HVK Archives: Gujral fiasco over Queen's Amritsar visit
Gujral fiasco over Queen's Amritsar visit - The Sunday Observer
B N Uniyal
()
24-30 August 1997
Title: Gujral fiasco over Queen's Amritsar visit
Author: B N Uniyal
Publication: The Sunday Observer
Date: August 24-30, 1997
Gujral has now capped his career as prime minister with this fiasco over
Queen Elizabeth's visit to Amritsar. Everybody here in Delhi is laughing
at him. The reaction in London and other national capitals cam not be
different. Somebody said the other day that Gujral is doing all this to
tease R K Laxman. How will the celebrated cartoonist caricature him now
that he has himself donned the cap of a clown?
Why did Gujral, anyway, first tell the Queen not to visit Amritsar only to
assert a few days later that she is free to go wherever she pleases? Why
is he opposed to the Queen apologising for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre?
An impression is being sought to be created that Gujral advised the Queen
not to visit Amritsar to save her from the awkward demand for tendering an
apology for Jallianwala killings. This cannot be true because the Queen
herself was expected to tender the apology. It is Gujral who wanted her
not to. Why?
Could it be because he was afraid that her Jallianwala apology might
encourage the Sikhs to ask for an apology from him and from the Congress
for the Operation Blue Star also? That could very well be possible,
especially as the Congress has now tendered an apology to the Muslims for
the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Obviously, many Sikhs must now be
wanting the Congress to apologise for desecrating the Golden Temple.
This is despite the fact that the two incidents are totally dissimilar to
each other. Operation Blue Star was not conducted to desecrate the Golden
Temple but to flush out the militants from within its precincts. The
damage to the temple was an unavoidable consequence of this operation.
Anyway, regrets even for that incidental damage have already been
expressed, directly or indirectly, by various leaders The issue is now as
good as closed, though there will always be some people who will want to
keep it alive.
If that is not the reason why Gujral opposed the Queen's visit to Amritsar,
it is difficult to understand what else could have impelled him to tender
such an advice to her. He has not really clarified the matter. He has
just reversed his earlier stand without explaining why he is doing that.
He did owe an explanation to the nation, if he did not want to be seen as a
clown.
This is, however, not the first time that he has acted in such a clownish
way. Even his corruption cell hullabaloo has turned out to be big fiasco.
He first made the idea of setting up a corruption cell in his office look
like a big laudatory innovation and then within days turned it all into a
damp squib. This is ridiculous. A prime minister making so bold of such a
barren gesture!
The fact is that all this time while Gujral has been in office, he has
shown himself and his government to be a third-rate joke. This ramshackle
arrangement of a government has brought to the country nothing but ridicule
from everywhere. The people are fed up of a government whose prime
minister has nothing much to say except expressing his helplessness to do
anything meaningful day after day
All this has lowered the prestige of the country in the world. Now, the
longer Gujral stays in office, the worse it will be for everybody, and the
onus of it all will be upon the Congress.
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