For the week which passed (17/7/21-14) when I was alive on Planet Earth. And how clearly I remember reading the blank editorial in the Indian Express.
On the surface it was a big blank editorial but below it reverberated the subterranean anger of a billion people. The Indian Constitution and the fundamental rights of the Indian people had been buried by a megalomaniacal Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Her father, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had been imprisoned by the British as he was a freedom fighter who had fought the British in India's freedom struggle. His daughter however was obsessed with personal power which she refused to relinquish at any price; even at the cost of suspending the fundamental rights of the Indian citizen! While her father - the first Prime Minister of India was jailed by the British - his daughter Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took away their fundamental rights. It is hard to believe Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is the daughter of the first Prime Minister of India. Great story, isn't it? Only it isn't a story but history - something her father studied seriously for decades. Was Indira Gandhi ashamed of what she did, and did she convey the same to her son Rajiv Gandhi? Is this a closely-guarded family secret? Did Rahul Gandhi hear something which is not for the public's ear? When Rahul Gandhi announced a few days ago he will not change his mind, that he is not the Congress Party President it had a resonance and a whiff of history! Is he going to make a surgical strike on the Congress Party? Is he going to carve the super-corrupt Congress party, pretender and protector of democratic values into two? Can corruption and weakening of the economy because of it, strengthen democratic values? Isn't the Congress Party the biggest prostitute in the history of India? Unlike Grandmother her Grandson does not appear to be power crazy. If so, what is his vision of the new Congress Party? Whatever it is, it cannot be old wine in a new bottle. But does he have a vision? Prime Minister Narendra Modi often reminds his critics and the Indian people rightfully of The Emergency. It was a Prime Minister of the Congress Party who betrayed the people of India and destroyed democratic rights enshrined in the constitution. And, not the BJP! His critics say he has introduced an unofficial emergency which is an exaggeration even though in some parts of India there is a great increase in violence. And the media has been bought lock, stock, and barrel. By whom? The silver lining is the coinage of a neologism, a beautiful word: pressitute! We need to be reminded of The Emergency or history will repeat itself. And we need to thank Narendra Modi for his timely reminders. We simply cannot pretend The Emergency did not happen!
