Imagine Sonia Gandhi in saffron robes. It seems that the days are not too far for one to witness such a spectacle. She is all set to put on Hindu facade what with her making a beeline to Hindu religious places like the famous Tirupati Devasthanam, attending functions organised by Hindu organisations, etc. The latest in the list is her proposed visit to Vaikom, in Kerala to participate in the jubilee celebrations of the Vaikom Satyagraha.

However, unlike Sonia's other visits, the invitation extended by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has sparked off a controversy, especially over the propriety of a confirmed Roman Catholic attending a commemoration function of an event which was launched to give untouchables the right to enter temples. Questions were raised over the credentials of Sonia Gandhi to attend such a function which was purely of Hindu nature. Also objections were raised over the Congress party's efforts to inherit the legacy of the Vaikom Satyagraha solely, and reducing it to a party function, overlooking the fact that it was not an event launched by the KPCC. As the President of Vivekananda Kendra Shri P. Parameshwaran aptly said: Vaikom Satyagraha was nothing but a religious reformation movement launched to give dalits their place in Hindu society. According to R. Sanjayan, secretary of Thapasya, a cultural organisation inspired by the RSS, the Congress did provide an inspiration for the movement and many Hindu leaders in the Congress played a major role along with leaders of Hindu organisations such Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yagana (SNDP), Nair Service Society (NSS). Most importantly the upper caste leaders gathered together under the banner of Ayithochadana Samiti (Anti-untouchability Cell) to champion the cause of the lower strata of the Hindu society, in which Mannath Padmanabhan played a stellar role.

The KPCC had practically no role in the Vaikom Satyagraha, said Shri O. Rajagopal MP and added that "the decision to convert it into a party function shows the lack of knowledge of history of the Congressmen. "Gandhiji never wanted the Congress party to get involved directly in the reformation movement in the Hindu society," said Sanjayan. The movement had a Hindu nature as it was mandatory for the participants to declare that he had faith in Hinduism. Although many non-Hindu Congressmen came forward to participate in this agitation, they were not allowed precisely to give it an image of "exclusive Hindu movement". For instance, when the Congress leader Barrister George Joseph revealed his desire to join the movement, Gandhiji himself insisted that he abstain from that, and asked him to allow Hindus to mend their houses themselves.

"If it were an official Congress agitation then there would not have been any bar for the leaders belonging to the other faiths to participate in it. The present Congress has no right to claim its legacy", says Shri O. Rajagopal. The State BJP president Shri C.K. Padmanabhan also denounced the Congress attempts to appropriate to itself full credit for the Satyagraha.

The whole episode should be viewed from a different angle. "There is an internaitonal conspiracy to make Sonia Gandhi, the ruler of this country as it would facilitate the Church to continue with its plan of action. This also is an exercise to 'Hinduise' her", says O. Rajagopal.
v Meanwhile the Congress leader Vayalar Ravi has come out with an interesting observation that it was a "Human Rights Movement" led by the Congress. However, Valaylar Ravi's sense of history is a matter of opinion.
Vaikom Satyagraha is a glorious chapter in the annals of the Hindu society. It was a movement led by Hindu leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, K. Kelappan, T.K. Madhavan and so on. Sonia Gandhi has no credentials to participate in this just like the Malayalam adage: the cat has no business in Goldsmith's workshop", said Shri O. Rajagopal.