Press Briefing
Friday, 1st April 2011
Shri Abhishek Singhvi addressed the media
today.
Shri Abhishek Singhvi said the time has come
when team India and country India become one not
because it is cricket but because it is the
manifestation of a united India where every
pore, every face, every voice and every limb
stands up and speaks up for India unitedly ‘Chak-de-India’.
Two days ago, 120 crore Indians rooted and
booted for India. Today and tomorrow, 121 crore
Indians will be doing that; we now have the
census, praying, pushing, pulverizing their
minds and biting their nails. This is Indian
pride not only in India and in team India but in
sportsmanship in playing by the rules and it
must be recognized with regional sub continental
pride. After all, in the last two matches i.e.
the last one and tomorrow’s, out of the four
teams, three are from the sub-continent and
whoever wins and, of course, we hope it is
India, the sub-continent wins. Games like this,
teach us that one time foes can sit across with
ease. It teaches us that sport strengthens the
bonds of friendship. It teaches us that contests
vigorously fought with no quarter given can
still be gentlemanly, can still be sporting and
can still be played and fought without rancor,
ill-will or acrimony and that enthuses and
inspires us to do likewise in our personal lives
and in the lives of our nation.
On the question of the reaction of the Congress
party on the gag orders issued by the ICC
banning the Indian channels from covering the
finals of cricket match, Shri Singhvi said I
don’t think that this is an issue which should
derail us or spoil the party, spoil the
atmospherics, spoil the spirit, spoils the high
hopes and expectations on the eve of the finals.
It is something which is in the interests of
both the parties to dispute – indeed all three
parties – ICC, the media and the public to try
to settle immediately as soon as possible. It is
certainly not as big an issue as to warrant or
to justify prolongation and as the Congress
party, we would very strongly hope and trust
that this is settled immediately, in particular,
if possible, before the Finals.
To a question whether the Congress party is
satisfied over the implementation of the Right
to Education Act during the past one year, Shri
Singhvi said this being an important issue, is a
continuing process. This is a revolutionary step
taken in the right direction and even the
critics of this act have appreciated its
progress. This will be a continuous process and
we hope to remove any shortcoming in the
implementation of the act in the right spirit.
On the question of the reaction of the Congress
party on the Shunglu committee report in light
of earlier statement by even the Prime Minister
that action will be taken against the corrupt
and there will be no compromise on the issue,
Shri Singhvi said we also believe that knee jerk
reaction is not action. The knee jerk reaction
at the instance of anybody including the media
is not action. Action must be balanced. It must
be informed. It must be based on proper
analysis. The Congress party is the only party
which has taken whatever legitimate relevant
action has been taken in this country during the
past six months. There is a difference between
the preachers and the practitioners and
certainly we fall in the category of
practitioners not the preachers. However, there
is a report today which is under analysis. It is
under dissection. It is under response and
evaluation. You can rest assured that if we have
acted in the past, we will do so in the future
but at the appropriate time and only based upon
properly verified and considered conclusions.
To a further question whether the Congress party
is owning up the Shunglu committee report; Shri
Singhvi said I cannot give an answer before the
answer. I cannot make premature conclusion. It
is precisely that process which is on. Shri
Singhvi further added that there is no court
verdict, there is no prima-facie finding of
illegality by an adjudicatory process. This is a
view. That view has to be analyzed. Guilt is not
found by your say so. Guilt is not found in a
report which has not involved the persons
affected. It is not to be presumed. It is a
process under evaluation.
Shri Singhvi further said it is not a committee
which has dealt with the objections. Those
objections are to be evaluated. There is a vast
difference. There is no question of
constitutional or legal status. This is a fact
finding enquiry. Those facts which have been
found by that report are certainly not
conclusive. They are being evaluated in the
light of the objections, comments, evaluations
and the analysis received.
To another question of granting tax exemption to
the ICC, Shri Singhvi said this is ultimately a
collective decision. It is a decision which has
not yet been formally notified. There are pros
and cons. Once a decision is taken, the entire
government and the collectivity of the Cabinet
stands behind it. There is no point dissecting
the merits of a decision. There are several
considerations which lead to such concessions.
There is no question of going back or dissecting
a decision of the cabinet already taken.
To a question on the reaction of the Congress
party on the banning of the book on Mahatma
Gandhi, Shri Singhvi said Gandhi Ji is too big,
too large, a ‘Yug Purush’, too big to be fraught
by pigmies around him. Gandhi Ji’s persona is
far too capacious to be touched much less
affected by insults, by slander or by criticism.
Needless to add, this does not mean that because
Gandhi Ji was himself was so magnanimous or
others after him follow that spirit of his
magnanimity, it does not mean that people can
take pot shots at will in whatever manner they
like, whether those pot shots are without
knowledge, motivated or ill-informed. However,
keeping in view the Gandhian spirit, keeping in
view the specific and repeated denials of the
author himself, that he has not used those words
and certainly not intended those meanings and
thirdly, since we do not want to dignify and
lend respectability to such observations or to a
book which is too small before the incomparable
stature of Mahatma Gandhi, we leave it to the
government to consider all appropriate aspects
and have nothing more to say on that subject.
(Tom Vadakkan)
Secretary, AICC
