SPEECH

We will Monitor Developments : Sonia Gandhi
Congress President’s address to CPP General Body Meeting in Central Hall, Parliament House on 20 December, 2001

We have come to the end of a session which has witnessed many unexpected twists and turns. The unfortunate climax to the session has been the terrorist attack on Parliament. India’s democracy has survived but it has been a very near thing. Our deepest condolences go out to all those nine brave men and women who sacrificed their lives that democracy might live. It is their bravery, their unflinching sense of duty that has given us as individuals and our democractic polity a fresh lease of life. We must ensure that the bereaved families are well provided for and given all the moral support required to restore an element of normalcy to their lives.

We have had an extensive debate on the terrorist attack. There is, therefore, not much to add to what has already been said. But it is distressing that the Government showed itself so ill-prepared for the attack notwithstanding advance intelligence furnished among others by our state government in Maharashtra. It was the failure of intelligence which led to the tragedy of Kargil. It is again the failure to act upon available intelligence which lies at the root of the attack on Parliament.

We must keep vigil over the administrative, political and diplomatic steps which the government takes to meet the needs of the extraordinary situation. Precious little of substance was revealed by Government in parliament about what specifically it intends to do. We will be very carefully monitoring developments in this regard. The nation will rise as one man of combat terrorism which has been ailing our country for nearly two decades. No party has paid such price as ours, in having lost Indiraji and Rajivji.

It is inexplicable that the Prime Minister should be so weak as to admit back to his Council of Ministers persons who had been so discredited that he himself had asked them to leave. They have not been cleared. Indeed, the judicial process, in some cases, and commissions of enquiry, in other cases, are far from completing their work. If the Prime Minister has succumbed to internal political pressure to accommodate these flawed persons then it gives the country no confidence in the ability of his government to resist unhealthy influences in other areas of concern. I would like to congratulate all of you on the disciplined manner in which you stood tegether to expose the inadequacies of this government.

Equally, it is shocking that this government played with the honour and sentiments of this country in the Kargil War. The CAG report is conclusive and damning. Even in buying coffins for our martyrs, this government has not been above board. And instead of making a clean breast of its mistakes, the government has sought to hide its weaknesses behind a smokescreen of technicalities.

We were more than willing to discuss both issues on the floor of the House. It was because the Government was adamant, knowing its misdeeds would stand revealed if there were a discussion, that it procrastinated. Double speak and the denial of precedents were resorted to only to avoid debate. Such tactics might have saved saved the government the embarrassment of exposure in Parliament, but it will continue to haunt the government and to lower it in the esteem of the people of this land.

We were ready also for a full-fledged discussion on POTO. But that was not to be so. None of the arguments we have advanced outside the House in its regard has been convincingly refuted. POTO, of course, did not stop the terrorists who attacked Parliament in their tracks. We reiterate our principles objections to POTO as unilaterally conceived by this Government. We also stand by our offer of a de novo examination of the legal instruments required to sustain our struggle against terrorism.

What was not discussed has, to some extent, obscured what was discussed. The glaring gap between what the Government promised the country it would secure at the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha and what it finally brought back has been effectively exposed by our Members on the floor of both Houses of Parliament. The tall claims made by the Government have been exposed. It is now our duty to explain these complicated matters to the people at large.

Our persisting problem of poor attendance in the afternoons, even when key issues are under discussion, has not been solved. I would welcome suggestions from Members as to what might be done to ensure respectable attendance in Parliament at all hours.

The inter-session period ahead of us is going to be a very busy time for all of us. Elections are due in UP, Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur. We will need the full support and cooperation of all of you in ensuring victory. Already no party remotely matches our in the number of state governments under Congress rule. These numbers will certainly be added to at the conclusion of the forthcoming elections. We must strive with might and main to ensure that the wave which has carried us back to office in numerous states continues to gather strength. The people are with us. They long for the return of responsible, secular governance. The economic crisis that has overtaken the nation is biting at the purses of the poorest citizens. The Congress has always been the party of all, but, above all, the party of the poor. It is only by rededicating ourselves to the cause of the poor that we can continue to enjoy their affection and support.

Over the next few days all of us will get the opportunity of catching our breaths before plunging into the maelstrom of the coming elections. It is good that we should renew and refresh ourselves in body and spirit for the onerous tasks before us. I extend to all of you and each one of your families my warmest good wishes for a bright and successful New Year.