NEW DELHI, India: There were few cheers for the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, On his Independence Day speech at Red Fort. His address, one of the longest ever, droned on for about 70 minutes.
“This is one of the dullest speeches I’ve ever heard,” said an old freedom fighter. “And I’ve been Coming here every year”.
The boredom everyone in the audience talked of seemed to have been prepared. Mr. Gandhi was reading from a written text, or at least consulting extensive notes. After his faux pas last year when he referred to Independence Day as Republic Day, someone had decided not to take chances.
Mr. Gandhi’s address steered clear of the raging controversies of the day. “The speech has every Cliche in the book”, said one journalist.
For over an hour as the speech continued, the audience sat looking up at the VIPs on the ramparts; the VIPs sat looking down at the audience. The minsters were attentive as duty, the diplomats as protocol.
A short while after the speech began, many formalists stopped taking notes. Many started a counting game — how often did Mr. Rajiv Gandhi say “hum dekhenge’”?
For most of the time, the audience had at least something else to see. This was a couple that sat below a minard on the ramparts, besides the VIPs. They chatted to one another constantly and nudged one another occasionally. “It’s not news, but at least it’s some life,” another journalist said.
Some of the pauses during the speech were filled in with a little cheering. Most of this was done by school children who had come set to applaud the Prime Minister.
Even so, there was not a moment of wholehearted cheering. Just a bit here, now and then.
The highlights of the morning at Red Fort were the two helicopters that passed overhead, one of them showering confetti, the 21gun salute and the balloons at the end of it.
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was sitting at the corner in the front row, closest to the bulletproof from where Mr. Gandhi was speaking. Mr. Balram Jakhar was sitting to her left.
Mr. Rajiv Gandhi stayed behind bulletproof glass most of the time. The traditional stroll past the guests’ enclosure was dropped this time. He whizzed past in a bulletproof Ambassador car when he arrived. He whizzed past in his bulletproof jeep when he left.
Many Congress (I) supporters were disappointed. For them it was a stale stuff after the high-profile buildup for the 40th Independence Day celebrations.
At the end of the “Jai Hind” call, it was clear that the celebration was over.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 28, 1987
