It was a charged Monday in Parliament that had the Opposition gunning for the government over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak issue and the new criminal laws — till Congress MP Rahul Gandhi decided to add fuel to Opposition fire, prompting two rare interventions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a fiery speech in the Lower House, Gandhi — armed with a copy of the Constitution and pictures of religious icons — launched a sharp attack on the ruling BJP, saying: “All our great men have spoken about non-violence and finishing fear…But, those who call themselves Hindu only talk about violence, hatred, untruth… Aap Hindu ho hi nahi…”
An irate prime minister interjected the Congress MP and said his statement had “hurt Hindu sentiments”. “Calling the entire Hindu community violent is a very serious matter,” he said to which Gandhi retorted that “the BJP and the RSS are not the entire Hindu society”.
Continuing his attack, the Congress leader emphasised that all religions talk about courage, citing Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism to underline the importance of fearlessness.
He accused the BJP of launching systematic attacks on the Constitution and the fundamental idea of India, noting that millions of people have resisted the ideas proposed by the ruling party. “I was attacked on the orders of Prime Minister Modi. There were 20-plus cases (against me), (my) house was taken away, 55 hours of interrogation by the ED,” Gandhi said.
The Congress MP’s diatribe triggered a massive uproar in the House as MPs of both sides raised slogans and many, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanded an apology from Gandhi. “He doesn’t know that crores of Indians in this country called themselves Hindu with pride. Is he trying to say that each one of them speaks about violence? You cannot associate violence with any religion. I demand he apologises.” Shah also spoke of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikhs riots to hit back at Gandhi, saying he has no right to talk about non-violence when the Congress had spread “terror” in the country.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also trained her guns on Gandhi. Taking to social networking site X, she said: “Sheer audacity of LoP @RahulGandhi to call everyone who calls himself Hindu as “hinsak”/violent shows @INCIndia’s hatred and contempt towards Hindus. Also consistent with Hindu hate of his INDI Alliance partners. Hypocrisy in claiming “Mohabbat ki Dukaan” exposed.”
Union minister G Kishan Reddy also slammed Gandhi on X. “The self-proclaimed defender of the Constitution and the electoral Hindu has revealed his true colours. His statement, labeling Hindus as a violent community, exposes Rahul Gandhi’s and Congress’ anti-Hindu agenda. This is not the first time Congress has insulted Hindus; earlier, they insulted Sanatana Dharma, and now, a direct attack on Hindus. This is uttrerly shameful, disgraceful and demeaning. I strongly condemn the statement of Rahul Gandhi and he should apologize to the entire Hindu community.”
The attacks, however, did not seem to faze Gandhi who called touched upon the BJP’s dismal performance in Ayodhya in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Manipur violence, price rise, Agniveer scheme and NEET. A straight-faced prime minister rose to his feet yet again during the Congress MP’s speech and said the Leader of Opposition “must be taken seriously”.
Speaking outside the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi’s sister and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that his brother did not say anything about Hindus.
“My brother can never insult Hindus. He was referring to the BJP and BJP leaders,” she said.
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