From Shimla, with hope

I FIRST visited Shimla in 1937 with my parents. The Maharaja of Bharatpur had an extensive property in Shimla. He spent six months every summer in the summer capital of the Raj. What I remember most is my feeling horribly sick in the car after Kalka. As my mother was in purdha, special efforts were made to cover the plastic adjustable window shields. Six months was a long time for a young boy of seven. My three elder brothers had to go back to Mayo College, Ajmer, in July after their summer vacations.

I have been to Shimla many times after that. The vivid memories of my childhood in Shimla came back to me forcefully during the Congress party's Vichar Manthan shivir which was held in the Himachal capital on July 7, 8 and 9, 2003. I attended the Pachmarhi shivir in 1998 and the Chief Ministers' meetings in Mount Abu and Srinagar. Shimla proved to be quite exceptional. Away from the heat and humidity of New Delhi, the morning mist and cool breeze of Shimla made one's mind creatively active and vastly improved one's concentration spell. In all, 250 members of the Congress party assembled in Shimla and had intensely live and stimulating deliberations. The moving spirit behind this highly successful and worthwhile shivir was Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Five groups were formed to apply their minds to specific issues - political, economic, organisational, social and foreign policy.

Having been to similar functions over the years, it struck me on the very first day that we all had a spring in our walk and cheer on our faces. There was a general spirit of camaraderie and fraternity. As the hours passed, it became abundantly clear to me that the determination and enthusiasm were genuine. On July 7 and 8, the five groups worked 9 to 10 hours. The discussions were animated, speculative, wide-ranging, not lacking realism. In her stirring speech, the Congress president had laid down the agenda and scope of the shivir. Hers was a well-crafted, skilfully focussed and vigorously delivered statement, which asked for action and reflection.

The media interest in the Shimla shivir was more than apparent. And here, I must say that all our colleagues in the print and electronic branches of the fourth estate displayed exemplary patience and a sense of occasion. On the concluding day, the Shimla sankalp (resolution) was unanimously adopted by the concluding plenary session. The text of the sankalp was read out by Kumari Selja, who is a prominent member of our party in Haryana and also a secretary in the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The symbolism of choosing Selja did not go unnoticed. The sankalp spelt out in detail a message and gave notice to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its intellectual and spiritual mentors, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. It was announced that the party would launch a Jan Jagran Abhiyan (people's awareness movement) throughout the country to expose the BJP-led NDA government's massive and glaring failures in various spheres - security, defence, communal harmony, economic growth, social welfare, good governance, foreign policy and probity and transparency in public life. The sankalp also clearly stated that the Congress party is prepared for national elections at any time and the people were awaiting an opportunity to vote the Congress Party back at the Centre and in the States. The sankalp laid great emphasise on social and economic issues and mentioned that the private sector should offer job reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. On foreign policy, a very balanced and far-sighted paragraph was included:

The Indian National Congress is firm in its commitment to Jawaharlal Nehru's vision of foreign policy. That framework has in-built flexibility to respond to the dynamics of a changing world keeping our national interests paramount. For the Congress, non-alignment has essentially meant independence in foreign policy. Recalling Rajiv Gandhi's historic efforts for the establishment of the nuclear weapons-free world, the Indian National Congress reiterates its commitment to universal nuclear disarmament. As part of this process, the Congress Party believes in the need for initiating a dialogue with our nuclear neighbours for confidence-building measures and for managing the consequences of nuclearisation.

The shivir also announced that the Congress party would establish a Bapu Sadbhavana and Shiksha Trust which would reflect the values of our freedom movement, our Constitution and our culture. It has also announced in the sankalp that a National Training Institute would be established where every Congress member will go through an annual orientation course on contemporary political, economic and social issues and constructive work.

In her concluding remarks, the Congress president spelt out the policy of the Congress party with clarity on coalitions and Ayodhya. Efforts have not been lacking to spread misinformation about the party's stand on these two issues of great national political significance. Now there can be no ambiguity.

We all returned from Shimla full of confidence, hope tampered by sagacious realism.