HVK Archives: An omnibus apology-Else, Cong would have to apology a day
An omnibus apology-Else, Cong would have to apology a day - The Indian Express
Editorial
()
7 August 1997
Title: An omnibus apology - Else, the Congress would have to make an
apology a day
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 7, 1997
An apology for the omissions of the Congress that led to the demolition of
Babri Masjid is a meaningless exercise if the real intention is to assuage
the hurt feelings of Muslims. It is a simplistic solution inasmuch as it
presupposes that the alienation of Muslims from the Congress is primarily
on account of the demolition. It is true that Muslims felt cheated when the
Congress Government at the Centre remained a mute witness to the razing of
the Ayodhya shrine. For them the demolition was clinching evidence that
the Congress could no longer be trusted. While the Turkman Gate incident
and the sterilisation campaign during the Emergency were matters of
concern, what shook Muslims' confidence in the secular credentials of the
Congress was the Rajiv Gandhi Government's hasty decision to open the gates
of the Ayodhya shrine following a court order. Seldom before had the
Congress shown such enthusiasm in respecting court orders. In their
perception, the Congress compounded its guilt by permitting a controversial
shilanyas at the disputed place and launching its subsequent election
campaign from Ayodhya with the promise of Ram Rajya. And when one of the
worst-ever riots occurred in Mumbai in the wake of the demolition, they
found that the Congress was incapable of ensuring even their security.
So if an apology is to be effective, it will have to cover a series of
lapses by the Congress. But that is surely not the aim of Congress
president Sitaram Kesri, who sees it more as a stick with which to beat his
predecessor P.V. Narasimha Rao. Even votaries of the apology such as
Sharad Pawar would not like to extend its scope, lest it should boomerang
on the party. Kesri has found the convenient argument that the Calcutta
session should concern itself only with events that occurred since the
Tirupati session in 1992. But then apologies are not time-barred. Neither
the Koreans who insisted that the Japanese should apologise for the comfort
women nor the Japanese who graciously apologised for the same were guided
by how much time had lapsed since the end of the Second World War. But in
the case of the Congress, where the doctrine of infallibility is applied in
the case of leaders like Rajiv Gandhi, an apology that will show them in
poor light is simply out of question. After all, an apology implies an
admission of guilt.
Since the Congress has found it politically expedient to apologise to
Muslims, it stands to reason that it should also make such gestures to the
various other communities which it has antagonised over the years through
its acts of omission and commission. In fact, the party could make a
beginning by apologising for its nefarious role in the macabre killing and
looting that Delhi witnessed in the wake of Indira Gandhi's assassination
in 1984. A still better idea would be to apologise for Operation Bluestar,
particularly when the affected people have been insisting on it. Since so
many apologies can be time-consuming, why does it not make an omnibus
apology for all its failures during its long tenure at the Centre and in
most states? It may carry greater conviction with the masses even if it
may not bring them back into the party's arms.
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