Jagran Editorial | PM Modi's Masterstroke: Ensuring Unity In Diversity

Ms Kanimozhi was leading a delegation of Indian MPs to Spain and a few other countries to explain India’s stand vis-a-vis Pakistan’s persistent promotion of cross-border terrorism leading up to the dastardly killing of 26 people at Pahalgam on April 22 and India’s firm targeting of terrorist camps in that nation.

India dispatched seven multi-party delegations to over 30 countries. The composition of the delegations truly represented the political and social diversity of India. The delegation headed by Kanimozhi consisted of Prem Chand Gupta of RJD, Mian Altaf Ahmad of NC, Rajiv Rai of SP, Capt Brijesh Chowta of BJP, and Ambassador Jawed Ashraf. This delegation was tasked to visit Russia, Slovenia, Latvia and Spain and explain what prompted India to launch operation Sindoor against nine terrorist camps inside Pakistan.

The question posed to her would seem simple if India were to be a unilingual nation with just one major language and not a nation in which people speak 122 languages and 270 subsidiary languages which are classified as mother tongues. It would also have seemed simple if it had been addressed to an MP from the Congress or some other party which is not caught up in language politics. But, that was not the case. Ms Kanimozhi represents the DMK which has campaigned persistently against what it calls “imposition of Hindi” since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru and the DMK founder Annadurai. Yet, although she belongs to the DMK and although her party and its allies are in conflict with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Narendra Modi government on the language issue, she put national interest ahead of everything else while responding to this question in Spain. Incidentally, while all this transpired in Spain, her party ally Kamal Hassan was stoking the language fire by claiming that Kannada was a child of Tamil!

Many other MPs, some of the Congress Party as well, did a brilliant job of standing up for India and projecting a united front despite the pathetic, whining attitude of Mr Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition and some of his sidekicks in the party.

Among Congress MPs, Shashi Tharoor was the most prominent and articulate. He hailed the Modi government for sending out all-party delegations across the globe. He said when the nation was in crisis, it was the job of all citizens to lend a hand. Politics must be set aside. He said it was an honour for him to lead the delegation to the USA and Central American countries. “I see no politics in it. We are all Indians. When the nation is in crisis and the central government seeks the help of a citizen, what other answer would you give,” Tharoor said.

Former external affairs minister and senior Congress leader, Salman Khurshid also did a brilliant job standing up for India. He praised "Operation Sindoor" in a television interview and said "Salute our officers, proud of them... remarkable decisions by the armed forces". He emphasised that Operation Sindhoor only targeted terrorist camps, not Pakistan. He remained sceptical of the attitude of Pakistan. He said, "No matter what we do and no matter what we try to reach out on, ultimately, there's a bottom line and that bottom line is terrorism".

Khurshid even scoffed at some sections of Indian opposition (including his party) which were raising questions about Operation Sindoor. He said in a Tweet, “When on mission against terrorism, to carry India’s message to the world, it is distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?”

In a meeting in Indonesia, he said: "What you see in this delegation is the true picture of India, which we value and which we cherish. We believe our country is our mother."

Khurshid said: "Pakistan wants to undo the prosperity that has come to Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370. This is in contrast to the stand taken by this party against abrogation of Article 370 some years ago and the unwillingness of Rahul Gandhi to see the prosperity that has come into that state after annulment of Article 370."

Another Congress leader, Anand Sharma praised the Centre's initiative to send all-party MPs abroad to tell the world about Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism.

Anand Sharma is the third Congress leader, after Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid, to praise the initiative even as the grand old party criticised it as a “diversionary tactic”. Sharma termed the diplomatic outreach an important initiative taken by the Modi government to sensitise global public opinion about the role of the Pakistani military establishment in promoting terrorism. Anand Sharma is part of the MPs team that will travel to South Africa, Egypt, Qatar, and Ethiopia in the coming days. Then there was also Manish Tewari, another Congress leader, who joined the delegations saying the nation’s call was above everything else.

Yet another brilliant “nationalist” star has emerged in all this - AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. His outspokenness about the price India is paying for Pakistan’s persistent promotion of terrorism, has contributed immensely to the global understanding of this problem. He was part of the delegation to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria which was headed by Mr Baijayant Panda, BJP leader and included Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. This delegation forcefully put across the view that Pakistan’s terrorist activities were trying to jeopardise India’s plural, liberal and democratic society.

The Narendra Modi government deserves to be complimented for planning this outreach across the globe and for reaching out to all political parties in this regard.

Kanimozhi’s “unity in diversity” response relates not just to linguistic diversity. India’s social, ethnic, economic, religious and linguistic diversity is unparalleled. India is not only the most populous nation in the world but also the most diverse and the most democratic. There is no other nation which is as democratic as ours with a constitution that has a unique set of rights for religious, linguistic and other minorities.

Mr Rahul Gandhi and a few others in the Congress Party need to learn from Kanimozhi and other MPs, including some of their own, on how and when one must say “Nation First”.

In fact, Rahul Gandhi needs to learn from his own party MPs like Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari and others who have been part of India’s delegations to other nations, on how to conduct oneself while facing foreign audiences or leaders of other nations.

(Note: The author is an expert on democratic issues and a senior columnist.)