VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
One could never have imagined
even in the wildest dream that the tragedy which struck Uttarakhand could be
politicised and milked with an eye on the next Lok Sabha election. But this is
what precisely happened and Congress emerged as the main culprit in the saga
where human tragedy was sought to be trivialised and prime ministerial
candidates were sought to be projected amid the dead bodies.
It was not only a Narendra Modi
versus Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand but also Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh
versus the TDP MPs from the State, Parkash Singh Badal versus Partap Singh
Bajwa for votes in Punjab along with several personal battles which were fought
in the name of rescue and relief operations.
It all started with Modi visiting
the State and reports, not attributed to him but claiming that he helped rescue
15,000 Gujaratis from the tragedy in a day. Even if the number 15,000 was
exaggerated would anyone deny that Gujarat government
was the first to put in place a micro disaster management system in the State
to carry out relief operations with a specialised team of officers? Ask
non-Congress relief workers, independent observers and even the officials on
the ground in Congress-ruled Uttarakhand and they will admit that the Gujarat
officers had put in a system with the help of the BJP workers which proved
beneficial for those trapped. But how could the Congress digest the fact that a
“communal” Modi was helping people in another State. The party immediately saw
a “design” in relief and launched a blistering attack on Modi, terming it
“Rambo” like and what not.
The spokespersons of the party
and the government used choicest printable abuses to be heaped on Modi simply
because he took the initiative which none of the other Congress
State
For God’s sake, why politicise a
tragedy of this magnitude the imprint of which would be there for generations.
Let Modi do rescue and relief work and take credit for it. After all, he is
helping save lives. You too do the same and take credit. Who is stopping you?
But instead of doing that Congress saw an opportunity to attack Modi where none
existed. The grand old party should remember that with this kind of
politicisation, there is egg on its face and this is not going to be washed
away easily.
If indeed Modi and his team from
Gujarat was in Uttarakhand for political mileage what prevented other Congress
Chief Ministers like Prithviraj Chavan in Maharashtra, Kiran Reddy in Andhra
Pradesh, Tarun Gogoi in Assam, Oomen Chandy in Kerala, Sheila Dikshit in Delhi
or Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan to undertake similar relief and rescue work by
sending their teams. They could have done that and hogged the limelight. But
did they do it? What was important in the tragedy-struck State was relief and
rescue of the hapless pilgrims, tourists and the locals. It was immaterial who
was doing it. The army did a great job and so did the ITBP.
But the problem is that Congress smells a rat
whenever and wherever Modi is involved in anything. BJP terms it “Modi phobia”.
I am not sure what it is but this was disgusting, a response not expected of a
party which has ruled the country for over five decades after Independence .
I am sure, if Modi had not visited the State at all, Congress again would have
criticised him for not doing anything. Agreed, BJP’s campaign committee chief
is a political challenge for the Congress in the election year and the ruling
party is nervous and the counter attack was a knee jerk reaction. But then,
there are other political platforms to criticise the Gujarat Chief Minister and
take him head on. You criticise him left, right and centre for everything he
does or does not do but not on rescue and relief operations.
As compared to the Congress and
government spokespersons, both Modi and later Rahul Gandhi showed maturity.
Modi never spoke or tom-tommed on what he did or did not do in Uttarakhand.
Unnerved by the criticism on his absence, Rahul Gandhi visited the State, spoke
to the victims and left but did not publicise his visit nor did he or his
supporters claim anything.
If Modi versus Congress verbal
spat was not enough, there was more to follow. Andhra Pradesh MPs belonging to
Congress and Telugu Desam practically took each other physically and could be
separated only by security personnel and onlookers before they could box each
other. Both the parties wanted to take credit for ferrying the rescued pilgrims
from their State back home. This was unbelievable. How could you fight on an
issue of such a grave concern? This simply means that both of you were in
Uttarakhand to take mileage from a tragedy and not to help people.
As Congress was hell bent on
trivialising the tragedy and take political mileage, it took on the Parkash
Singh Badal government in Punjab also on rescue and
relief. The senior Badal was holidaying abroad, cut short his visit and
streamlined the rescue and relief efforts for the pilgrims of Punjab
who had gone to visit Hemkunt Sahib. The PR machinery of Badal got active and
highlighted the rescue and relief operations of the officials and Punjab
Police. Now how could the Punjab Congress chief Partap Bajwa let go of an
opportunity to criticise Badal. His PR machinery also got active and started
contradicting the claims of Punjab government on rescue
and relief. Bajwa reduced himself to comic levels with the act as even the
Congress supporters would be put off if you politicise such a tragedy. You
criticise the Akali Dal-BJP government.
That is your constitutional right. But why choose a tragedy for it? This
will only lower your image among the people.
Then you have the case of Home
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde who issues an advisory asking VIPs not to visit
Uttarakhand as it affects the work of the agencies involved in rescue and
relief. Obviously, this was done to target Narendra Modi as he was one of the
first to get into rescue and relief work. Shinde wanted Modi not to enter the
State again lest he walks away with all the attention and credit. But when Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi visited the State, Shinde issues another statement
saying the situation has changed. The jury is out on Shinde on several fronts
but this was one disaster which only Shinde was capable of making.
Now that the rescue work is
getting over even though rehabilitation would take months and years, it was
time to take stock of the tragedy in the hill state. But first and foremost,
one has to draw a strategy and build a consensus on how to prevent
politicisation of natural calamities. The way political parties, particularly
the Congress, tried to silence its rivals and trivialise it, has to be
prevented at all costs.
Then comes a rethink and
introspection on what went wrong and how the natural calamity was aggravated
manifold by human intervention over the years-by changing the eco system of the
fragile Himalayan mountains and rivers. How unchecked commercialisation,
constructions in river beds and landslide prone mountains created a havoc of
unparalleled magnitude. The policy on dams and power projects also needs a
revisit. Disaster management preparedness also needs a thorough overhaul. It
was time to find a consensus on the way ahead. (July 1, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment