New Delhi: Internal feud in the Congress took a new twist as former Union minister Salman Khurshid asked ‘Group of 23’ leaders through an ‘open letter’ if they were changing their goal posts and whether it was fair on their part to kick the ladder that they climbed to reach the top storey of life.
Khurshid’s remarks came after the G-23 leaders, led by veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, recently displayed their anger in Jammu. He asked them to worry about how they would be judged in history than to seek a better place in the present.
He said they along with other Congress leaders must show the ordinary party workers across the country the path out of the present darkness towards sunshine instead of raising concerns about what they received while noting that sacrifice cannot come with pre-conditions of success.
Quoting former US President John Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country (read party)”, to convey that the thousands of unnamed Congress cadres, who gave to the Congress, but unavoidably received little or nothing in return, too believe in democracy unlike the G-23 leaders who have an impressive history of achievements.
His open letter said, “We thought the G-23 made their point and were suitably informed that party elections will be held when appropriate (something they agreed to in their interaction with the Congress president and later at the CWC). But are they changing the goal posts once again with the public display of disquiet (or reservations) in Jammu and as we are being told, very soon in Haryana.”Â
The letter further said, “Gumnam of Congress too care about democracy”, adding that the growing dark footprint of communal forces has pushed the party into “forced errors” of becoming self conscious.
His letter further said, “As a result we shy away from speaking about minorities and put on a public display of identifying with the cultural symbols of the majority that have largely been appropriated by the BJP. We have been forced to accept ‘mistakes’ made by our heroes because public mood appears to require it. Obviously, this calls for careful balancing of reality and perception, strategy and ideology.”Â
“They must not forget that democracy is a process, not static in time. Ultimately it is a relevant question whether it is fair to kick the very ladder you have climbed to the top storey of life from where making speeches is easy. But do think of the many who did not make it to the ladder, the elevated platforms being far beyond reach,” Khurshid’s letter noted.
He said that there are two ways of spending these dark moments — to count blessings and the moments of joy and comfort the party has given; or else to wing about what was not received, adding that all leaders need to come together to deal with this challenge instead of cribbing about real and imagined democratic deficits.
(With Agency Inputs)
