Rahul is just another Gandhi

Hakeem Irfan

When incompetence is in live-in relationship with corrupt power, Rahul Gandhi happens. And mistakenly many* think of this combination as problem solving catalyst, capable of building much unwanted bridges. Rahul reminds me, of all the sons of Bollywood villains from Shakti Kapoor, Aasif Sheikh, Gulshan Grover to Mohnish Behl—who after being sent to some foreign country, come back to India and spent their rest of the life, disastrously dreaming and planning to marry the lead actress in the flick and be heir to the ill begotten wealth and territories of their fathers and families.

When Rahul, a home schooled, Cambridge graduate, was at Kashmir University this week along with Business Babus of India, talking about job opportunities and trying to manufacture his Kashmiri roots, a small scale biscuit factory near Baghi Ali Mardan industrial area—few kilometers from varsity—that once produced famous brands of Kashmir’s own biscuits—Shalimar, Nishat, Coconut—available in range of Rs one to Rs five, remains defunct, its doors locked, and dust enveloping the wrappers printed years back, but never used. This once profit generating factory never attracted attention of the government, that not only snapped electricity supply to the factory years back, but also stepped back, when it needed monitory help to sustain. This small factory, reflects, condition of many other Kashmir’s indigenous industries.

Three kilometers from University, in interiors of Rainawari area, a middle aged carpet weaver had to shut down his unit, for whole day and earn nothing, as supplies of thread could not reach him due to restrictions by forces, as Rahul was addressing youngsters about job opportunities, two miles away. And we were told Rahul is in Kashmir for building bridges and opening business opportunities. And yes, The Federation Chamber of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has already termed the visit of Indian business giants to Kashmir as ‘a futile exercise.’

Rahul, proposed as choice for post of Prime Minister of India by senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily in 2008, has three qualities to be what he is—the scion of Gandhi-Nehru family, the scion of Gandhi-Nehru family and he is fair. To be brother-in-law of India’s son-in-law Robert Vadra (as per India against Corruption) is always icing on the cake.

The three qualities of Rahul were vindicated by the election results of India’s biggest state Uttar Pradesh, where he was star campaigner for India’s oldest national party. People of the state, a reporter from national television of India informed, jostled to touch his hand and watch his smiling face—as if he was an angel from the powerful political family of India—for hours, but in the end voted for some other party. Then it leaves us wondering how he is the shining young political leader of India, who has not only squandered political lessons of Digvijay Singh, but has also forgotten management consultancy classes he attended in college and practiced later for some years. His mismanagement is evident in IYC and NSUI, where mostly youngsters with political affiliations are promoted to senior party positions.
Bhata-Parsul in UP was another disastrous example, where during farmer’s agitation, where in an act to gain sympathy of farmers, he jumped to conclusions that women were gang raped and people were burnt alive, without even checking the facts on ground in 2011. And other than this he has done nothing worth mentioning.

In Kashmir, Rahul tried to express his three qualities, as mentioned above, and stress on these to its fullest. ‘I am a Kashmiri’ he announced, like his great grandfather, Pandit Nehru informed us decades back. But, he could not substantiate it and his great grandson, is very unlikely to change the history.
“The aim of the interactive session is to build trust and a long-term relationship… We want to feel the pain that people of Kashmir have gone through...We have to develop a lifelong relationship with Kashmir based on trust,” Rahul told students, bussed to the convocation centre of KU. And later he added, “We need to develop a long lasting relationship of stability and trusts. Once it is done then you will find that investments are coming.”

The barrage of business tycoons, who were herded to the Valley, acknowledged what Rahul said, probably as per the script handed over to them in Delhi.
Rahul deliberately chose to forget around 0.7 million troops present in Jammu and Kashmir and infinite felonious and horrendous consequence of their presence and bigger demand for Right to Self Determination, promised by his great grandfather Pandit Nehru.

So, is stability and trust possible? I think Rahul has to ask people in Delhi to do some homework and ask his mom, that she should not expose him to embarrassing situations, where he has to flee from back door of convocation centre—as per local newspaper reports—to avoid gaze of scores of students outside convocation centre voicing demand of every individual of Jammu and Kashmir. But then I have to correct myself, oppressors are never embarrassed: shamelessness was their eternal beloved.
Besides, the business tycoons, Rahul said have come to do business. “I will be little blunt…Business people are after business…They will go to places where they get business. And wherever they go for it they will need two things--stability and trust.”

Can we infer from this that they have already signed some deal in Kashmir, which we will come to know years later. Or has government given some land or forest or water-body on lease for another 100 years to these people, who only come to places, where they can feed their interests.

And coming to questions of thousands of students and youngsters of Jammu and Kashmir, they wanted to pose to Rahul, but were silenced by their teachers*. I think our questions were always legitimate and right, but we try to ask it to wrong person every time. Rahul is part of the machinery that has choked rights and destinies of people, how can he even deserve or be eligible to listen to questions of women and men who are not only resisting but surviving the toughest battles on roads, borders and now on social networking sites as well.


Tail Piece:
Garmi-E-Ghuftar-E-Aza’ay Majaalis, Al-Aman !
Ye Bhi Ek Sarmaya Daron Ki Hai Jang-E-Zargari

“That rhetoric of the Senator, flowing in fiery stream— God save the mark!
The brokers’ war of gold is its true theme”