Sonia Gandhi steps down
McGowan, Jo
voice saying `Get smart."' And, of course, the not so obvious: "First Things." What topics and writers would you like to see in Common-weal? Several names made repeat appearances: Andrew Greeley,...
...But more than Sonia Gandhi's common touch, it was the question she kept asking that got people's attention: "For whom is India shining...
...And now the most dangerous request of all: "Please use the space below for any additional comments you might have about Commonweal...
...Yet when the people were asked to choose, Sonia Gandhi was their unambiguous choice...
...Don't need your political ranti-ngs...
...Runner up: "microwave engineer...
...It was a wonder she could hear anything at all...
...It was answered finally by the people them-selves, who said yes, emphatically...
...Her "inner voice" told her that she did...
...But it was also a political masterstroke...
...Would you say Commonweal is better or worse than it was three years ago...
...The BJP fought its election campaign on the slogan "India Shining...
...Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguard, triggering anti-Sikh riots throughout the country...
...I am a foreign woman and I have lived in India for nearly twenty-five years...
...Like the church, Commonweal is always in need of improvement...
...What wouldn't they do...
...Receive a discount before July 15th...
...Throughout the election campaign, Sonia had insisted that her interest was not in becoming the prime minister but in the good of the country...
...Did she now have the right to refuse...
...The recent elections in India were fought with Sonia Gandhi's leadership as one of the most important issues at stake...
...When her children got into the act, the "royal family" image that the Nehru clan enjoys was even more striking: the poor revere the family and all its members...
...There is a church west of Buffalo...
...In spite ofthis, when the Congress Party won (against all expectations—even Sonia was astonished), as leader of the majority, she was invited by President Abdul Kalam to become the prime minister...
...Bishops' Call To Action...
...They would resign from office, they would boycott the swearing-in ceremony, they Impressive pedigree COURTESY SONIAGANDHLCOM Commonweal 8 June 18, 2004 India's independence, gained in 1947 at tremendous cost, is still too young to be taken for granted...
...Sort of...
...GRANT GALLICHO O F SEVERAL MINDS JO MCGOWAN SONIA The power of renunciation would wear widows' white, they would shave their heads...
...Some highlights from the shorter answers: "I love C. An umbilical cord to the church...
...This survey is a collaborative effort by two people who share a subscription...
...When the Congress Party won, its mandate was clear: a secular state led by Sonia Gandhi—in sharp contrast to the Hindu supremacy of the outgoing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP...
...We were able to see what you like and why you like it...
...We could chart the editorial schedule of Commonweal for the next decade with the good ideas in the comments...
...Singh is a Sikh, a minority community which suffered tremendously in the riots immediately following the assassination of Indira Gandhi...
...Would Vajpayee or Advani [BJP leaders] even go near a leper...
...A political observer I know commented, "I almost hate to say this, as a Hindu, but there is something about her religion that makes her stand out...
...Gandhi considered the promptings of her own "inner voice...
...Tendentiously 'liberal...
...Like her, I speak Hindi, eat Indian food, and wear Indian clothes...
...But it is Sonia herself who has emerged as the star in this drama...
...Sonia herself went into the villages, satin people's homes, held babies, and talked to the women...
...These Christians are taught from the beginning to care for the poor...
...His mother, Indira Gandhi, and his grandfather, Jawarhlal Nehru, were also both prime ministers of India...
...What do readers do for a living...
...Like Sonia, my husband is Indian and my children were born and raised here...
...They have no issue left...
...Roscoe 1-N Chicago, IL 60618 wwsv.cta-usa.org F-mail: cta@cta-usa.org (773) 404-0004 fax(77 3)404-1610 Commonweal 9 June 18, 2004...
...Over and over again, she reminded her audiences of the farmers who had committed suicide because they couldn't get a decent price for their crops, of the huge numbers of educated unemployed youth, and of the vast amounts of money going to high-tech industries which are automated and provide no jobs for untrained people...
...Sonia must have realized that by taking over she would provide the opposition with an issue it would not let go of, distracting the government from the agenda to which it was committed, and creating more chaos and discord in the country...
...Although it was expected, even people who did not want to see a foreigner in the PM's seat were disgusted by it...
...they would not, under any circumstances, submit gracefully to Sonia's taking office...
...We agree on all answers except no...
...S hould an Italian woman be the prime minister of India...
...Forty-seven per-cent said it has "improved...
...Question 12 was straightforward on this point...
...Don't know why I still subscribe...
...Other Congress Party leaders were forced to follow suit, and the effect was surprisingly successful...
...But it revealed a depth of anger and hostility which could not be ignored...
...National Conference Midwest Airlines Center November 5-7, 2004 Milwaukee, WI A national assembly of lay persons, religious, priests and bishops working together to foster peace, justice and love in the spirit of Vatican II and the U.S...
...Theelder Mrs...
...I've seen Sonia hold lepers in her arms...
...Her dedication to her adopted country has been unswerving, and her compassion for the poorest of the poor seems genuine and unforced...
...Six percent said it has "improved greatly...
...Many excellent topics were suggested: ecumenism, the role of the laity, women, bioethics, and the staff favorite: "our relation to animals" (see "Listening to Koko," page 14—ask and ye shall receive...
...Born in Italy, Sonia is the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, himself once prime minister, who was assassinated while running for reelection in 1991...
...Please don't stop...
...If our 2003 survey taught us anything, it's that every reader counts...
...For more information contact: iey Call To Action 2135 3~J...
...Forty-five percent said it has "stayed the same...
...So the three people who said the magazine has "worsened a great deal" will shortly be receiving a visit from the editors...
...Best of all, the magazine seems to be doing just fine, by your lights...
...Overnight, the BJP seems to have disappeared from the news...
...In a politically brilliant speech to the Indian Parliament, Sonia Gandhi withdrew from the prime minister's race, saying once again that her primary concern was not personal power but the good of the nation...
...And we're committed to the task...
...The emotion she felt before Parliament appeared to be genuine and heart-felt, and even seasoned political observers (read cynical) were moved by her act of renunciation...
...Foreign rule, with all of its humiliation and indignity, is still a living memory...
...In true Gandhian tradition, she turned her own disadvantage into her greatest strength, confusing and silencing her enemies in the process...
...That's India shining, even if it has an Italian accent...
...Perhaps most surprising, in spite of a long career in government, his integrity remains unquestioned...
...Several names made repeat appearances: Andrew Greeley, Richard McBrien, the Steinfelses, Garry Wills...
...The BJP performance regarding her taking over the government had been foulmouthed and vile...
...In district after district, the Congress Party, with Sonia Gandhi its clearly recognized leader, was elected by sweeping majorities...
...I consider myself a part of this country in many fundamental ways...
...But some unexpected ones showed up, too: for example, David Tracy (doubtless on vampires) and Anne Rice (on hermeneutics, of course...
...More bite and less pipe-chewing...
...Her choice of Manmohan Singh as the new prime minister was an inspired one...
...Diversity abounds: farming, "house dad," "senior judge," actor, and, this category's winner: "hermit...
...In the end, the survey held some good surprises...
...BJP officials, in an appalling display of poor loserdom, clamored, shouted, and outdid them-selves in their efforts to reject the idea of a foreigner ruling the country...
...Presentations by: Barbara Fiand, Fran Ferder, David Gibson, Bob McClory, Diarmuid O'Murchu, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and many, many more...
...But as ridiculous as their agitation was, it was still not difficult to under-stand...
...Singh comes from an ordinary family (unlike the Gandhi clan which, as the descendants of Nehru, inherit power as their birthright) and has succeeded solely on the basis of professional competence...
...But as a foreign woman, I am still not comfort-able with a foreigner as prime minister...
...The Congress Party, on the other hand, relied on an old-fashioned personal campaign style...
...Pointing to increased economic growth, particularly in the high-tech sectors, it ran a high-tech campaign to match: its rallies were held for huge audiences with party officials arriving by helicopter, speaking for fifteen minutes, then taking off for the next appearance...
...We received almost thirty legal-sized, ten-point-font, single-spaced pages of material...
...For a little over thirty-six hours, the country was kept in suspense as Mrs...
...Like her, I am committed to this country and content to spend the rest of my life here...
...Bad news is 2.4 percent said the magazine has "worsened" (could any of those be First Things readers?—Kidding...
...That question transfixed this nation last month...
Vol. 131 • June 2004 • No. 12
