Anand Sharma’s tweet on West Bengal Pradesh Congress’s alliance with Abbas Siddiqui’s Indian Secular Front has stormed Indian Media. Rift between the grand old party has been visible to them. Anand Sharma enunciated, “Congress’ alliance with parties like ISF and other such forces militates against the core ideology of the party and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, which forms the soul of the party.” He added, “these issues need to be approved by the CWC.” While appreciating Mr. Sharma’s core concern, I find no reason to believe that such Alliance has not been approved by Congress Working Committee headed by Sonia Gandhi. While Sonia Gandhi is known for her prominent sympathy for Islamic terrorists, why wouldn’t she approve of INC’s Alliance with Muslim Clerics’? GANDHIAN and Nehruvian Secularism, the ideology that Mr. Anand Sharma has referred to as the ‘soul of Congress’ always contained lack of transparency. It’s this ideology that gave birth to undue MINORITISM in Indian Polity. Hence, more than 70 years down the line, an alliance between Congress & Muslim Clerics is a natural & expected prognosis of Gandhian and Nehruvian Secularism. While a sensitive mind can comprehend the anxiety of Anand Sharma, it’s high time to straightway point out Gandhian and Nehruvian Secularism leaves ample scope to converge into Islamism & and that’s what is happening in West Bengal. Nothing surprising.
While Anand Sharma’s comment has exposed the rift within Congress, I believe the rift was ever-present in the grand old party as Gandhi’s ideology about Minorities has been stupendously detrimental for post-Partition India. And it’s factually impossible that none of the erudite leaders of Congress Party could identify that flaw of Gandhian MINORITISM. However, there’s no reason to believe that CWC President Sonia Gandhi doesn’t approve of Congress’s Alliance with Muslim Clerics in West Bengal. Who’s Sharma expecting justice from? While it’s an open secret that Shri Manmohan Singh acted upon Sonia Gandhi’s instructions as Prime Minister, he stated first & foremost claim on India’s resources were of Muslims. Was such statement devoid of Sonia Gandhi’s approval? Unlikely.
However, leader of the opposition in Indian parliament, Congress Leader Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has tweeted befitting reply to Anand Sharma. He said by joining with Muslim Clerics, Congress would defeat BJP’s communal & divisive politics and autocratic regime. Adhir Chowdhury called Alliance with Muslim Clerics a ‘SECULAR alliance’. Time is ripe enough to admit that this hypocrisy displayed by Adhir Chowdhury has its root in Gandhian and Nehruvian Secularism. Adhir further argued with Anand Sharma— “Ur choice to call the decision of CPM led front ‘communal’ is only serving the polarising agenda of BJP”. Did Adhir mean calling a spade a spade is instigating & polarizing? If he did, then this argument too augured well with Gandhian and Nehruvian Secularism. Didn’t Gandhi always want to let Muslims do whatever they wanted however caustic it be for Hindus & BHARATVARSHA? Then how’s Adhir wrong by going in Alliance with Muslim Clerics? While Anand Sharma is perhaps apprehensive of being a part of political Islam, a true Gandhian Nehruvian would never be apprehensive as that’s exactly what Gandhi-Nehru’s Congress did during Partition. Though Gandhi personally didn’t want Partition, almost all other Congress Leaders supported political Islam in 1947 & Partition thereby. Did Gandhi launch another hunger-strike-till-death in protest of Partition? No.
Therefore, Adhir Chowdhury appear more apt a Gandhian Nehruvian than Anand Sharma. Criticism of Adhir Chowdhury’s deeds, hence, amounts to criticism of Gandhian Nehruvian Secularism itself. Adhir Chowdhury has shot scathing tweets categorising Anand Sharma as a BJP mole.
Looking at Congress’s political portfolio in West Bengal & Adhir Chowdhury’s credentials here, Congress occupies 13 Assembly Constituencies in Murshidabad out of the District’s 22 Constituencies in totality and Murshidabad is stronghold of Adhir Chowdhury. All these Assembly Constituencies are Muslim dominated and Congress won here by wooing Muslims and facilitating cross-border infiltration. As Congress, Communists and TMC had been hand in gloves to maintain and orchestrate trans-border ecosystem throughout last 70 years, allying with Muslim Clerics now seems a political compulsion. Anand Sharma, hence, should have done better homework before criticizing Adhir Chowdhury.
The conflict between Anand and Adhir appears but self-conflict within Congress Party. Such conflicts generally arise before a Party mutates to a different form. Let’s hope. Let India hope.
Debjani Bhattacharyya