• Dr. Udit Raj, former MP

What Shri Rahul Gandhi is doing by fighting for justice in the society today is an extremely arduous task. People who had been marginalized for thousands of years could not get justice and whatever little was possible to be done was because of the Welfare Character and the Constitution of the state. Shri Rahul Gandhi would have been successful earlier in electoral politics, but by following justice and truth the old system works with full force in the opposite direction. Fighting the battle for economic justice is also not easy, otherwise communism would have been successful in India after the Russian Revolution. There is poverty in other countries of the world as well, but there is not so much injustice. The people there are not considered lowly and poor by birth. Due to fatalistic thinking, revolution has never happened and there is no possibility for the same even in future. Indian society was divided into pieces due to the caste system and the situation remains the same even today. In such a situation, no revolution or system change can take place. Fighting these three challenges together is not easy. Communalism is a huge fight in itself and challenging social and economic injustice is also grueling.

It is very easy to create ‘Communalism’. People die because of lies and whispers. Houses are brought down and God knows what all else happens! What needs to be done is just to throw a piece of meat in a temple or a mosque. In the age of social media, you have to write any two lines about - religion and faith are in danger - then see how people will be ready to either slaughter others or sacrifice themselves for the cause. How difficult it is to open a shop of love when such organized forces are abundant in the society! There are no such things as greed and fear i.e. hypocrisy, benefit of heaven, community being in danger. It is very easy to mobilize people through emotional talk. Efforts for development, education, humanity, science etc. have slow effects and till then the general public is misled. The path of Shri Rahul Gandhi and his associates is arduous. ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ was carried out under the leadership of Shri Rahul Gandhi to create love from Kanya Kumari to Kashmir, it is quite comprehensible how difficult a penance it was. Lakhs of people walked, suffered so much. The results of the elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh tarnished the effort. Most people are measured by success, no matter how much crime, fraud, lies and corruption are the reasons behind it. The warrior does not stop and then starts on another journey. The social and economic justice yatra from Manipur to Maharashtra is on, is it easy?

Had Modi ji lost as many elections in 10 years as Rahul Gandhi ji, he would have left the field and would not have remained a leader till now. Shri Rahul Gandhi remained a leader and did not lose his patience. He is highly educated and qualified and understands the movements of the world. We have also learned from Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru that despite being in jail for years, they did not waver. No one knew that independence would be achieved and yet they did not lose themselves. Any normal person would become hopeless after spending a decade in jail. Shri Rahul Gandhi understands that the fight is long and has been moving ahead persistently.

Even before 2014, those who were in power also did some things against democracy. Opposition governments were toppled and people were sent to jail. Despite all this, we remained bound by the basic principles of democracy without resorting to communalism. We did not control the media. During the time of UPA government, almost all the media was banned, yet it was not curbed. Can we even think like this today? There were allegations of G2 spectrum or coal scam and day-and-night the media criticized Manmohan Singh’s government and also made baseless allegations. Still, no journalist was sent to jail and there were no raids by ED, CBI and Income Tax on the establishments of media owners. Instigating Anna Hazare to call him to Delhi and the media kept running after him and showing where he was going and who he was meeting. This heated up the whole atmosphere. Does anyone have the courage to show unbiased news today? In such a situation, it cannot be imagined how difficult the struggle of Shri Rahul Gandhi is!

Had it ever happened to ban opposition funds by introducing electoral bonds? Smt. Indira Gandhi was a powerful Prime Minister and the High Court cancelled her Parliament membership, can the judiciary even think like this against Modi ji today? Not allowing the opposition to speak and suppressing government agencies, has this ever happened in Indian history? Shri Rahul Gandhi is fighting the battle for social justice with complete truth. It is unimaginable how much the elite class of this country, which is extremely powerful, can obstruct and defame. Dr. Ambedkar had said that every citizen has got the right to vote, but it will be difficult to get social and economic justice. This fight is incomplete and if Rahul Gandhi ji has taken the responsibility of bringing it to an end, then he will have to face terrible thorns in the way. His colleagues should also think and bring about changes in themselves which is not an easy task. Many people even within the Congress Party do not agree with this fight. It cannot be imagined how strong-willed the warriors who are fighting both inside and outside are.

(The author is the National Chairman of Unorganized Workers and Employees Congress (KKC) and Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Caste, OBC and Minority Confederation)