Author: François Gautier
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: December 2, 2008
URL: http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Sonia%E2%80%99s+presence+in+Delhi+is+costing+India+dearly&artid=LNnjswClsuc=&SectionID=XVSZ2Fy6Gzo=&
In 1898, the French writer Emile Zola wrote
an open letter to the then French president in the newspaper L'Aurore, titled
j'accuse ('I accuse'), where he accused the French government of anti- Semitism
towards Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer unfairly condemned for treason.
Now it is time for the people of India to
say openly that which many, including within the Congress, think secretly
and may utter in the privacy of their chambers.
It is not about Manmohan Singh, it is not
even about Shivraj Patil, the fall guy; it is about that one person, the Eminence
Grise of India. She who pulls all the strings, She whose shadow looms menacingly
over so many, She who holds no portfolio, is just a simple elected MP, like
540 others, but rules like an empress.
Sometimes, one's very physical presence at
the top is enough to move things, to influence the course of events. One word
from Her, a glance, a frown, are enough to put the whole heavy, inert, unwilling
machinery of India's bureaucracy and political system in full motion. Sometimes
She need not say anything: in the true tradition of Bhakti, Her ministers,
Her secretaries, interpret Her silences and rush to cater to Her western and
Christian identity.
Nevertheless, she has said and acted enough
so that one day she may stand accused on the pages of History for what she
must have done to India.
I'accuse Sonia Gandhi as being responsible
for the tragedy of Mumbai, having emasculated India's intelligence agencies
by stopping them from investigating terror attacks in the last four years,
including the Mumbai train blasts. She has also neutralised the ATS by ordering
them at all costs to ferret out 'Hindu terrorism', which if it exists, has
wrought minuscule damage compared to what Islamic terror has done since 2004.
Did the US send a warning to India that there may be an attack on Mumbai and
that the Taj would be one of the targets? Were these ignored because the ATS
was too busy chasing Hindu 'terrorists' on Sonia's orders? I accuse Sonia
and her government of having made the NSG the laughing stock of the world.
How many times did the NSG (who took ten hours to reach Mumbai) claim that
it had "sanitised the Taj and that the operation was over" and how
many times did a bomb go off immediately after? For the last 20 years, the
NSG has guarded VIPs and has become soft. See the comments of Israeli terror
specialists, who said the NSG should have first sanitised the immediate surroundings
of the places of conflict, kept the bystanders and press (who gave terrorists
watching TV in the Taj rooms a perfect report of the security forces' whereabouts)
out of the place, gathered enough information about the position of the terrorists
and hostages before taking action, instead of immediately engaging the terrorists,
and ensuring the deaths of so many hostages.
I accuse Sonia of having let her Christian
and Western background, in four years, divide India on religious and caste
lines in a cynical and methodical manner.
I accuse Sonia of weakening India's spirit
of sacrifice and courage, so that 20 terrorists (or less) held at ransom the
financial capital of India for more than three days.
I accuse Sonia Gandhi of always pointing the
finger at Pakistan, when terrorism in India is now mostly homegrown, even
if it takes help, training, refuge and arms from Pakistan; of not warning
Indians of the grave dangers of Islamic terror for cynical election purposes.
I accuse Sonia of being an enemy of the Hindus,
who always gave refuge to persecuted minorities, and who are the only people
in the world to accept that God may manifest under different names, in different
epochs, using different scriptures.
I accuse Sonia Gandhi of taking advantage
of India's respect for women, its undue fascination with the Gandhi name,
and its stupid mania for White Skin.
I'accuse Sonia of exploiting the Indian Press'
obsession with her. She hardly ever gave interview in 20 years, except scripted
ones to NDTV, yet the Press always protects her, never blames her and keeps
silent over her covert role.
I'accuse Sonia and her government of trying
to make heroes of subservient and inefficient men to hide the humiliation
of Mumbai 26/11. Before going to his death, Hemant Karkare, the ATS chief,
was shown on television clumsily handling his helmet, as someone who uses
it very rarely. Why did he die of bullet wounds in the chest when he was wearing
a bullet-proof vest? Either Indian vests are inferior quality or he was not
wearing one.
How did the terrorists who killed him and
his fellow officer escape in the same vehicle used by the ATS chief ? Why
did he and his officers go into Cama Hospital without ascertaining where the
terrorists were? We honour his death, but these facts say a lot about the
ATS' battle-readiness.
Will someone in the Congress, someone who
feels more Indian than faithful to Sonia, stand up and speak the truth? Who
said, "Go after Hindu terrorists"? Who insisted on putting pressure
on BJP governments in Karnataka or Orissa for so-called persecution of Christians,
when Christians have always practised their faith in total freedom here, while
their missionaries are converting hundreds of thousands of innocent tribals
and Dalits with the billions of dollars given by gullible westerners? Who
said, "Go soft on Islamic terrorism"? Who wants to do away with
India's nuclear deterrence in the face of Pakistani and Chinese nuclear threats,
by pushing at all costs the one sided Indo-US nuclear deal, which makes no
secret of its intention to denuclearise India militarily? I am sure Sonia
Gandhi has good qualities: she probably was a good wife to Rajiv, a good daughter
in law to Indira and by all accounts, she is a good mother to her children.
One also hears first-hand reports about her concern for smaller people, her
dignity in the suffering that befell her when her husband was blown to pieces,
and her courtesy with visitors.
Nevertheless, she is a danger to India.
Her very presence, both physical and occult,
open the doors to forces inimical to India. Even Indian Christians should
understand that she is not a gift to them: her presence at the top has emboldened
fanatics like John Dayal or Valson Thampu, who practise an orthodox Christianity
prevalent in the West in the early 20th century, but no longer, to radicalise
their flock. Indian Christians should recognise that they have a much better
deal here than Christians or Hindus have in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia
or Saudi Arabia.
Under Sonia's rule, Indian Muslims, too, have
been used as electoral pawns. They have been encouraged to shun the Sufi streak,
a blend of the best of Islam and Vedanta, for a hard-line Sunni brand imported
from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For the good of India, her civilisation, her
immense spirituality and culture, Sonia Gandhi has to go and a government
that thinks Indian, breathes nationalism and will protect its citizens must
be voted to power.