Satyagraha, my foot!

Many Indian leaders had gone to jail and were received by frenzied fans on their release with pomp and show, displaying their solidarity with the just released. Many were opposition political prisoners, and the arrests peaked during Indira Gandhi’s dark days of emergency.

Many leaders go to jail for crimes and corruption, which have nothing to do with revolution or democratic activities. Of a few who were jailed, Shashikala perhaps will get the top position for deciding to take to the road from Bengaluru to Chennai, where political supporters showered tons of flowers on her cavalcade that took 23 hours to reach Chennai and reportedly costing a whopping Rs.200 crores.

D.K. Shivakumar (Seven weeks in prison), P. Chidambaram (106 days in prison) and Karti Chidambaram were from INC who were accorded a grand welcome after their bail for criminal offences. BJP’s rape accused Chinmayananda was given a hero’s welcome upon their release on bail. On 22 May 2022, Azam Khan was released on bail from Sitapur Jail and was received by Akhilesh with thousands of supporters. On 26 May 2022, Shahrukh Pathan, who had fired at cops during the Delhi riots, was accorded a grand welcome while visiting his home on four-hour parole. These are merely a few examples.

However, this could be a first of sorts when the Congress party has sponsored a huge rally to march with the scion of the Gandhi family, summoned by the ED on money laundering charges pertaining to the National Herald case. The Gandhis have been dodging summons repeatedly over the last seven years on some pretexts. Sonia missed her summons to appear before the ED on 8 June, citing Covid and has been admitted into a hospital.

Gandhi family has considered itself out of the ordinary and beyond any judicial reach. The accusations by the opposition parties of a BJP-led government’s vendetta are proven. That can be, only when people summoned co-operate with the agencies. Merely accusing all agencies’ actions against the opposition leaders as the BJP party’s doing is lopsided and untenable.

Crowd gathering in India is now a professional activity, like any other event management. The one I met in Delhi revealed that they could round up a few thousand in two hours flat, hire trucks and tractors from the surrounding areas and converge them wherever in Delhi. There were different rates if there had to be a gender parity for ‘naare-wale’-sloganeers who will read and memorize the slogans. Taasa wale and band parties’ charges were extra. They will provide sticks and the organizers, the flags, banners, placards etc. A ten thousand crowd could cost upwards of two crores for 6-8 hours, logistics extra. All parties utilize such crowd providers.

I am not surprised at the gathered crowd around Rahul baba but am appalled with the Congress leaders, who provide a new dimension to an outright purported criminal act by calling it akin to ‘1947 satyagraha.’ The attempt to compare the struggles of the freedom fighters to contemptuously criminal activities by their party leaders can show the shameful lows the party has dug itself into under the Gandhi family stranglehold.

Let the law take its course, and justice prevail.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix