New Delhi: The Congress condemned the Hamas attack on Israel while also denouncing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, former party president Sonia Gandhi wrote in a column for a leading English daily. Her column came close on the heels of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge taking a similar line, after the party went back and forth on its stance on the issue.
In her column for The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi stated that the Congress’s stand on the issue was “long standing” and “principled”. She also criticised the government’s decision to abstain from voting on a resolution moved by Jordan at the UN General Assembly calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza.
“…it is to support direct negotiations for a sovereign, independent, viable and secure state of Palestine coexisting in peace with Israel. This is also the stand taken by the Ministry of External Affairs on October 12, 2023,” she wrote.
Gandhi added that it is “noteworthy that a reiteration of India’s historic position on Palestine came only after Israel began its assault on Gaza”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she wrote, “made no mention of Palestinian rights in the initial statement expressing complete solidarity with Israel” — referring to the Prime Minister’s initial reaction to the attack by Hamas.
Her take on the issue comes at a time when the Congress has been going back and forth on its stance on the ongoing hostilities between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Palestinian militant outfit in control of Gaza since 2006.
Initially, Congress general secretary in-charge for communications Jairam Ramesh condemned the “brutal attack” on Israeli civilians while also reiterating the party’s support for the legitimate rights of Palestinians to live a life of dignity and under an elected government of their own.
Thereafter, a resolution of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision making body of the party, found no mention of the word ‘Israel’. Instead, it expressed anguish over the war and reiterated the party’s support for the rights of the Palestinian people.
This was after a section of leaders raised objections to Ramesh’s statement, stating that it did not reflect the Congress’s historic position on the issue.
However, this was followed by a statement by party president Mallikarjun Kharge in which he took a line that was similar to the one taken by Sonia Gandhi.
“The world was diminished by the brutal attacks on Israel: the world stands diminished again by Israel’s disproportionate and equally brutal response,” Sonia Gandhi wrote.
She added: “The Israeli government is making a grievous error in equating the actions of Hamas with the Palestinian people. In its determination to destroy Hamas, it has unleashed indiscriminate death and destruction against the ordinary people of Gaza.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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