi at the Raj Ghat Memorial, India would have been plunged into an unprecedented crisis. But fortunately the stars were kind to Rajiv and India, the former getting another lease of life and the latter escaping probably the worst hour of its trial. Nevertheless the Raj Ghat Memorial incident has sent shock waves throughout India, What happens to India tomorrow, nobody knows and that is the alarming part of the Raj Ghat Memorial message.
What should worry India most is the fact that never before has its destiny been inseparably linked with an individual as it is today. Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and India were synonymous, yet none of the leader’s demise deviated India from its course or cast any shadow over the country’s future, Rajiv Gandhi is nowhere near the caliber of his predecessors, yet his removal from the scene at this stage could land India in all sorts of troubles, This explains India’s plight and dilemma. For an unwildly country like India, it is a dangerous situation to be in.
It remains an inexplicable phenomenon why democratic India’s ‘nursery of leaders’ has gone barrer over the years. When Nehru passed into history India had a host of leaders to replace the departed Indian legend. Mr. Shastri’s succession was perhaps the mast democratic decision in Indian history. ‘A ‘Commoner’ was given preference over the Congress “Elite”. It was democracy at its best.
MAJOR BLOW
But Indira’s premature accession to power, as the later events proved was an equally misconceived decision on the part of the Congress hierarchy. As it was to be expected it caused a split in the Congress, thus delivering the first major blow to democracy in India, Secondly, Indira’s style of rule did Not encourage growth of leadership both in the opposition and Congress itself, While her long tenure (spreading over three terms) witnessed the gradual elimination of the old guards there was hardly a replacement to fill the vacuum, Finally stage was reached when except for Indira Gandhi there was no other leader of national stature visible on the Indian scene, Today the situation is far worse. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi the Congress brought forward Rajiv to stem the rot. But what will be India’s future if anything tragic happens to Rajiv? How long will India depend on the Gandhi a charisma to hold itself?
Together? In any case Rajiv Gandhi’s the last proud inheritor of this image spell. Since the Raj Ghat Memorial incident, this is haunting the mind of an average Indian.
As the Indian leadership has: degenerated the country’s problems have proportionately assumed alarming proportions. It is now evident that it was a big mistake to have stormed the Golden Temple and that Indira did not correctly evaluate the far reaching implications of her action. Since then the Sikh militants have repeatedly rocked the Indian Dominion. They have already eliminated Indira, Longowal, Gen, and Vaidya, top in their hit list, besides India came perilously close to a disaster when Rajiv narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at the Raj Ghat Memorial.
Rajiv’s bid to come to terms with Sikhs has been thwarted partly by the obduracy of Hindu Haryana State and partly by the inadequacy of his reconciliation moves. The storming of the Golden Temple and the massacre of the Sikhs in the wake of Indira’s assassination have inflicted a deep ‘wound on the martial Sikh’ pride, It needed an equally great gesture to pacify the inflamed Sikh passions, The Haryana accord, even if implemented, is east likely to full fill the Sikhs’ expectations. Unfortunately like his late mother, Rajiv now seems to be seeking a military solution to the problem, The extensive campaign launched against the Sikh militants in Punjab points to this, Speaking to a reporter after the Raj Ghat Memorial incident, Mr. Rajiv said: “Our drive against them has made the Sikhs desperate.” It is doubted that making them desperate is the solution to the problem”.
Moreover, it will not be wise to seek solution of the ‘Sikh issue in isolation, The Gorkha agitation for a separate homeland is growing. Nagaland, though quiet at the moment remains a potential spot for all kinds of trouble. The Sikh agitation will have its impact on other states of the Indian Dominion. Westminster style democracy has worked well where there have been few linguistic and cultural barriers. British democracy has never confronted the nationality issue, something which has started ‘eroding the Indian democracy. Perhaps India, one day, may find an answer to its problems in the ‘American style system, where most of the powers are vested with the states.
PAKINDIA TIES
Problem ridden at home, India has found it difficult to set up tension free relations with its neighbours. Pak India ties are now virtually hostage to the Sikh issue. The intensification or otherwise of the Sikh agitation has reflected on Pak India ties. The accusation that Karamjit Singh was trained in Pakistan has introduced another irritant in the two countries’ relations. India is a big enough state to afford strained relations with its neighbours. But it cannot ignore the home scene, The Indians should guard against ‘one man show” display. Indira symbolized this approach in its extreme form and carried it to an extreme end.
Unfortunately, Rajiv is following suit and if there is no change in his method of rule there will be very little to distinguish between Rajiv’s India and Indira’s India.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 24, 1986
