NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the BJP-led central government of mounting a “wholesale attack on Indian democracy” during an interaction at EIA University in Colombia. The BJP hit back, calling him a “Leader of Propaganda” and criticising him for “once again” denigrating Indian democracy on a foreign platform. “The single biggest risk is the attack on democracy that is taking place in India because India has multiple religions, multiple traditions, multiple languages. And India actually is a conversation between all its people and different traditions, different religions, different ideas require space. And that the best method for creating that space is the democratic system. And currently there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India,” Rahul said during a recent interaction with students.Contrasting Indian political system with that of China’s, he said, “This other big risk is risk between different conceptions, different parts of the country, right? Some 16, 17 different languages, different religions. So allowing these different traditions to thrive, giving them space to express themselves is very important for a country like India. We can’t do what China does, which is suppress people and run authoritarian system. Our design just will not accept that.”
“Most of the people, for example, who are creating polarisation in the US with Mr Trump are those who lost their jobs because of manufacturing. China has demonstrated to the world how you can manage production in a non-democratic setup, but we cannot do that; we are a democratic setup. The challenge is whether we can develop manufacturing like China but within a democratic setup,” he added.
‘Cowardice at heart of RSS-BJP ideology’
Citing past statements by foreign minister S Jaishankar about China and Hindu ideologue VD Savarkar about beating up a Muslim man, Rahul said that “cowardice was at heart of RSS-BJP ideology.”“This is the nature of BJP-RSS. If you notice a statement of the foreign minister, he said, ‘China is much more powerful than us. How can I pick a fight with them?’ At the heart of the ideology is cowardice,” he said.“In his book, Savarkar has written that once he and his few friends beat up a Muslim man, and they felt very happy that day. If five people beat up a single individual, which makes one of them happy, it is cowardice. This is RSS ideology, to beat weak people,” he added.
‘Rahul wants to fight Indian state!’
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticised Rahul for making such statements abroad.“Once again Rahul Gandhi behaves like LoP – Leader of Propaganda Goes abroad and attacks Indian Democracy! After all he wants to fight Indian state! Sometimes Demands US UK should intervene into our affairs and now this From Sena to Judiciary to Sanvidhan to Sanatan!” he said in a post on X.Gandhi is on a four-day South America tour, the timing of which, has already been questioned by the BJP.Also read: Rahul Gandhi on South America tour – Congress leader reaches Columbia; set to interact with students, political leaders
