Political squabble over tragedy is disgraceful
If anything can be as tragic as the calamity which has struck Uttarakhand, it is the slugfest that political parties have indulged in to score points over one another in the wake of the disaster. They have disgustingly resorted to parochial mud-slinging even as thousands are feared dead and thousands others are waiting to be evacuated to safety. While the brave personnel of our Armed Forces are working against tremendous odds to provide relief and save lives, in the process endangering their own safety, all that some petty politicians can think of is how best to use the tragedy to run down rivals, even if that means turning away much-needed help.
For instance, the Congress regime of Uttarakhand unhesitatingly shot down the Gujarat Government's twin offer to provide some two dozen helicopters to help in the rescue mission and rebuild the famous Kedarnath shrine, which has been destroyed by floods and landslides. The reasons that the Uttarakhand Government has given for its rejection are specious, and nobody is going to buy them. The fact is that the Congress Government in the State does not want to be seen as accepting assistance from Mr Narendra Modi. It does not matter to the Congress that the relief would have proved immensely helpful to the people of Uttarakhand. The Congress's visceral dislike for the Gujarat Chief Minister is also evident in the venomous manner in which it has gone after Mr Modi after he visited Uttarakhand, calling him “Rambo”, and what not. Of course, the party had no problem with the visits of its own Chief Ministers such as Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Gehlot, to name just two.
Worse, the Congress has been seeking to demonise Mr Modi's trip to divert criticism over its vice president Rahul Gandhi's absence from the scene of the tragedy. When Mr Gandhi did visit more than a week late, the party used the occasion to glorify him as a committed individual who went to acquaint himself with the supervision of rescue operations, and not to engage in self-publicised photo opportunities. (Never mind that he and the Congress president had earlier flagged off a relief mission with many cameras in attendance.) That he undertook a helicopter trip in the State when only hours earlier Union Minister for Home Affairs Sushil Kumar Shinde had categorically directed that no VIPs must take helicopter rides there because it would hamper relief work, is apparently of no consequence to the party.
After all, Mr Shinde had created that rule to pre-empt any further forays into the State by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and not to thwart Mr Gandhi's programme. How could he dare to even entertain the thought of blocking Mr Gandhi’s ride! While the BJP has reciprocated in kind to the strident criticism that the Congress has launched against its leaders, party president Rajnath Singh has rightly called for an end to the political war and the presentation of a unified effort to tackle the challenges ahead. It's an advice both the Congress and the BJP must heed.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna must stop being insensitive and accept accountability for the lapses of his regime. He says he is not concerned by criticism that his regime failed to provide adequate relief to the victims; he wonders whether the cloudburst happened because of commercial development. He has even reportedly claimed that the dams constructed for large hydro-electric projects had averted a larger tragedy! According to some media reports, a few senior Government officials who ought to have supervised relief and rescue operations disappeared after the calamity struck. Mr Bahuguna and his Government have a lot to answer for.