We must not learn wrong lessons from Pakistan, says Rahul Gandhi
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi mounted a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, asking the government not to learn the wrong lessons from Pakistan on intolerance.
In his first attack on the NDA government in the ongoing Parliament session, Gandhi accused the BJP of creating an atmosphere where “protests” have come to mean “sedition” in the country.
Gandhi upped the ante against Union minister VK Singh as he hit out at the PM for maintaining silence on intolerance and allowing Singh and BJP MPs such as Sakshi Maharaj and Yogi Adityanath to get away with hate speech.
Congress sources said the party could aggressively demand Singh’s resignation in Parliament even as it is negotiating with the government on the crucial GST bill.
The Congress vice-president attributed India’s success to allowing people “space to talk” and dubbed tolerance as the country’s greatest strength. He said Pakistan failed as it did not allow the voice of the people to be heard.
“They have failed because their leaders crushed the voices that were inconvenient to them. Their biggest weakness is their intolerance. I would request the government not to learn the wrong lesson from them,” Gandhi said.
When Gandhi was speaking in the Lok Sabha, the PM, incidentally, was delivering a speech during discussions on the Constitution in the Upper House.
As he relentlessly attacked the PM, Gandhi highlighted recent agitations in Gujarat to accuse the BJP of treating protests as sedition and acts against national interest.
“Modi-ji made his reputation in Gujarat. But the Gujarat model has burst and led to the Patidar agitation. In response, the government has filed 20,000 cases,” he said and paused briefly to add, “Today in India, any protest means sedition,” in an indirect reference to the charges filed against Patidar leader Hardik Patel.
Gandhi looked for VK Singh in the treasury benches. Singh was not present. Gandhi said, “Mr Singh was an army general who compared two Dalit children with dogs and our PM allows that man to continue as a minister.”
Gandhi’s attack on Singh and the PM continued as he said, “Modi-ji gives lectures. He wants FDI in defence. But the PM, the man ultimately responsible for the two children’s protection, remains silent on such incidents.”
He then turned the heat on Sakshi Maharaj, saying, “The other day the PM spoke so much on Mahatma Gandhi. And that gentleman, Sakshi Maharaj, said Nathuram Godse is a patriot. The PM can’t see these contradictions.” The BJP MP later protested and demanded Gandhi should have given prior notice before levelling charges against him.
From the FTII students’ protest to the murder of Mohammad Ikhlaq in Dadri and attacks on rationalists to threats against actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, Gandhi mentioned several recent incidents to underline how the PM had maintained silence on those.
“The PM talks about economic growth and progress. At the same time, his colleagues talk about sending Bollywood stars to Pakistan,” Gandhi said and cited comments by RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and Infosys founder NR Narayanamurthy that growing intolerance could have adverse economic implications.
The Congress leader hailed the intellectuals who returned their awards as “best talents” that the government did not bother talking to, even as BJP MP Kirron Kher called them “wonderful intellectuals”.
Gandhi dubbed “Make in India” as a dream and took digs at the BJP for attacking “their own man”, former Union minister Arun Shourie. He slammed BJP “trollers” among the Twitterati for not even sparing Shourie’s differently-abled son after the former minister criticised Modi.