The Organiser is agitated over Sonia Gandhi representing India at the UN. In its editorial, ‘There are Gandhis and Gandhis’, the RSS mouthpiece says: “Many Indians felt outraged about the UN inviting the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to address the general assembly to mark the adoption of the resolution to commemorate October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence.” It then says that while for an international audience it may not be of much significance who represents India, but “to our mind, Sonia Gandhi is the least endowed to represent India in general and the Mahatma in particular. Her surname is an accident of her marrying into the Nehru family.”

It continues, “there are Gandhians in India who were not only inspired by the great life of the Mahatma but who lived following in the footsteps of the great teacher... they translated him into their own daily chores; they set up ashrams, service centres, served the less privileged living in the remote slums; they wrote and spoke to spread the message of the master, away from limelight and power play... But the UN did not choose them. They are not white, they are not backed by big players.”

Sunita’s RSS story

The Organiser also reports that astronaut Sunita Williams is proud to be from an RSS family: “While addressing a Rotary Club function in Ahmedabad in the presence of her father, she said: ‘When I landed up in naval academy I had to adjust to military discipline. The RSS culture of discipline in our family came in handy for me at that stage since my father had been associated with the RSS.’”. And while addressing a meet under the aegis of the Ahmedabad Management Association she also spoke on Ram Setu, saying, it quotes, “I took pictures of the bridge between India and Sri Lanka from the space station.”

Stop the tamasha

Columnist M.V. Kamath ridicules the ongoing war of words in the ruling alliance. He asks, “Who is ruling this country? Sonia Gandhi? Manmohan Singh? Prakash Karat? Yechury? Karunanidhi? Or is it Ronen Sen, the loud-mouthed Indian ambassador in Washington?”

He goes on to say, “One can’t blame the BJP if it says that mid-term elections have become inevitable. The public is getting increasingly sick of the disorder prevailing in the country... What is now becoming increasingly evident is that the time for general elections has come and the issue cannot be brushed aside any longer. Presently there is a civil war in Sonia Gandhi’s durbar with Jairam Ramesh and R.K. Dhawan opposed to Ambika Soni. At the same time Kapil Sibal and Prakash Karat are at loggerheads and Congress is trying to distance itself from Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the wheat import issue, even when Karunanidhi of the DMK, another partner in the UPA government, is demanding a cabinet posting for his daughter on terms laid down by him. This tamasha has to stop.”