Cong leaders still caught in a time warp

Neera Chandhoke

Political scientist

Reports of the deliberations of Congress leaders at the ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur give no reason for hope. As usual, the leaders are relentlessly caught in a time warp. They either seek to replicate the hard, cold world of Hindutva which is without compassion, tolerance or high-mindedness. Or, they want to go back to familiar strategies. Will the party ever learn the importance of self-critique as Nehru did? “What then are we to do,” wrote Jawaharlal Nehru, “what shall we aim at and what road should we travel by? It is of the foremost importance that we should not lose ourselves in the passion and prejudice of the moment…Greatness comes from vision, the tolerance of the spirit, compassion and an even temper which is not ruffled by ill fortune or good fortune.”

The reluctance of the Congress to come to terms with the cause of its decline is longstanding. Since Indira Gandhi’s time, proximity to the leader is considered the only route to power. In 2004, the party struck gold as it caught the Vajpayee government on the wrong foot. Thereon, it returned to its old ways. Overcome by arrogance, the leaders failed to foresee the dark clouds of a toxic Hindutva hovering over India.

Today, they have lost their way. This is not surprising when we recollect the philosophical axiom of the pre-Socratic philosopher, Parmenides: “Nothing comes from nothing.” When we exist in a state of nothingness, we must either create something new, or not create at all.

To create something new, the Congress must know that India is more than the current leaders; learn from those who dared to protest against one of the most poisonous laws this government has passed. The anti-CAA protests from December 2019 to February 2020 reminded us of the two cherished features of our political life — solidarity and azaadi. Young people assembled in public spaces in unique forms of protest against the violation of the Constitution, and reinvented a notion that had simply gone missing: that of solidarity with fellow citizens.

Citizenship, our young people reminded us, is not only about our status as holders of rights. Citizenship is a relational concept because it establishes a bond between us. The bond is not based on blood but on belonging to a civic community defined by a Constitution. Citizenship is solidarity. And it is precisely solidarity that large sections of Indians expressed towards their fellow citizens when they protested against the imminent disenfranchisement of our minorities.

The anti-CAA protests reiterated that Indians will not tolerate the corruption of citizenship by the introduction of religious criterion, and lack of procedural correctness in the passing of Bills. In short, any tampering with the Constitution of India, which is our legacy, will be fought. The protesters showed us that we have the right to citizenship by reasons of birth, by reasons of belonging, by reasons of fidelity, by reasons of solidarity with fellow citizens, and because we bow our heads before the national flag, and stand up in reverence when the national anthem is played.

This is performative citizenship, citizenship as enactment, citizenship as participation in the political decisions of a society, citizenship as articulation of popular sovereignty, citizenship as owing obligations to fellow citizens, citizenship as belonging, and citizenship rights as prized possessions. What is the significance of paper citizenship before performative citizenship?

Ruling parties of all variants have violated our Constitution. Citizen groups and social movements have defended our constitutional provisions — the civil liberties movement, the movement for gender justice, the anti-caste movement, the movement against big dams that displaces our own people, and movements against the communalisation of the polity.

It is time that we and the political parties who value the Constitution recognise that the Constitution is ours. We have to insist that civic sentiments are grounded in the place we live, in common memories, and in the experience of sharing equally in the benefits and the burdens of a society.

What has happened to the commitment of the Congress to minorities? Instead of celebrating Hindu festivals, it should commit itself to the protection of the minorities. It should not let the agenda of politics be set by bloodlust. And it should learn the distinction between Hinduism as a faith and Hinduism as an amoral political quest for power.

The second lesson our young people reminded us is that of azaadi — freedom from venomous hate politics, freedom to live life as we want, freedom to worship and eat as we please, freedom for people to marry whomsoever they want, freedom to study, freedom to dress as we want, freedom to speak, to write, to converse, to express oneself as human beings whose primary mode of communication is language, freedom to do what we want to do, and above all, freedom from want and servitude.

Let us hold up the flag of azaadi once again. This is our right, this is what our forebears fought for, this is what gives value to life and this is what gives value to politics. The politics of hate must be thrown into the dustbin of history, the politics of majoritarianism must be shunned, each citizen who has laboured for his or her country ought to live the life he or she wants to live. The Congress should state this unambiguously now.

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,” wrote Shakespeare, “which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” Otherwise, we will continue to flounder. 

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