INTRODUCTION
Patriotic Indians should thank the President of India for
having the courage, by citing a legal hitch, to dissuade
Ms. Sonia Gandhi from staking her claim to form the government
on May 17th this year. She therefore, despite all the contrived
media hype, did not, and could not, become the Prime Minister
of 1 billion plus people of India.
It can now be said that Bharat Mata has been saved from
a monumental, devastating, and permanent injury to her
national interest and to the patriotic psyche of Indians.
Therefore, it should be the resolve of every Indian to
make any and every effort that can be made in a democracy,
to ensure that Ms. Sonia Gandhi is kept permanently out
of reckoning for any public office. For those who instinctively
understand that imperative, this Note has been written
to explain the factual basis for this rational determination,
and suggest what patriotic Indians can do now to implement
that democratic and patriotic resolution.
My opposition to Ms. Sonia Gandhi is not merely because
she is Italian---born, although that by itself is a major
issue. In other democratic countries, including in Italy,
such an issue [of foreign-born aspiring to be head of
government]would not even arise at all because the issue
has already been settled by incorporating into law that
a person cannot hold the highest public office unless
he or she is native born.
In India there is no such law but the President, according
my knowledge, has correctly acted on a proviso to Section
5 of the Indian Citizenship Act[1955] which requires the
Union Home Ministry to lay down conditions to Indian citizenship
acquired by foreigners by registration, condition based
on the principle of reciprocity
[see
annexure 1 & 2]. In Ms Gandhi’s case, such
of those conditions that apply to Indians on becoming
citizens of Italy, would apply to her.
The President reportedly had communicated to Ms. Gandhi
on the afternoon of May 17, 2004, that if she insisted
on being invited to form the government, he would want
first to clarify, on a reference to the Supreme Court,
whether in view of this proviso her appointment as PM
could be successfully challenged in the court.
It is fair to assume that this report of the President’s
decision is correct, since the President had before him
my petition dated May 15, 2004 [see
Annexure-3] making just that point--- that Ms. Gandhi’s
citizenship is conditional, and in particular she cannot
be the PM legally.
The President had also given me an appointment at 12.45
PM on May 17, 2004 to explain my submissions in person,
which I did. I also told him that I would challenge such
a unconstitutional appointment in the Supreme Court just
as I had in 2001 when Ms Jayalalitha was illegally sworn
in as Chief Minister by the Tamil Nadu Governor.
In that case, the Supreme Court had after hearing me
and many other constitutional luminaries, upheld my contention
that mere majority in the House is insufficient for being
sworn in to a constitutional office, and that the constitutional
appointing authority must ensure that there are no disqualifications
as well. Ms. Jayalalitha had therefore to step down because
she had been disqualified by her conviction in a trial
court in the TANSI corruption case [filed by me as a private
complaint]. She was subsequently acquitted by the Madras
High Court, and hence became eligible the following year.
I also cited to the President a 1962 Allahabad High Court
case which held that this proviso in the Citizenship Act
was binding and lawful.
The nation by the stalling of Sonia becoming Prime Minister
of India, has thus got an unexpected but temporary reprieve,
a reprieve received not only because her citizenship of
India by registration is not equal to one by birth even
by Indian law, but a reprieve more because of the national
security risk that was averted.
To comprehend that risk, we must however first understand
who Sonia Gandhi really is and what kind of danger she,
her family and her friends in Italy, hold for India’s
national security. Very little is known about the Mainos’
murky past, and the little that we are told about Sonia
are lies. In other words, Indians do not know who Sonia
really is or what she represents [see
Annexure-4].
Even for an Indian born citizen, we find it difficult
to know a person’s true background, but for a foreign-born
it is extremely hard because of the remoteness of the
place and the language barrier for most people, in this
case---Italian.
This note is thus an aide d’memoir of certain verifiable
facts that taken together constitute the danger that Sonia
Gandhi represents for the nation. And that is the real
Sonia and what she represents.
