Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday vowed to fight “divisive ideologies anchored in hate and prejudice” to protect India’s ideals as the Congress marked its 137th birth anniversary amid an unprecedented attack on the country’s secular fabric.

Sonia said: “Divisive ideologies anchored in hate and prejudice and which had no role whatsoever to play in our freedom movement are now causing havoc on the secular fabric of our society. They are rewriting history to give themselves a role they do not deserve. They inflame passions, instil fear and spread animosity.”

She added: “The finest traditions of our parliamentary democracy are being deliberately damaged. The Congress will fight these destructive forces with all might at its command. Let there be no doubt on our steadfast resolve. We have never and we will never compromise on our fundamental beliefs that are part of our glorious legacy. Electoral ups and downs are inevitable but what is enduring and lasting is our commitment to the service of all people of our diverse society.”

While the Congress has always confronted the RSS-BJP on its communal agenda that is antithetical to constitutional principles, Sonia’s assertion has come at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah have chosen not to speak on the calls for attacks on minorities and the brazen insult of Mahatma Gandhi.

Over the past few days, Christians and their places of worship have been attacked for celebrating Christmas and calls were issued for a Muslim genocide from religious conventions in Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haridwar.

While cases have been filed against a few for abusing Mahatma Gandhi and spewing venom against Muslims, the Prime Minister and the home minister have been conspicuous by their silence amid a national outcry. There has been no official rebuttal of the attacks on Mahatma Gandhi and the idolatry of his assassin Nathuram Godse, either.

Recalling the legacy of the Congress as the party gasps for survival, Sonia said: “Over the decades, it has confronted several challenges and has always demonstrated its resilience. Today, we rededicate ourselves to the ideals, values and principles of our organisation that have been shaped, guided and inspired by some of the greatest, noblest and most selfless of Indians of the 20th century.”

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday cited a report in The New York Times on these unseemly incidents and tweeted: “While many in our own country are living with their heads buried in sand, the world is watching. In times of injustice, silence is complicity. Speak up, no fear.”

The new ruling elite of the RSS-BJP has been striving to upset the value system that emerged during the freedom struggle, and the violent majoritarian push by their supporters is a direct outcome of such politics, many believe.

The Congress too has been deeply impacted by the Sangh parivar’s dominance over the polity, trying to discover a new political language to articulate its secular commitments.

Sensing that the traditional stress on secularism isn’t enough and has even proved counter-productive in the emotionally charged atmosphere, Rahul has embarked on a perilous journey of differentiating Hindutva from Hinduism.

The success or failure of this political endeavour will shape the Congress’s revival in 2022, the most critical year because it begins with the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh and ends with the polls in Gujarat.

If Rahul’s initiatives help the Congress in convincing people that the RSS-BJP don’t have a monopoly on Hindus and the attempts to brand secular parties as pro-minorities are farcical, the undue political disadvantage that the Opposition is facing could be neutralised to some extent.

The Congress will also get a fresh organisational structure next year, probably along with a new leader who has to helm the party’s revival at this important juncture.

The organisation is doubtless in tatters — while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has energised the party machinery in Uttar Pradesh, the condition remains unchanged in Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. Although the Congress performed badly in parliamentary elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra as well, it has a strong presence in these states.

Two consecutive losses in the parliamentary elections — with the Congress winning only 45 and 52 seats, respectively — has deeply affected the party’s morale, a situation worsened by internal squabbles through the year.

The party will have to regroup sooner than later and start building political resistance at the grassroots if it intends to breathe life into Sonia’s pledge of fighting the communal forces with all its might.

On its foundation day on Tuesday, the Congress leadership used social media to try to boost the morale of the workers by running a campaign on the party’s legacy.

Under the title “Golden years of shaping India”, the Congress recalled the achievements of its Prime Ministers, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh and from Indira Gandhi to P.V. Narasimha Rao, stressing how the nation-building process was integral to the party’s history.

While the Narendra Modi regime has tried to rewrite history and create the impression that nothing had happened in the seven decades since Independence, the Congress is seeking to derive inspiration from the same history and that of its 137-year existence to build its new future.