New Delhi: The Congress party is once again facing accusations of selective outrage after Sonia Gandhi criticised the Centre’s silence on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing in US-Israel strikes.
Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in an op-ed published in The Indian Express titled “Government’s silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication,” slammed the central government for its alleged “silence” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israel strikes.
Her remarks have triggered pointed reminders of the Congress party’s own record when it was in power.
The controversy has revived memories of criticism voiced years ago by former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, who had questioned the UPA government’s ‘subdued response’ to the 2006 execution of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
At the time, there was no comparable public condemnation from the Congress leadership, nor any call for parliamentary debate, despite widespread global attention to the hanging.
Today, Sonia Gandhi’s vocal criticism of the government’s position stands in stark contrast to that earlier episode, say analysts.
Political observers argue that India’s current calibrated response to developments in Iran reflects a consistent policy of strategic balance in a volatile West Asian region.
Avoiding reactive public statements that could jeopardise diplomatic channels, particularly amid heightened geopolitical tensions, is prudent, experts suggest.
Critics within the BJP have dismissed Gandhi’s intervention as politically expedient, alleging that the Congress leadership is attempting to manufacture outrage while overlooking its own history of restraint in the face of similarly contentious global events.
The episode spotlights a broader debate about consistency in foreign policy positions. When Congress was in power, its measured stance during Saddam Hussein’s execution did not translate into calls for moral grandstanding.
Yet now, the demand for public condemnation and parliamentary debate from Sonia Gandhi appears to sound hollow, observers add.
As the Congress continues to define its position as the main opposition party, analysts warn that these apparent inconsistencies may weaken its authority and credibility on foreign policy issues.
Meanwhile, questions that still linger from Natwar Singh’s observations years earlier remain unanswered.
(IANS)
