The consequences of Sonia Gandhi becoming the "Eminence Grise", as the French say, of India, that is the one who controls everything from behind the scenes, are not only visible for all those who care to look, but also occult, subtle, invisible, yet having far reaching and maybe irreversible consequences. Occultism, in the ancient sense, was the manipulation of forces which cannot be seen, but which constantly clash in the world. In fact one could say that politics is the art of controlling these forces, overtly and covertly. At the top, great leaders create their own occultism: their very presence generates certain atmospheres which make or unmake revolutions.
At the outset, one should first say that the world is not Black & White, Good and Evil, Superman versus the bad guys, as the Americans would like us to believe. Hindu groups need not demonize Sonia. She probably was a good wife to Rajiv, a good daughter in law to Indira - and by all accounts, she is a good mother to her children, judging by the way they dote on her. One also hears first-hand reports about her concern for smaller people, her dignity in the suffering that befell her when her husband was blown to pieces, and her courtesy with visitors.
This said, what is happening in India at the moment, makes me profoundly uneasy. I am a Westerner and a born Christian. Yet I find it absurd that in a country of one billion people, one of the most ancient civilizations of this world, Indians cannot find an Indian to
