Word: gandhis
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...emergence of Sonia Gandhi as spokesperson of the Congress party has created more profound dilemmas. The widow of Rajiv Gandhi and heir apparent to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for nearly 40 of the past 50 years, Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Roman Catholic who became an Indian Citizen only 12 years ago. Her cross-country campaign for Congress has sparked debates over the question "Who is an Indian...
Perhaps the most delicious irony of the elections is that the battle against the BJP's conception of Indianness has been fought by a white-skinned Roman Catholic. Much to the surprise of pundits and the chagrin of BJP hard-liners, Sonia Gandhi's rallies have been enormously well-received. Record-breaking crowds of 250,000 gather in support of her and her family's secular legacy...
...invective of prominent nationalist leader, Bal Thackeray, against Sonia Gandhi reveals BJP unease at her appeal. "I will not allow any white-skin to rule this country," Thackeray was reported as saying in a Reuters release. "This Italian woman can never become our prime minister. Have we lost our masculinity? Did we throw out the British to invite this foreigner...
...most Indians, though, Sonia Gandhi's skin-color is a non-issue. Her reception makes a resounding statement about the potential of India to incorporate many ethnicities and religions under the definition of "Indian" without destroying their particularities. It offers evidence of a popular rejection of the BJP's homogenizing ideology. In some ways, Sonia Gandhi is the poster-girl for an Indian nationalism that has religious diversity, cultural hybridity and ethnic interaction at its heart...
Even though Sonia Gandhi will probably not become India's next Prime Minister, her presence and reception in this round of elections indicates that there is potential for India to withstand the demands of its fragmented cultural composition. Hopefully, a new leadership will institute a vision of India that appreciates, rather than ignores, the benefits of a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society...