The Congress on Saturday accused the government of “staggering moral cowardice” over India’s abstention from voting on the UN General Assembly’s draft resolution on the “protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations” in Gaza on Thursday.
While the Congress had earlier too called for a ceasefire in Gaza, Saturday’s statements from several senior party leaders marked its strongest criticism of the government’s Palestine policy since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Lest the government’s ecosystem project the party’s support for the Palestinian people as backing for Hamas, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge underscored in a post on X that “on October 8th 2023, the Indian National Congress had condemned the brutal attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel”.
Kharge, also the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, suggested that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek accountability from external affairs minister S. Jaishankar for his “repeated blunders”.
“Have we abandoned India’s consistent stand advocating for a ceasefire, peace, and dialogue in West Asia?” he asked.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been particularly vocal on the situation in Gaza, described the abstention as “shameful”.
“60,000 people, mostly women and children have been killed already, an entire population is being confined and starved to death, and we are refusing to take a stand,” she posted.
“This is a tragic reversal of our anti-colonial legacy…. How can we, as a nation, just abandon the principles of our Constitution, and the values of our freedom struggle that led the way for an international arena based on peace and humanity?”
In an apparent allusion to how the ruling establishment’s ecosystem claims global leadership under Modi, she added: “True global leadership demands the courage to defend justice, India has shown this courage unfailingly in the past. In a world that is increasingly divisive, we must reclaim our voice
for humanity….”
Congress general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal posted on X: “We know this government has little regard for Nehruji’s legacy, but why abandon even Vajpayeeji’s principled stance on Palestine?”
Party media and publicity department chairman Pawan Khera said: “India once stood tall for Palestine — becoming the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1974,… and formally recognising Palestinian statehood in 1988. We stood for justice not as strategy, but as principle…. Today, India grovels before Tel Aviv, abandoning the very principles that once made us the moral compass of the world.”
Taking a swipe at Modi, Khera said global leadership cannot be built on silence and sycophancy.
“If we want our voice to matter on the global stage, we must first show the courage to speak when it matters most. Our strength has always come from the moral weight of our voice,” he said.
“As Israel sets West Asia ablaze — bombing Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and now Iran — Modi’s complicity has abandoned India’s conscience.
“The world does not listen to the nation that speaks loudest, it listens to a nation that speaks with clarity, courage and conscience. And India must never surrender
that voice.”
