Times have changed so radically that even our leading politicians resort to street language to run down opponents, and the coarser the better. The tendency gained prominence in the 2014 general election when top figures of the present ruling party gave up on the idea of a refined discourse in cornering the Congress, then the ruling party. But expectations are different of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the Congress in general, which is thought to be more genteel than many others, although it has some terrible flaws. On Thursday, Mr Gandhi, while being critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to politically profit from the recent strike across the Line of Control by our Army’s special forces, should have used a more decorous vocabulary.
The Hindi word “dalali”, a low expression for a middleman’s gains, shouldn’t be used for any opponent, leave alone the PM. Opposition parties earlier used gutter lingo to bring down Rahul’s father, then PM Rajiv Gandhi, in the context of the Bofors controversy. But it doesn’t behove the younger Gandhi to seek to return the compliment. On the political side, no one questions that the cross-LoC action did take place (although several politicians have asked for some evidence to be released to quell global scepticism). No mainline politician has doubted the need for it either, or raised fingers about the Army, something BJP leaders blame their opponents of doing. The point of criticism is the BJP’s effort to “market” and politically “milk” our military action. That’s perfectly in order.
