THIS ABOVE ALL
The Parivar cracks up
Khushwant Singh
AN
example of shooting oneself in the foot is what the National Democratic
Alliance, led by the BJP, is doing to itself. The principal axe wielder
is L. K. Advani, once its number two man after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Other members of the
Sangh Parivar were quick to denounce him and a few ditched the alliance
in search of greener pastures. The Shiv Sena, one of the main allies, is
on the endangered list nearing extinction. Bal Thackeray has been
reduced to a toothless tiger. His son and nephew are snarling at each
other to grab the gaddi. Neither is of any consequence. One can
safely presume that the NDA now exists only on paper.
Though many people,
including me, sighed with relief when the Parivar was rejected by the
electorate at the last General Election. We hoped it would regroup
itself to become a viable non-communal Opposition based on programmes
for economic and social advancement shorn of inflammatory appeals to
religious emotions.
It has failed to do so.
So far its role has been negative. Its aim has been to sow seeds of
discord between individuals and parties of the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) led by Manmohan Singh.
It has tried to
belittle the Prime Minister as being a "yes man" of the real
ruler, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.
It has failed in its
attempts to provoke Manmohan Singh to show Sonia her proper place, as it
has failed to shake her confidence in the Prime Minister she chose.
Its next tactic is to
try to break the government’s alliance with the Leftist parties.
Though the Communists periodically indulge in a certain amount of
armtwisting, they are well aware that if they take matters too far, they
will lose the opportunity to become a nationwide party, instead of
remaining confined largely to West Bengal.
Despite the noises they
make, they remain firm in their support to the government.
One can understand the
frustration in the ranks of the NDA, but it is difficult to understand
the way it acted in the last session of Parliament. Rushing into the
well of the House: raising slogans and staging walkout was not the best
way to refurbish its image.
It had every right to
criticise the inclusion of ministers tainted with corruption (it had its
own quota of them when in power), but it would have been better done in
a House functioning properly. Its behaviour further lowered its image in
the eyes of the people.
It is time the NDA,
particularly the BJP, seriously considered retiring the aged leaders and
replacing them with a younger lot. It has quite a few able men and women
of unquestioned integrity who could take over: To name a few, there are
Jaswant Singh, Vijayaraje Scindia, Arun Jaitely, Arun Shourie and Sushma
Swaraj. Not all of them have a national image, but fostered by elder
statesmen like Vajpayee and Advani, they could gain nationwide
acceptance as responsible leaders of the Opposition, and if the tide of
fortune turns in their favour, as rulers of the country.
Jumping the queue
"Wait for your
turn and don’t jump the queue," I told my only sister three years
ago. She had been in and out of the hospital with some ailment or the
other and looked downcast most of the time.
When she caught the
meaning of my remark, a wan smile lit up her face. However, she ignored
my advice and died on July 2.
Jumping the queue has
become a bad habit among my siblings. The first to go was the youngest,
Daljit. He was the best among us both in sports and studies. He had a
promising career in politics and became an MLA in the Delhi Legislative
Assembly before he was 30.
"One day I will be
like you in my car with a red light on top of the bonnet and the
national flag fluttering on the side," he told our mother. He was
my mother’s favourite child. Perhaps she was missing him and sent for
him before his time.
My sister Mahinder
Jaspal Singh was three years older than him. She was my father’s
favourite. Maybe he was feeling lonely without her and persuaded her to
jump the queue. That leaves the three elder brothers waiting patiently
in the line till their time comes.
Far too often we assume
that the older go first, the younger go later. Unfortunately, that is
not so. Visit any Christian cemetery in the country and see the number
of children’s graves with tearful epitaphs put up by their parents. A
favourite remains embedded in my memory:
A reaper came one
morning,
He came to gather
flowers;
And from the lillies
He gathered one of
ours.
My sister and her
husband Jaspal (about the handsomest and powerfully built Sardar you
could have met) had a number of friends in Chandigarh and Punjab towns
where he served as an IAS officer. So has their daughter Raymon Nalagarh
who inherits her father’s looks. Her brothers Shivvy (father of film
actress Amrita Singh) and Binny inherited their father’s Jat muscles.
Though we were prepared
for her departure before it was due, when she eventually left, we were
devastated as any family would be when one of its members makes a final
journey.
She was a loving soul
and who never hurt anyone; that the reaper does not take into reckoning.
Why she went out of
turn, no one will ever know. Death remains a mystery which neither
astrologers, palmists nor men of religion have been able to solve.
Political duplicity
At Karachi, his native
town in Sind,
Advani praised Jinnah
in a subtle form
Little did he know his
wily speech
Would cause such a huge
storm!
RSS and VHP both
lambasted Advani
Even BJP with his view
didn’t rhyme
Its reaction was simply
fantastic
It gave him bouquet and
brickbats at the same time!
How biased is Advani’s
mind
He described Jinnah as
a secular guy
Nehru (who was a true
secularist)
Was in his eyes a
pseudo fly:
(Contributed by G.C. Bhandari, Meerut)
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