by Tahmina Khanam and Mridul ChowdhuryOne of Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments in a political campaign has raised considerable controversy throughout South Asia. He said: ‘Once my family decides on something, it doesn’t go back. Whether it’s about India’s freedom, dividing Pakistan or taking India to the 21st century.’ It was surely a statement made to make his family seem ‘larger than life’ to the common Indian populace. But he surely did not think of the underlying message that gets sent when a person of his stature makes such comments.
This statement from Rahul Gandhi inherently makes it seem like the ‘dividing up of Pakistan’ was a result of Indira Gandhi’s own act, her own strategy to weaken the ‘arch-rival Pakistan’ – it thoroughly undermines the true historic process that led to the formation of Bangladesh. The statement has an inherent disregard for the civil movements through the 50s and 60s that culminated in Sk. Mujibur Rahman getting a Parliamentary majority over all of Pakistan and constitutionally becoming the head of the country. West Pakistani army’s mischievous denial of constitutional obligations and instead attacking East Pakistani civilians was the basis of the civil war – not Indira Gandhi’s strategy. Rahul Gandhi’s statement also undervalues the efforts of millions of Bangladeshis who courageously fought back a massively-armed Pakistani army with little weapons through strategic guerilla warfare.
However, it cannot be denied that India was instrumental in winning the war against Pakistan. India gave us support through training, weapons and help to gain international opinion in favor of Bangladesh. In fact, during the last stages of the war, it was largely a war between Pakistani army and Indian army in association with the Muktibahini, which had set the stage for the final show-down. Surely, India and Indira Gandhi deserve due credit for that. We, as Bangladeshis, never deny that. Even Sk. Mujib himself after being released from Pakistani jail first went to India to pay homage to Indira Gandhi before flying to an independent Bangladesh – an ultimate act of respect.
It is only expected that the grandson of Indira Gandhi herself would be sensitive of the historic realities and portray history in the proper light to the myriads of Indians who look towards him for moral guidance in evaluating history and assessing relations with India’s neighbors. Rahul Gandhi has the stature of a national leader who, through his ancestry, is a living embodiment of decades of South Asian history, politics and identity. He is also someone who will perhaps one day be a significant leader of India and South Asia. We sincerely hope that in future, the words that he uses to discuss his family’s contributions would be more responsibly used.
