Nothing can be solved with violence: Gandhi
NEW DELHI: Paramilitary personnel killed in line of duty will be accorded with “martyrs” status if the Congress comes to power, party president Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday.
Gandhi’s statement comes amid growing demand for “martyr” status to personnel of paramilitary forces since the terror attack in Pulwama. “Soldiers of paramilitary forces should get the status of martyrs. If our government comes to power, they will get that status,” Gandhi said during an interaction with university students at ‘Shiksha, Disha aur Dasha event in Delhi.
“If you see, I am much in contact with paramilitary forces, because of security provided by them to me (during events). These jawans, whether from the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, or CISF, they suffer more casualty, but they get less infrastructure support...,” Gandhi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“When my grandmother died, my father was in Bengal. My mom was strict and more disciplined. I was much closer to my grandmother. My grandmother was murdered by her own security guards. And I was very angry. Those guards were like my friends. Satwant Singh, who shot my grandmother, had taught me how to play badminton. But when my father came and hugged me, my anger immediately disappeared,” the leader was quoted as saying by ANI.
Talking about the rising communal tension in the country, Gandhi alleged that the Modi government was responsible for rising anger among people and said his party was trying to change the culture of politics.
“Nothing can be solved by violence. Violence can only be solved with love. If you look at the history of this country and look at the philosophy of Gandhi, Mahavir, Buddha, Ashoka, they all preached love and non-violence. This is the philosophy because of which I hugged Modi ji, while he was abusing me and my family,” Rahul said.