Significant Insights for India on ideals of Mahatma Gandhi ji: Rahul Gandhi ji Tweets

Dr. Amna Mirza

Democracy is a unique model in human civilization that takes the people element as supreme. Philosophers like John Locke made consent of people as basis of any government, while Jean Jacques Rousseau espoused the idea of General Will to give sanctity to rule by laws, not individual. Democratic apparatus in every country witnessed new challenge with rise of technology. No doubt, with changes in context of global and domestic politics, this technology is responsible for restricting new avenues of innovation, communication but still, it is perceived in the new realms as harbinger of enhancing basis of participative democracy or that it’s a new tool of power in global polity.

Striking remarks come to the mind when one begins to deliberate on the role of technology in political processes. “Technology is best when it brings people together”; This was remarked by Matt Mullenweg, Social Media Entrepreneur. Seen in this perspective, at a time when contours of the world have been shattered by disruption, when every day policy mechanisms demand in-depth analysis to be presented in pragmatic way to translate problems of polity into solutions, as one sees through the remarks made by Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament from Wayanad, definitely merit attention.

On 13 March 2020, as the nation could feel tremors of tectonic shifts to come with emergence of pandemic, Rahul Gandhi categorically stated about his reminder on 12 February 2020, “I will keep repeating this. The #coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is a non-solution. The Indian economy will be destroyed if strong action is not taken. The government is in a stupor.”(Quote Tweet from @RahulGandhi). What is essential to be analyzed here is that why did government not consider it important to deliberate on it or why was media silent on this very important input given on the dire need to see through the management of the pandemic.

Testing times demand out-of-the-box thinking to let the citizens of nation engage in right deliberations and work on contours of unity in diversity to deal with adversity. On 6 April 2020, a similar remark on Gandhian ideals of putting harmony at core to cater to injustice based on Truth, could be heard from Shri Rahul Gandhi, that “The #Coronavirus is an opportunity for India to unite as one people, putting aside differences of religion, caste & class; to forge one common purpose: the defeat of this deadly virus. Compassion, empathy & self-sacrifice are central to this idea. Together we will win this battle.” These remarks showed the courage of leadership and conviction to safeguard the polity from any challenge. The issue that’s important to be put forward is that why did the government not take any measure in this regard? The nation is observing 150 years of the Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti, and an apt tribute to Mahatma Gandhi ji would be uniting everyone with pledge of unity to deal with any problem, as said in Mahatma Gandhi ji’s words- “So my wish is that Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, and Muslims who are in India should continue to live in India and India should become a country where everyone’s life and property are safe. Only then will India progress” – (Mahatma Gandhi ji’s Speech at the Prayer Meeting, New Delhi, January 13, 1948, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Vol-90, P. 413). Unfortunately, by indulging in acts of ‘Us versus Them’ trying to evade responsibility, the Government did not show any determination to put forward the idea of “Stronger Together”, which is integral to Gandhian ethos.

The idea of self reliance, as opined in 1841 essay by American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, states the need to add value on one’s own instincts. This has been propagated by Mahatma Gandhi ji, Late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi ji. One more important similarity to be noted on an argument on this same line to augment our national strength, can be seen in the remarks by Shri Rahul Gandhi ji on 18 April 2020, that, “The #Covid19 pandemic is a huge challenge but it is also an opportunity. We need to mobilize our huge pool of scientists, engineers & data experts to work on innovative solutions needed during the crisis.” The issue that every person of the nation is asking is that why has there not been proper measures of safety for medical fraternity, why our people in realm of science and technology not involved in decision making, amongst others, because failing which the narrative of self-reliance will only remain on papers.

Success of Self-reliance in nation also demands that one puts health and economy as complementary to each other. It was aptly asserted by Shri Rahul Gandhi ji on 26 April 2020, that “Experts agree that mass random testing is the key to beating Corona. In India, a bottleneck is stopping us from scaling testing from the current 40,000 per day to 1 lakh tests a day, for which test kits are already in stock.

PM needs to act fast & clear the bottleneck.”

“People want government to deliver - here and now” Late former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee ji had said so. It’s essential to ask that why, when migrants walked days and miles, the government did its precious little to help them? Amidst the pandemic, no proper relief measures were there for other issues in nation like economy, agrarian crisis, floods, amongst others. If the idea of democracy has just reduced to big words with no result on governance, then it’s an insult to years of hard work tendered by statesmen in nation from Pandit Nehru to Late Vajpayee ji. If the attempt is to rely on lies and giving space to propaganda to conceal failures or non-performance, then it’s an insult to ideals of Ram Rajya where truth and welfare of people is primary. The people of India are feeling deceived when even months after pandemic, testing is not adequate or that livelihoods of several Indians are affected because of lack of people-oriented approach in policy making. As aptly remarked by Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, on 28 August, that “India’s economy has been destroyed by three actions:

1. Demonetization

2. Flawed GST

3. Failed lockdown.

Anything else is a lie.”

Success of a nation is contingent upon good policies. Seen in this realm, the government must adhere to ideals of Truth of the Mahatma and the justice of Ram Rajya. Time and again, Rahul Gandhi has reminded and updated the government about the challenges, the problems and the opportunities before the nation. In the interest of welfare of every person of India, it is essential that government must not ignore these important perspectives. Further, media cannot ignore that how academia, farmers, young minds, professionals are inspired by ideas and prompt narrative of nation-building by Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, amidst the pandemic.

“The only alternative to coexistence is co-destruction”- had said Jawaharlal Nehru ji and these words were quoted by Rahul Gandhi ji on 15 August 2020, while giving independence-day greetings. The idea of national interest and security of country is multifaceted and linked to each other as well, from health, economy, gender, ecology, etc. It’s imperative that there must be a holistic approach to deal with complex problems of present times and that makes views of Rahul Gandhi ji very essential to reflect on. Challenges of today require an innovative thinking to put our past, present and future as complementary to each other, consolidating the gains, and ushering the giant leap of a self-reliant Nation as global power. This requires right effort at grassroots of generating demand, like ‘#Nyay’, correct trajectory of democratic values by asking every Indian to join to amplify voices for justice with “#Speak Up campaigns”, due deliberation on challenges and opportunities of every issue, that visionary leader and dedicated nationalist Rahul Gandhi ji has brilliantly presented to nation and dedicatedly working for it in the light of coexistence, harmony and adding strength to Indian democracy. The government, the media, must listen to it, in light of true delivery of their services to “We, the People of India!”

The author is an Assistant Professor, University of Delhi