Author: Pioneer News service
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 18, 2007
But Congress stands by heir apparent
The political and diplomatic row kicked by
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim about his family's role in the division
of Pakistan continues to gather momentum both within the country and across
the border.
While the Congress sees Rahul's statement
as reiteration of a historical reality, party leaders are unable to explain
the need for raking up the sensitive past, which could needlessly inflame
Pakistani public opinion.
There is a strong feeling that Rahul's statement
is a premeditated ploy to please Hindu sentiments after his controversial
claim that the Babri Masjid could have been saved had his family been in power
in 1992.
However, the initial Muslim reaction to Rahul's
statement could be a cause of worry for the Congress. It is baffling why he
chose to make such a statement at Badayun which has a significant Muslim population
and the local Congress candidate is also a Muslim.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister VP Singh
has expressed disagreement with Rahul's remarks and said India had only "helped"
in the creation of Bangladesh, which came into being owing to the demand from
the people.
"We never caused a split in any country...
Bangladesh was created owing to the popular demand... Though we did help in
its creation," the Jan Morcha leader told newspersons during a campaign
tour of Uttar Pradesh.
Criticising Rahul's comment on the creation
of Bangladesh, the BJP said the Congress should accept responsibility for
Partition as well.
"We will not object to his (Rahul's)
statement that the credit for disintegration of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh
goes to his family, if he, his family and his party accept the responsibility
for the tragic partition of the country as well," BJP national vice-president
Venkaiah Naidu said.
But more than the domestic reaction, Rahul's
statement has given an opportunity to Pakistan to question India's intentions
during the 1971 war. New Delhi has consistently maintained that India was
forced to intervene in what was then East Pakistan after the crisis created
by the influx of millions of refugees.
In Islamabad, responding to questions about
Rahul's statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said, "Everyone
knows what happened in 1971."
She said there have been efforts to destabilise
Pakistan and Rahul's statement is clearly an admission for the first time
by a scion of a family that was ruling India at that time.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary-general,
Pakistan Muslim League, and chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
has said that Rahul's statement citing the breakup of Pakistan in 1971 as
"an achievement of the Gandhi family" shows that the Indian strategy
was clear from day one, namely, to partition its neighbour through sponsorship
of state terrorism.
India created and armed the Mukti Bahini just
as it created and armed the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, he said.
Pakistan's Minister for Population Welfare
Shahbaz Hussain has also strongly condemned Rahul's statement. "We strongly
condemn his assertion," he said in a statement and urged the nation to
forge unity and promote an atmosphere of integrity.
Even as Pakistan continued to fret and fume
over Rahul's remarks, fundamentalist and separatist elements across the border
and Jammu & Kashmir have gone to the extent of asking Islamabad to call
off the peace dialogue with India.
Finding a tailor-made opportunity to exploit
Rahul's remarks, militant outfit Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) on Monday urged
Pakistan to stop the Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) with India.
Reacting to Rahul's "We split Pakistan,"
a JuM spokesman in a statement issued to Srinagar media said, "Rahul
Gandhi is an important member of the Nehru family and one of the thinktanks
of the Indian Government. His statement clearly reflects the thinking of the
Indian Government and its insincerity."
"His statement clearly indicates that
CBMs are a big deceit and Pakistan is being taken for a ride on the name of
resolving the Kashmir issue."
"Pakistan leadership needs to react to
the statement and should call off the so called CBMs and it (PaK) leadership
should make it clear to India that until Kashmir is not resolved till then
confidence cannot be built," the JuM spokesman said.
Taking an equally tough line, Hurriyat (Geelani)
acting chairman Ghulam Nabi Sumji said, "Rahul's statement is clear admission
of India's intrusion and interference into the internal affairs of Pakistan."
Meanwhile, the Congress justified Rahul's
remarks as a historical reality. "Viewed holistically in sum, substance,
essence and spirit, Rahul Gandhi said and did nothing wrong," Congress
spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
Another Congress spokesperson Satyavrat Chaturvedi
said that "Right from the BJP to BSP and Samajwadi Party all have been
talking of the achievements of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Kanshi Ram and the late
Ram Manohar Lohia respectively during poll campaigns. What is then wrong in
Rahul Gandhi talking of a fact of history referring to the ultimate result
of Bangladesh war which was thrust on us."
