Why do we regard Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams and Priti Patel or even Akshay Kumar as Indians, when we still call Sonia Gandhi by her Italian name? This week, Antonia Maino made a comeback on Republic TV when Arnab Goswami opened a personal, no-holds-barred attack on the Congress president over a recent mob lynching incident in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.
BJP leaders and the party’s supporters relish calling Sonia Gandhi a foreigner. Some anchors running pro-BJP channels regularly target the Congress leader and raise her ‘Italian’ roots to paint the party and its supporters as people working against “national interest” — whatever that ‘interest’ entails in their head. And Arnab Goswami is the undeclared leader of this pack. The Pied Piper blurts out inanities and his dutiful followers…follow. Even during a national health crisis, when people, including children, are dying of hunger.
But while Arnab never answers, even those following him never ask: Why is Sonia Gandhi, the wife of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and president of India’s oldest political party, an “Italian”, a “foreigner”? After spending all her adult life in India, she is “not Indian” in some people’s eyes. But a Canadian Akshay Kumar is. Because when he is not acting in commercial, nationalist films, he is ‘interviewing’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the middle of a national election, offering him a plate of mango-questions to pick and choose from.
Also read: Arnab Goswami’s attack continues. Rahul, Priyanka, where’s your ‘enough is enough’ moment?
Obsession with ‘foreign’
The people who go after Sonia Gandhi and her ‘foreign’ roots also always cherish the achievements of ‘Indians’ and Indian-origin people who were born and raised in foreign countries or those who later took citizenship of other countries. Whether it’s Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, V.S Naipaul, Tulsi Gabbard, Priti Patel, or Jhumpa Lahiri, their achievements are celebrated like those of an Indian.
The thing is, in a country where some people are obsessed with finding and establishing foreigners among them — such as through the National Register of Citizens — Sonia Gandhi’s Italian roots offer an easy route to target a political party that must be demonised and attacked perpetually so that Narendra Modi and his BJP can look good.
Even the argument that Indians are “emotional” about their country and associate birthplace with citizenship and citizenship with Indianness doesn’t hold water. If that was the case, then people hailing from the northeast states won’t be taunted and targeted as “Chinese” or “Japanese” or “Korean”. There have been several instances of people being attacked during the Covid crisis because, well, the virus’ geographic origin lies in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Northeast Indians are discriminated against based on their looks. Even people from the south are mocked; for a large populace of India, everyone in the south is still a “Madrasi”.
It would appear that this obsession with seeing other Indians as ‘not one of our own’ is mainly a Hindi heartland thing. The rampant discrimination has been a bane of Indian society, and continues to divide people along racial and sectarian lines. So, if you are from north India or look like one, you are by default an Indian. Others must show their birth proof, or chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai or be an unadulterated supporter of Modi and the BJP. Although, Sonia Gandhi would still be an “Italian”.
Also read: If Uddhav Thackeray bows before Arnab Goswami’s dare, he will only weaken himself before BJP
Insecurities due to the British past
An ‘Indian’ Sundar Pichai is the head of an American company Google; another ‘Indian’ Satya Nadella is the chief executive officer of Microsoft; Shantanu Narayen leads Adobe; Ajaypal Singh Banga is the CEO of Mastercard. Can we imagine such a scenario in India? How will Indians take it if an Indian company is led by a foreigner?
At the slightest hint of a foreign connection, such figures will be labelled a spy, traitor, Jaichand or anything that a certain group can come up with. To a large extent, most Indians have never really been comfortable with foreigners — even though most crave for their attention and hold their praise of any Indian (mostly Hindu) ritual or custom as the final validation.
The roots of this insecurity perhaps lie in the British past, and seems to have survived even today, with many desperate enough to shrug off the past memories of being ruled by foreigners through persistent dislike for anything or anyone “not Indian”. What they don’t want to acknowledge is that this distinction is not so simple. There were many foreigners who made immense contributions to India’s freedom struggle. Moreover, we are not living in the past. This is modern India. Any insecurity over someone’s place of birth, race or religion should not exist.
Sonia Gandhi denounced her Italian citizenship, learnt Hindi, wore saris all her life, led the country’s oldest political party but she is still an “Italian”. It’s time to ask: what could she possibly do to be regarded as an Indian like a Canadian Akshay Kumar?
Views are personal.
She should relinquish her desire for power which is the root cause for her taking Indian citizenship. Get out along with her family of the Congress party and leave to any other leader through a transparent election. This will help to reinvent the Congress party.
This will be a service to the party and the country.
U found Akshay Kumar to compare with sonia Gandhi ??.
Jyoti Yadav should we all be proud that British f**ked this county for 200 years ? print is such a third class media
Akshay Kumar donate more than 25 cr. Where as congress and it’s goons looted whole country. Insecurity about being ruled by British? Joyti yadav should all we be proud that they ruled and stole from us?. you still think like a slave to British. People like you nothing but progressive SoBs. Got to UK and clean their toilets ??
I am happy that you are comparing Sonia to Akshay Kumar.
Democracy is not the despotism and journalism is not the art of maligning someone in the personal interest some professions have social responsibilies and journalism is that kind of profession which has the attachment with the press is the fourth pillar of the state …talking is different from trash
Quite a silly, fawning article, by a very shallow thinking writer.
You cannot compare kalpana chawla with papu’s mother.kalpana has done India proud and this lady is the cause of all wrong things
Quite silly. In fact, quite juvenile. Sonia, an Italian lady married to an Indian guy, a widow, can quite comfortably remain here in India. But, her political aspirations are what bring about division. SHE IS NOT INDIAN. Get that into your heads, people. Her children may qualify on this score, but doubts are cast on this as well, and satisfactory explanation has not yet come forth. She may be earnest in her present situation, but her past and that of her Indian family IS clouded by greed and corruption. So, enough already. Stop these odious, unrelated, out of context comparisons. If we do see a man of Indian origin as the next British PM, or as the President of the USA, it is by virtue of their having gone through due process. Just because she is the wife and daughter in law of former PM’s, does not take away her true background. We do have great talent in India. We can find our own true leaders. They can wear saffron or the tri colour. It is “our” choice. We do not need second hand talent when we have the best, in our own land.
The Canadian does not serve any public office.
The Canadian does not read English written Hindi in speeches.
The Canadian follows all local customs.
The Canadian is not as dumb as the Italian.
The difference is that Sonia Gandhi/ Congress party full of pyachophants which she rules occupies public space, makes policy decisions when in power and is unaccountable. No wonder they are on such a steep decline in public view (electorally). Others like Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Wiliams and Priti Patel or even Akshay Kumar are persons of recognition because of their hardwaork, competence and achievements. Can you please name one competence or capability of madam Gandhi. Just because Rajiv Gandhi married her she doesn’t become great. Unfortunately she hold the key to the safe of Congress’s I’ll goten wealth does not make her great. Wondering how much Jyoti Yadav or Print got paid for this article.
Thank you. I’ve often felt people are hypocritical, especially when they celebrate the achievements of foreigners with Indian roots, like Kalpana Chawla, Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, recent ones being Rishi Sunak and Priti Patel, as if they were working in India, and yet look at regional differences (like NE and South India). It’s no doubt a matter of pride that people with Indian blood have achieved great things. Instead of being proud, we should be inspired. They can also be viewed as just humans who have worked hard to achieve their own dreams. The countries which have adopted them helped in achieving that dream. Without that help, they wouldn’t be where they are. Maybe they would’ve been something else, greater or lesser, doesn’t matter. They’re a sum total of all experiences and we should respect them for that. Honestly after working hard for a country, it would hurt to see that others still think of you as an outsider. This is not a particularly Indian phenomenon, it is seen everywhere and we have to recognize it and understand that it isn’t right.
Yes, looting crores of Indian taxpayer’s money is physically and mentally exhausting. Even if her nationality was ignored, you cannot look past her corrupt past and how she is an Italian fascist that has ruined a great party like congress.
Akshay kunar never wants to “Rule India”…
Thats the difference…….
This is such a baseless blog(not news?), akshay kumar, and the other examples were born in india, to indian parents… Sonia gandhi was born in italy, WITH ITALIAN PARENTS!!
Jyoti ji Please set your mind right .Right
Absolutely right
Shed the Vatican Connection. Her Anti Hindu attitude is well described in Pranab Mukherjee’s book. Please read that before pontificating.
Akshay Kumar is definitely Canadian but he’s more acceptable than Antonia Maino.
POV is agreed. Secondly Tulsi Gabbard to my knowledge does not have Indian roots. She adopted Hinduism in her teens.
THE SAME ARNOB GOSWAMI HAS ONCE ATTACKED NARENDERAMODI DURING 2002 GUJARAT COMMUNAL RIOTS. BUT MONEY HAS CHANGED HIM. HE IS AN ANTI-INDIAN FOR ADVOCATING COMMUNAL BIOS AGAINST SONIA GANDHI. SHE ISA CITIZEN OF INDIA FOR MANY DECADES. ARNOB GOSWAMI MUST BE ARRESTED FOR HIS SLANDER AGAINST SONIA GANDHI.
You are comparing apples and oranges!
Can Akshay kumar lead the liberal or conservative party in Canada?
Let alone lead he wont be offered a membership probably.
Only India will allow the oldest party to be lead by someone not born in India!
One is looter and other is hardcore nationalist. We all know who is what
its very difficult to find someone as brainless as this woman writer..seriously..brain of an ape
You missed the difference between Akshay and Sonia. Akshay or his relatives are not named in Any FIR for forgery or money Laundering or use of power and position for personal benefit . In one simple sentence it can be said that in day to day activities Akshay is more Indian than Canadian and Sonia and her family are more Foreigner than India.
And please donot defend persons for your personal gain. Think of nation first.
We have seen journalist being biased earlier but this writer seems to have crossed the limit of having being called the bootlicker of congress party.
There are many questions in the eyes of common man:
1. Do Sonias sister’s run an antique store with indian shipments that were ferried by air india when MMS was PM.
2. Her father was a mason, How did very humble spartan family acquire untold riches with ascent of Sonia?
3. Where did bofors money go, why were so many scams under her watch?
4. Why was her party doing minority appeasement, that very basic premise resulted in BJP increasing its presence, So her notable policies of minority appeasement notably RTI to minority aided schools and bangladeshi settlements in all congress ruled states have hurt her image.
We love captain Amrinder because he talks no appeasement but a christian like her to preach to hindus to give away their rights for conversion is wrong.
Arnab you are at times very dramatic . You are now under attack from a left leaning, anti CAA Protest SUPPORTERS, cong allows corruption and corruption is SECULAR brigades who are most intolerant and abusive . I wish to ask them is why HINDU woman are raped and forcefully converted and are not being provided rations during covid19 pandemic in pakistan and why HINDUS were driven out of Kashmir. If all human DNA is same what distinguishes us HINDUS .
Hahaha it hurt you badly and i can see it. Well this shows your illiteracy as you are comaring an actor with a politician . A wrong politician like the antanio one can cause unbearable damage to my Nation and the actor your talking about has donated more than the people you beg to.
Hi, Article like this will not help Congress. Congress has to focus on how to get back to power, which in my opinion is not going to happen for next 10 years. With BJP government at centre this issue of Arnab, Palahalpur will have fast track justice.
There is a fundamental difference between Sonia Gandhi and Akshay Kumar./The former became an Indian Citizen long after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi.The lure of being part of the ruling political family in India was a great inducement.Has she done any public or social service in India to deserve the title of the de-facto Prime Minister of India from 2009 to 2014.Just because she is the widow of Rajiv Gandhi,she inherited the title of being the Congress Party Chief.On the contrary Akshay Kumar rose to stardom by sustained hard work and talent in the highly competitive world of Hindi Cinema ,by no means an easy feat.And he has generously contributed both financially and otherwise for several deserving national causes.Above everything else he is a genuine Indian at heart despite his legal identity of being a Canadian citizen.There are a number of prominent Indian Journalists with foreign citizenship working and commenting on social and political issues.No one labels them as foreigners.
Idiot Akshay Kumar already surrendered his Canadian passport last year ,please verify before writing a fake news.
being an Indian is not by wearing sarees ir putting a bindi.
one needs to be induan by heart.
seems written by a stooge if congress.
though i dont like this taunting of Sonia by her origins, it is not possibke to consider her Indian by any logic except her marriage .
please dont disgtace all the other indians who have made india proud by comparing to Sonia
They call her Antoni mini because her blood is Itelian. Her mother land is Italy. Akshay Kumar is Indian by birth and blood. He is canedian only by passport.
What about her obsession with rss, divisive vote bank politics. The anti caa stir was triggered by her hate speech. This is one of many ways she has damaged india. There is no positive contribution by her and India stands divided due to her. Clearly she has no love for india. Similarly india has no love for her.
All the others who you have mentioned here are of Indian roots … Kalpana Chawla is from Karnal, Haryana, Akshay Kumar is from Amritsar; just a Canadian Passport cannot make him Canadian overnight, Sundar Pichai is an IITian.
Sonia/Antonio is none of those. I hope you got your answer to your multi-page long question.
Mohtarma Jyoti Yadav’s logic is as perverted as it can be. As usual BJP haters apply one logic to their own tribes and another logic to the rest of the world. By applying the identical logic of nationality at birth and the makeup of one’s mindset / cultural upbringing, Sonia Gandhi is definitely Italian and Akshay Kumar is Indian. By applying the logic of citizenship after naturalization, Sonia Gandhi is now an Indian and Akshay Kumar is Canadian and Overseas citizen of India (OCI). I don’t know if there is Overseas Citizen of Italy.
Can’t Mohtarma Jyoti Yadav’ tiny perverted head understand this simple logic? But she can’t because she has not been raised to apply natural logic to arrive at facts. Most librandus suffer from this deficiency syndrome. Now a days they come out with arguments that even dogs don’t like.
Because all the others were born in India, have Indian roots … Kalpana Chawla from Karnal, Haryana, Akshay Kumar just have a Canadian Passport, which cannot make him Canadian overnight, also Sundar Pichai is an IITian.
Sonia/Maino is none of those.
Soniya is able to talk about saffron terrorism in hindustaan ,but we never heard a single word about global islamic terror in her mouth.what it is?
Only crack pots can make such comments.
You moron publisher or Should I say biased one?
Sonia gandhi born in Italy as the way she speaks Hindi , any stupid would say she is foreigner.
On the other hand , Akshay kumar is Indian born.
Born to Indian parents not Canadian parents.
Get this difference fit into your filthy brains.
You piece of shit .
By Acharya I meant respected David Frawley who is Acharya pramod
Had she adopted Indian culture like Acharya Pramod than she is Indian, but she behaves like Vatican supporter even today. This creates enough doubts on her.
You refer to Akshay’s interview with PM Modi. Why did a stooge “NDTV journalist” not interview the Italian Empress of India or the Clown Prince?
Do you know why not? Because the Italian queen’s accent is a dead give away of her foreign origin and The Clown Prince is incapable of expressing coherent thought and speech.
Sonia Gandhi has always been a soft target. Chamcha brigade anchors know this very well. So the will raise this issue whenever Modi government’s incompetence is exposed. Sonia Gandhi is undoubtedly Indian but there is a question of nepotism in her own party which has led to India electing this incompetent regime l. Arnab Goswami is just an average ‘chatukar’ nobody will remember him in the future as anything of repute. Congress should try purging this image of nepotism. This is causing problems for them too just look at shameless oppotunists like Jyotiraditya Scindia. Writer should try publish articles on this issue too.
Swamy, along with fellow Tamilian Abdul Kalam, stopped her being the PM because she was a born Italian and under Italian law unless someone is a born Italian, one cannot be the head of Italy and by the same logic she cannot be the PM.
This is not a good article. Akshay Kumar was born in India and he gave 25 crore to fight with corona.. Comparing with the US a person who is not born in the US can not be one the president while here Sonia Gandhi was already dreaming of becoming the PM. Sonia Gandhi has only strengthened the family dynasty politics and sycophancy in India. And finding foreign root is not a Hindi heartland thing. South Indians find me North Indian as foreigners, Marathi think Hindi heartland people are stealing their jobs and many Kashmiri and Indian Muslims think they are from Arabia and that’s why they deserve special status.
Strange argumentation and poor articulation. Akshay K was born in India / Indian parents, same for other NRIs / OCIs living abroad whose parents have at least Indian roots – the same can not be said about Sonia. Nobody questions Rahul or Priyanka for that same reason. If the author wants to compare should she not compare him to Rahul G? And then let’s see if the article (And it’s logic) stands!
She is Italian, there is no doubt about it. Granting her citizenship does not take away the fact she was born to Italian parents in Italy.
Akshay is born Indian to Indian parents.
In no other country can a foreigner granted citizenship gets the right to head a Government.
Strange argumentation and poor articulation. Akshay K was born in India / Indian parents, same for other NRIs / OCIs living abroad whose parents have at least Indian roots – the same can not be said about Sonia. Nobody questions Rahul or Priyanka for that same reason. If the author wants to compare should she not compare him to Rahul G to Akshay? And then let’s see if the article (And it’s logic) stands!
Antonia Maino also known as Sonia is a CIA mole and a deep cover agent of the Roman Catholic Church.
She stands exposed.
The foreign origins of Sonia Gandhi cannot be denied. She took long time to opt for Indian Citizenship. Although it is a personal matter but her commitment to India is clear. We will always take people like Akshay Kumar as Indian for his values.
And the congis want to see a Joker as India’s PM
Mainonamazi(माइनोनमाजी ) the one who keeps praising sonia (maino) atleast 5 times a day.
– Marxjamati(मार्क्सजमाती)- stonepelter separatists/urbannaxals etc( अलगाववादी विचारधारा वाले पत्थरबाज।
Let the Media (print+tv+web) not celebrate any Indian origin citizen of any other country achieving political or executive positions in their naturalized countries and in case they are victimized in their settled countries because of their Indian origin, please do not beat your (media + politicians) breasts else respect Mrs Sonia’s Indian citizenship.
As usual, a nonsensical article on The Print.
Great to read that you are finally equating an insignificant Sonia with Akshay.
That’s where Sonia and her moron son & alcoholic daughter belong – on page 3 along with other minor news.
Rightly said.
Rightly said sir. Today we need good leaders not anonymous people