A Gandhi apology matters
Rahul Gandhi should have apologised for the Sikh killings of 1984 when the Congress party was in power and redeemed himself somewhat
It’s shameful that nearly 35 years after the Sikh killings of 1984, the Congress party has not found a sensible and truthful way of talking about this event. Alongside the Emergency, it’s the lowest point in the party’s history. Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments in London confirm the impression it’s at a loss.
His statement that Congress was not involved is only narrowly and technically correct. It ignores the bigger question of moral responsibility. Meanwhile, the claim Congress was not involved hinges on the fact we’re not aware of instructions handed down by the party leadership to carry out the pogrom. Three and a half decades is long enough to establish this point.
However, what Rahul Gandhi overlooked is the way the Congress party sought to explain, excuse and even rationalise the killings and the advantage it took of the anti-Sikh mood of the period which, of course, culminated in the killings.
Rajiv Gandhi’s statement that when a big tree falls the ground will shake was undoubtedly an attempt to explain, excuse and rationalise what had happened. I won’t go so far as to say he was condoning the massacre but he certainly ended up minimising it. His attempt was to make it seem understandable. In the process, Congress and its prime minister refused to accept moral responsibility even if they did not actually disown it.
What most people have forgotten is how the Congress election campaign sought to take advantage of the antiSikh mood of the period. I vividly recall newspaper advertisements which played upon the antipathy for Sikhs. “Are you scared the border could move to your doorstep?”, was one. “Are you scared of the taxi driver at night?”, was another. At the time most taxi drivers in Delhi were thought to be Sikh.
As far as I know, Rajiv Gandhi never apologised for his ‘big tree’ analogy nor did his party express regret for the advertisements. Perhaps they felt their overwhelming victory exonerated them. What compounded matters was that two men who were widely thought to be guilty found places of honour in Rajiv Gandhi's government. This was despite loud calls they should be left out. H K L Bhagat was made a cabinet minister and Jagdish Tytler, a minister of state. Once again, the message was clear. Rajiv Gandhi was either oblivious of or unconcerned by the damning allegations they faced.
There’s no doubt Manmohan Singh, as Prime Minister, formally apologised in Parliament. He said his head hangs in shame. He could not have been more fulsome and explicit. But given the fact Congress is a Gandhi-led and dominated party what the mother and son have to say will always matter more. They are believed to articulate Congress’ real response. No third person can do it on their behalf.
So what should Rahul Gandhi have said to carry credibility and convey he was fully aware of and also accepted the enormity of what had happened? It’s not hard to devise a form of words he could have spoken. Let me offer a version.
“The Sikh killing of 1984 was a horrible tragedy for which my party, through former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, has formally apologised in Parliament. But I accept that no apology can be sufficient. Certain individual members of the Congress party face cases in court and it would be wrong for me to comment on those. But even if individual Congressmen were involved the party itself was not. Yet the killings happened when Congress was in power and my father was Prime Minister. Though I was only a school boy at the time, the Congress party’s leadership always has and always will accept full moral responsibility. No one has or will run away from this. But is the BJP willing to take a similar stand over the Gujarat massacre of 2002? The Prime Minister was chief minister at the time but when questioned in interviews his response is to get up and walk away. Finally, an election victory does not erase the past but it's worth remembering that the Congress party has won three elections in Punjab since 1984 and presently has a two-thirds majority in the state.”
If I can think of what Rahul Gandhi should have said I’m surprised he could not himself. The problem is that we don’t know how to say sorry. We don’t realise that an apology is also an act of redemption. Pride and prestige prevent us. Consequently, events that could be laid to rest continue to rankle.