Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has lamented that patriotism is being redefined to justify discrimination and exclusion in the name of caste and religion, and those rejecting pluralism were being hailed as patriots.
Addressing a convention on Saturday of NGOs and civil society activists who presented an agenda for the people in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Sonia said: “We are being taught a new definition of patriotism today. Those who reject pluralism are being hailed as patriots. Discrimination against our own citizens in the name of caste, religion and ideology is being justified. We are expected to tolerate the whims of a few people in the context of food habits, clothing, language and freedom of speech.”
The UPA chairperson said the Narendra Modi government was not ready to accept disagreement in any form.
“The soul of our nation is being deliberately crushed. This is a planned conspiracy. The inclusive fabric of our society and the infrastructure of public welfare developed in the last 65 years are being systematically demolished. If people are attacked for their faith, the government looks the other way,” Sonia said.
The former Congress president said the government was not willing to fulfil its fundamental duty of enforcing the rule of law.
“Their policies are directed to serve the rich while they are unconcerned about the most vulnerable. We have to oppose this with all our might. India needs a government that is responsible for every citizen, which is objective and which is serious about its commitments. We have to restore the constitutional scheme; of equality, of freedom of justice,” Sonia asserted.
She recalled the association of the Manmohan Singh government with NGOs—the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia used to act as a live interface between the government and civil society.
“Our vision of India is similar. We achieved a lot for public welfare during the UPA era. That wasn’t easy.
We will not miss any opportunity to strengthen this interface to give primacy to people’s real concerns. I hope there will be some arrangement to work together in the new government too,” Sonia said.