AlignIndia Conferences : Transcript
Transcribed by Susheelkumar S Hallur
Featuring Sri Mani Shankar Aiyer
Special Guest: Sri Kumar Ketkar, MP
Friday August 14, 2020. 19:45 IST
Introduction
AlignIndia organized a conversation with Veteran congressman Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar on August 14, 2020. The topic of the conversation was The Congress Renaissance. This webinar was also attended by Shri Kumar Ketkar MP of Rajya Sabha for Maharashtra.
The Webinar was organized into four segments
a) Opening Remarks by Shri Kumar Ketkar, MP
b) Address by Shri Mani Shankar on “The Congress Renaissance“
c) Question and Answer session by the participants in the Webinar
d) Closing Remarks and Vote of Thanks
1. Opening Remarks by Sri Kumar Ketkar, MP
Shri Kumar Ketkar started by acknowledging his admiration for Shri Mani Shankar. He then set the stage for things to follow by sharing what he thought was most important for a congress revival. He said that the only way to remain a meaningful opposition is by directly involving with the people. He felt that this connect should not only happen in TV, Facebook or Twitter, but also by meeting the people on ground. He felt that congress as a party should go to the people just as Gandhiji went to Champaran, Nehru went to Faizpur, or Indira Gandhi went to Belchi. By reaffirming that going back to the people was the only way to bring about a renaissance of Congress party, he handed over the session to Shri Mani Shankar.
2. Address by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer on “The Congress Renaissance”
Shri Shankar Aiyer started off by agreeing that this is the right opportunity and occasion to think about a possible Congress Renaissance.
He gave two reasons about why he thought this was the right moment for a renaissance. Firstly, because we have gone from a party with 200 seats in 2009 elections to now a party with under 50 seats. Secondly because our opposition is expressing a great deal of fake sympathy for our position. They are showing their sympathy by attacking the Gandhi family and trying to urge us that the only way to bring about a rejuvenation of the Congress Party was by changing the leadership. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer was quickly dismissive of this sympathy and suggestion from our detractors. He strongly felt that a Gandhi Mukt Congress would lead to a Congress Mukt Bharat and this was exactly the reason why the opposition was pushing this Vocabulary on us. He reminded us that historically whenever attempts were made to undermine the Gandhi family, it always ended up with a failure of the challenger and gave examples of this from the times of Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He also feared that at this stage we do not have acceptable leaders who could bring everyone together. He also reminded us that it was the Gandhi family that kept the party alive during the many ups and downs.
Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer then took us back in time to Smt. Indira Gandhi’s Belchi Movement. He told us how she went to Belchi after a crushing defeat. This visit raised the esteem of the people who had earlier rejected her and her son. It also made the people realize that they were presented with a bunch of incompetent people as an alternative. This change of perception of the people gave her an overwhelming victory of 1980 and brought her back to power. After emphasizing again how important the people connect is, he said that he was now waiting for a new Belchi Movement for the Congress.
Going further, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer reminded us that India is a genuine democracy. We are a democracy that was promoted and institutionalized by the Congress, something that we should all be proud of. However, he warned us that just because we worked for giving democracy for the people, we should not assume that we will have people’s support by default. We should remember that our democracy will allow others to bring their idea of India as an alternative. This makes it even more important that we should have the moral courage to stick with Gandhi and Nehru’s Idea of India and propagate that alternative to people. He implored us not to fall into a trap of becoming an imitation of BJP for short term political gains.
Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer then went on to explain the four Ideological pillars on which Jawahar Lal Nehru built our nation. He told us that these four pillars when understood correctly and when communicated in the right way to the people of India, can bring about a rejuvenation of the Congress Party.
As the first pillar to rejuvenate our party, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer said we should pick up the issue of Democracy. He said that we should highlight to the people what we have given to the country. We should talk more about how we drafted an amazing Constitution and inculcated respect for it. We should talk about how we separated the Judiciary from the Legislature and the Executive. We should communicate how we infused the Constitution with certain moral values, through Dr. B R Ambedkar who was not in full agreement with congress. We should remind people how Nehru increased the respect for the institutions of Democracy when he was the Prime minister of India by his actions. He recalled that when Gandhiji was asked, what his dream for India was, Gandhiji answered that he shall work for an India in which the poorest feel that it is his country and in the making of which he has an effective voice. Shri Aiyer further added that we should tell the people how Congress made this possible by the way of Panchayati Raj and brought democracy to the grass roots.
As the second pillar to rejuvenate our party, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer said we should pick Secularism. Secularism is what creates the rift valley between BJP and Congress. He explained that our definition of secularism is borrowed from Gandhiji’s perception of the basic tenant of Indian Civilization which is “Sarva Dharma Samabhav“. This definition of secularism teaches us to respect all religions and not to reject any. It also tells us that we should keep the state outside of all religious matters. He urged us to go back to this this definition of Secularism given to us by Gandhi and Nehru. He gave us examples on how Gandhiji, Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi upheld this definition of secularism in their lives. He then asked us to evaluate for ourselves and see if the current government is following the secularism as espoused by the founding fathers of our nation. He told us that when we take up such an evaluation, it will be clear to us that whatever is currently happening is in direct contradiction to what Nehru had said about secularism. Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer then remembered a bold statement that Rajiv Gandhi made when he said – Only a secular India can survive. And perhaps, an India that is not secular does not deserve to survive. This emphasizes how important a tenant secularism is for our nation.
As the third pillar to rejuvenate our party we should pick Socialism. He explained to us that our socialism is not a foreign concept inherited from outside. He told us that our Idea of socialism is adapted to Indian context. The bottom line of the socialism that we follow is to always prioritize the poor. He reminded us about how Gandhiji gave us a talisman to guide us in our moments of doubt. Gandhiji told us that whenever in doubt – Think of the poorest and the weakest person you have seen. And if, what we are proposing to do, benefits that poor man then be assured that we are on the right path. And he said that it is this approach which defines our approach to Socialism.
As the fourth pillar to rejuvenate our party, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer told us that we should pick the policy of Non-Alignment in foreign policy. He told us that Non-Alignment implied sovereignty in external relations. He reminded us that we were the first colonial country to have achieved total independence. Because, every other of the fifty-one countries that were part of UN during the 1940’s were either aligned to Washington or Moscow. He drew our attention to the fact that we could be already on the edge of a second cold war between China and US and Nehru’s policy of Non-alignment is even more important today. He urged us to take this message to the people that we should be in the favor of a Non-alignment (or more accurately Independent foreign policy) where our independence is not compromised by getting into military alliances. He went on to explain the advantages that an independent foreign policy could bring to us. Firstly, this policy will enable us to flourish as an independent Nation. Secondly, this policy will build our nation’s moral strength which will allow us to stand for what is right. Thirdly, this policy will enable us to have greater influence on foreign affairs. In the end he told us it was this policy of Non-alignment that allowed Nehru to look for peace at a time when the world saw the worst wars humanity has ever witnessed.
After enlightening us with these four Ideological pillars that could be used to rejuvenate Congress, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer then turned his attention to the organizational matters of the congress party. He reminded us that we have very strong ideological foundations and using this content to fight the BJP is more important than wasting our time on who among the three Gandhi’s should be leading the Congress party. He felt that after one of the three Gandhis is installed to the top post of the Congress, we should compete amongst ourselves for the other rungs of the party. To do this, he urged that we should hold genuine democratic elections to the offices of PCC, AICC, CWC etc. Shri Aiyer also felt that we should do away with the current trend of nominations to the various positions within the party organization.
After firming up our Ideological convictions Shri Shankar Aiyer says we should go to people with confidence. We should go to every city, village, mohalla and streets with our message. We should tell people that we stand for a democracy as exemplified by Panchayati Raj. We should communicate that we stand for a Secularism as defined by Gandhi, Nehru, and Rajiv. We should make it clear that we stand for socialism as it has always been understood in India. And finally, we should emphasize that we stand for independence in foreign policy.
In conclusion Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer assured us and asked us to believe that we are the only possible alternative to BJP. He said that we should remember that we still have a support base of 19% of Indian population as shown in 2014 and 2019. He asked us to use the use the nationwide network that we already possess. And last but not the least, he urged us to align ourselves with the right parties much before the elections so that we send out the right message to the electorate.
3. Question and Answer Session
After finishing his address, the floor was opened for Question and answer for the Audience. The audience took this opportunity to asked very intelligent and articulate questions on the subject of Congress Renaissance
- Yogendra Kapoor asked – What are the three reasons for the defeat of congress party in 2014 and 2019?
In answer to this question, Shri Kumar Khetkar said that there are number of reasons for our defeat in 2014 and 2019. However, the three key reasons could be – First, the victory of 2009 made some of the local congress leaders complacent. Second, this complacence lead to intellectual, ideological, and Political laziness which the BJP used to their advantage. Third, we were unable to adapt to the role, technology played to mould public perception. He noted that BJP moved ahead of us in digital media and Injected so much misinformation into the general public that it became difficult to erase it
- Seema Koshy asked – How can the Congress at the party level and at the level of its supporters, take actionable measures that we become a party that can change the course of politics and the future of India?
To this Shri Aiyer said that we first need to rediscover our key ideological concepts that have got watered down in the recent past. We should then start propagating these ideological concepts to the people. He reminded us that once we have a message, we do not have a lack of messengers to carry this message. Most importantly he felt we should confidently and without embarrassment, argue for our traditional Idea of India and oppose the Idea of India that is being currently propagated
- Vijay Rao asked – How can congress change its present culture of showmanship and identify genuine leaders who can deliver?
To this Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer answered that it would be incorrect to say that congress leaders have a culture of showmanship. He told us that these leaders have come to the fore by sticking to the party when the going has been tough. He further added that holding genuine elections and propagating the ideology will go a long way in bringing the right people forward.
- Dharamveer Dheer asked – How do we inculcate our Ideology within our Leaders first?
To this Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer said that Congress must come up with a dedicated campaign in favor of the traditional Idea of India. He said that we must come up with the right kind of messages after constructive debates and discussions. Once we are clear what the congress wants, the leaders need to put it in front of people so that people begin to want what congress wants.
- Sayan Dutta asked – How can we combat an organization which is gradually injecting hate into the society with the help of fake news?
To this Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer said that this can be effectively combated by going back to our core ideology and sticking to it with conviction. Once that is done, we need to create an army which is confident that we are on the right side, not necessarily on the winning side.
- Celine Mary asked – Now that our institutions are being weakened from the inside by pliable men and women, is there any hope of regaining the lost glory and how?
To this Shri Shankar Aiyer said that he was confident that this can be hoped for. He told us that what has been done to our institutions in the last six years cannot wipe out a civilizational heritage that goes back five millennia. He urged us to keep our distinction from these kinds of people clear and project it to general people. He said that we should stop being confused about what the congress stands for. Once these two things are done it will be easier to distinguish the people who are strengthening the institutions and then encourage them.
- Anis Ansari felt – Congress should align with marginalized communities, especially in the northern India and take up their issues and promote their interests. If we do this, the Congress can then become more representative of India’s population. He asked what Shri Aiyar’s views on this was.
Shri Aiyer completely agreed to this viewpoint. He said that we should take the example of our alliances in Kerala and use it as a guiding light for North India. By doing this we will send out a message to the marginalized people that their chances of coming to power are greater if they join congress.
- Sangeeta asked – Why do you think we are not able to align our communication strategy so that we address the citizens about who we are and what we stand for?
To this Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer answered that we cannot have a coherent communication strategy till we have a coherent message that can be pushed to the citizens. He further added that the four-pillar mentioned earlier can be used to build a coherent message for the citizens.
4. Closing Remarks
This then brought us to the last session of the event which was the closing remarks and Vote of thanks.
Shri Aiyer expressed that he was glad that he was given an opportunity to talk about Congress at such length after so many years. He also hoped that this program is sent to the right people so that it gets the attention it deserves.
Shri Kumar Ketkar in his closing remarks drew our attention to the fact that between 2004 and today, we have lost the support of the middle class. He felt that we need to introspect why we allowed the middle class to leave us even though they were the major beneficiaries of congress policies. He advised that we need to think of a way to inform the middle class how congress policies helped them and devise a plan to bring them back to our fold.
Dipali Sikand then thanked both Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer and Shri Kumar Ketkar for the wonderful session and for providing the audience with such great learnings. She also requested Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer to come again to the forum and tell us more about other important topics related to Congress history like – Rajiv Gandhi, Babri Masjid, Shah Bano case.
Disclaimer: This is a transcript of a Web Discussion. The opinions expressed are the personal opinions of the respective speakers. AlignIndia does not take any responsibility for the opinions expressed.