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Will India allow a woman to rule the country?
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Sonia shining, India tarnished
Sonia shining, India tarnished - Express India
By the time this column appears, much of the drama in Delhi surrounding the formation of a new government would long have subsided. There would also be some relief that Dr Manmohan Singh is the new Prime Minister of India. However, a world-wide discussion on the reasons for Mrs Sonia Gandhis turning down the Prime Ministership of the worlds largest democracy after having led her party to power, if not an overwhelming majority in Parliament, is not going to die down so easily. So we may as well be clear about what it means for us as a people.
I might as well state at the outset that I find reports by Indias pundits that by her action Indian democracy has been ennobled as wrote a prominent Indian in the New York Times recently entirely self-congratulatory, even if not consciously self-serving.
By effectively holding out the threat of making her foreignness an issue, the BJP had managed to cast a pall on the future of democratic governance in India. Sonia Gandhi was farsighted enough to see this and declined the prize that was rightfully hers.
After having spent crores of the taxpayers money in a preposterous campaign entitled India Shining, the BJP have now succeeded in having tarnished Indias image in the eyes of the civilised world. Pundits are far from right in seeing this as some sort of triumph of democracy in India.
Indeed if democracy were strongly embedded in this society, the BJP would not have been allowed to conduct a low smear campaign alluding to Sonia Gandhis ethnic origins. As for Sonia, she did not allow this to deter her in political battle, almost single-handedly defeating the bigots whose rule had decisively been rejected by the people of India. Clearly though at some stage, battle done, the sheer malice of the hate campaign evidently did catch up with her and she chose to step aside.
In a democracy, citizenship alone ought to matter. Whether Uma Bharti is a Hindu nun or George Fernandes was a Jesuit priest are their personal privilege and not a matter for negotiation with their political rivals. Thus even if anyone were to object to it, they should be given no quarter when trying to make issue of it. That it was not so in the case of Sonia Gandhi, is the surest sign that we are far from being a mature democracy.
The BJPs display of desh bhakti is not without adverse economic fallout. Contrary to baleful prognostication, greater integration with the rest of the world holds out much promise for India. Indeed, Indias stance in world economic fora ought to be that the rest of the worlds excess of goods and capital are welcome here if Indias surplus labour is free to migrate internationally.
Actually, it is already the case that Indian workers move some, despite formal restrictions on migration. This feature has been overlooked, often deliberately, by Indian critics of globalisation both on the left and on the right. Now Indias claims to speak for a more democratic approach to globalisation has been undermined.
Not only has it lost the moral high ground but also, if it can deny one of its own citizens a moral right to it highest office, it can do little to advance the cause of it citizens who live and work in other countries, often under highly discriminatory regimes.
India is watched closely because of the high principle it so actively assumes on the world stage. The world thus far has taken us at our word as reflected in the epithet the worlds largest democracy. Now we should be prepared to be seen as xenophobic, a lot far worse than to have the western media refer to the Italian-born Prime Minister of India.
It is ironic that Sonia Gandhis action is more in keeping with the timeless traditions of Bharat than the hatred spewed by the BJP. While sacrifice is a term unlikely to be found in the lexicon of politics deriving from its practice in the great democracies of the West, it has a long history in this country.
In battling to produce a strong, stable and secular government while not taking for herself any of its rewards, Sonia Gandhi has taken this tradition a step further. But one might prefer to take a more personal parallel.
Recall that when Sita was finally invited to sit beside Ram at the Ashwamedha she had chosen instead to return to Bhoomi Devi, her mother. She had not forgotten her dismay that instead of being welcomed back after her ordeal in Lanka, some small men of Ayodhya had chosen to query the provenance of the yet unborn Luv-Kush. Like the feckless Bourbons, as the BJP have learned nothing about this country they have forgotten nothing either.
New Recruit
NEVER EVER in future or in history too. We are hiring some syllabus writers from neighboring countries to change the history too.
Seriously, what a dumb thread, and not that the bar is too high for this guy.
Why such a question when India is ruled by a Women today?? and About mayavati, during her Chief Minister ship she dedicated a Monument for Herself, Do I need to Elaborate the Situation of India if she becomes the president She could re name India as "Mayastaan"
Her economic model is also very simple and bound to be successful.
The poor make statues for the whole nation, earning bread and butter, when they are not making statues, they make cash garlands.
It makes perfect sense, this way India will be able to prolong it's economic growth, reduce poverty and beautify it's country with beautiful statues and cash garlands for all.
Much like rome.
Mayavati is really bad for a PM chair.
No doubt that she has a large fanclub in U.P. but come on she is already caught in scams,CBI inquiry is going on and nobody supports her outside U.P.
Buddy this is a BS thread
Title is misleading ..........not match with article ...........
Talking about Maya Bati and title represent whole women....
I guess if Maya is allowed to rule the country then it will be good for India, South Asia and the world.
I guess if Maya is allowed to rule the country then it will be good for India, South Asia and the world.
Misleading title.
There is NO bar on women ruling in this part of the world as
1. A woman (indira) already ruled India.
2. A woman Benazir already ruled Pakistan.
3. Women Khalida, Hussina already ruled Bangladesh.
4. A woman Sirimavo Bandaranaike already ruled Sri Lanka.
And hey do you know even Haiti, Brundi and Rawanda had women rulers though its not part of our region but just for your information.
As far as Mayawati is concerned. I believe she has the skills to be Prime Minister of India.
Good luck to her
Sheila Dixit would be a gr8 candidate to run India, she has transformed Delhi to such a level infrastructure wise that no other Indian city can compete, in 1990's Bombay used to be a dream city with high rises but Delhi is now India's Shanghai.
She has a very good track record per se.
Jana, Please care to explain what kind of skills she is having which make her PM of India. I found great traits from administration of UP:-
1) All Scams will lead to only one person, named Mayawati.
2) India will be called "Land of Statues" where Elephants, Kanshi ram, Dr Ambedkar and Mayawati herself holding purse (Lol.. I laughed when I saw that in Lucknow ).
3) National animal will be changed from Tiger to Elephant, (BSP's symbol)
4) There would be thousands of Ambedkar city, villages, Parks etc
5) The roadlights will have "Blue" lights in place of yellow/white light (dont believe it.. Visit Lucknow.. many cross roads are having the blue lights)
6) There would be mass conversion (which still hapens on some scale) of Dalits (Scheduled Castes) to Buddhista religion.
7) There will be national holiday on 15th Jan (Mayawati's B'day) and every government official, businessman from all over India will be queuing up for their chance to gift crores to this lady.
Do you find any trait she is having for PM.. I am sorry I dont find (Oops.. I am from Manuwadi thought of school)..