Opportunity knocks the door but once.’ This adage holds very true in the recent development when the Supreme Court has, on Tuesday, asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to express regret for his comments holding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination or be ready to face a defamation trial.
And Congress Party has made a bold response:
“On a suggestion of Shri Rahul Gandhi expressing regret or apology, the question does not arise. Such a suggestion has been made in the past and not accepted by Rahul Gandhi.”
It is golden opportunity for Congress Party to defend its plank in the Court of Law and before the nation. No one knows what would come out final verdict from the court. However, if the Congress Party fails this time to put its solid understanding of historical events, the coming generations would curse it for weakness, cowardice and fear.
There had been three more occasions where it had failed, not only failed to law and order in wider context but ideologically also. The Shah Banu Case was a glaring mistake of myopia, fear of Muslims Clergy and minority votes. It was Rajiv Gandhi’s great error to side with clerics. The second stumble was the connivance of Narsimha Rao’s leadership when Babri Masjid was razed to ground despite the false assurance of protection of the historical mosque by the then BJP Chief Minister of UP.
The century old party is still paying for that mistake. And the third was its half hearted political, social and moral response after the Gujarat Carnage of 2002. It failed the nation and failed the minorities as a guardian. It should have gone the whole hog to expose BJP. Instead of doing that it behaved meek and invited the flop RSS leaders into its fold. The nation is paying dearly for its monumental blunders and it would keep taking its toll till someone rises from the ashes and make a great correction.
The father of the nation was killed under the open sky before thousands of Indians gathered to pray with him. Everyone knows who killed him and also the back ground of the nasty killer. Beyond the charade of words, history can be manipulated but facts would remain like sermons in stone. Again there is big challenge for Congress to prove that RSS was behind the killing of the father of nation. It would be the onus upon lawyers and strategists of Congress party to put up a wise and bold argument and defend it to the hilt. The ideological faith of Congress Party and history is at stake now.
Justice is often meted out in strange ways. The courts draw their conclusions based upon solid evidence and presentations that are made before it. In this case it is not winning that is important but to bring out the complete historical facts before the courts and the nation. Let the nation re-learn and be re-informed about the most sordid act of its history. More skeletons should fall out from the cup boards.
I fully endorse the stand taken by Congress party that Rahul Gandhi would not tender an apology over his remarks against the RSS. He will instead substantiate them with historical facts and evidence before the court to support his claim.
At the AICC briefing, party spokesman Gaurav Gogoi said that “Rahul Gandhi has said that he will not seek an apology over what he has said and will fight the case as he wants to present his facts along with historical proof and evidence to prove his point and help bring out the truth before everyone that we all know.”
He added, “At this point, Congress party stands with Rahul Gandhi and we are confident that we will be able to present a strong case, present all the facts and historical evidence that we are supposed to make.”
The Supreme Court on Tuesday had observed that Rahul Gandhi, who blamed RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, should not have resorted to “collective denunciation” of an organisation and will have to face trial in the defamation case against him if he does not express regret. “We have held it may be historically correct but the fact or the statement has to meet the test of public good. You can’t make collective denunciation,” the court said.
