October 13, 2007
An Open letter to Smt Sonia Gandhi


Source: offstumped.nationalinterest.in

With friends like these who needs enemies

Dear Smt Sonia Gandhi

The CNN-IBN today reported details of the Oct 9th meeting that saw the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh humiliated by the Left Parties. Specifically, CNN-IBN’s Diptosh Majumdar, writes that several accusations were made against the Prime Minister including:

Why has the Prime Minister not visited any major Muslim country?

Why did the Government not side with Iran during the debate on its nuclear programme?

Why did the Government not condemn the hanging of Saddam Hussein?

You as the Congress President and the chief protagonist for Dr. Singh to enjoy the highest political office have an obligation to him as well as the Nation to confirm if this indeed is true.

You also have the responsibility to the nation to explain if this is how your party’s coalition government expects to conduct its foreign policy for the rest of its term now that you have publicly backtracked on your willingness to go to polls.

Specifically the nation demands to know how Indian National Interest is served by the Prime Minister choosing to visit or not visit a foreign nation based on whether its theocratic or not.

Isnt it odd that for a party and a coalition that thrives on swearing by so called “secularism” that those who support seek Prime Ministerial visits to theocratic states as proof of your commitment ?

The nation also demands to know how Indian National Interest is served by defending a theocratic state’s right to Nuclear Programme especially when the state in question is guilty of sponsoring terrorists and illegal proliferators.

This nation also needs to know how Indian National Interest will be served by condemning the execution of a convicted mass killer in a foreign land who is guilty by the way of having killed fellow Muslims by the scores.

It is ironic that you call those who oppose you on grounds of long term National Interest as “enemies” and those who humiliate you by holding a brief for fundamentalists, terrorists and genocidal mass killers (foreign ones at that) as your “reasonable friends”.

The leader of the opposition Mr. LK Advani called Dr. Singh today the weakest Prime Minister ever. The only reason Dr. Singh has earned himself that ignominy is because he was willing to step up and shoulder responsibilities that you yourself had abdicated. The only reason Dr. Singh continues to weather this ignominy is because of his commitment to you.

You stand guilty of having abused this commitment and not standing by his convictions purely to secure and advance your family’s political interests. There is a limit to which you can put your interests above the nation’s interests.

Out of respect and consideration for Dr. Singh’s credibility and dignity the least you could do if you cannot stand by him is to allow him a graceful exit. At his age and having once steered India’s economy his legacy cannot be tarnished only because you reduced him to a lame duck leader in the eyes of the people of this Nation and the International Community.

Please be honest to yourself and the people by letting him go on principle with his dignity.

Yours truly

A concerned “aam aadmi”