BJP accuses Sonia Gandhi's memoir of whitewashing Emergency, 1984 riots

Résumé détaillé

The BJP attacked Sonia Gandhi's newly released memoir over its accounts of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The criticism renews political disputes over Congress history, Rajiv Gandhi's role and selective remembrance.

The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of trying to justify the 1975 Emergency and absolve her husband, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, of responsibility for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The party said the book should have been titled “Whitewashing”, alleging that it sought to gloss over the actions of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress. It also criticised Gandhi's comments on the Babri Masjid demolition, terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other issues.

Gandhi's memoir, published by HarperCollins India, was released on Tuesday. In the book, she calls the Emergency imposed in 1975 a mistake and says she believes her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, also came to see it that way.

She writes that keeping Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's brother, “in check” could have prevented much of the damage that followed the imposition of the Emergency.

BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan said in a post on X, "Sonia Gandhi could have titled her memoir as ‘Whitewashing’ instead of ‘Belonging’, because the motive of this book appears to be sugar-coating the historical wrongs perpetrated by the Nehru-Gandhi family and camouflaging the cardinal sins committed by the Congress party".

Gandhi also describes the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a “tragic and shameful” chapter in India's history. She says Rajiv Gandhi's heart held no bigotry or rancour, but he was thrust into a period when effective governance had broken down and barbaric acts followed.

She recalls that contradictory reports emerged about the period, including over the delay in deploying the Army. “Although the Chief of Army Staff, General AS Vaidya, had received his orders the same night as the assassination, we heard later that he decided not to mobilise the nearest units because they were manned by Sikh soldiers, a factor that might have exacerbated the situation,” she writes.

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