by Divyakshee K.
The Congress staged a rally in Jaipur on Sunday to protest inflation, accusing the government of serving the interests of “capitalists” and “industrialists,” referring to it as a “Hindutva-wadi administration” that is working against the people.
The ‘Mehangai Hatao (lower price rise) Rally’ was dubbed the start of the “Reverse Countdown of the BJP Administration” by Congress leaders in the presence of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The protest was originally scheduled to take place in Delhi, but it was shifted to Jaipur when the Congress alleged that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had withdrawn the event’s authorization.
Rahul Gandhi lambasted the BJP during his explosive speech, accusing them of price hikes, farmers’ issues, and crony capitalism. At a large gathering in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, he also launched a direct attack on the BJP over Hindutva, an ideology closely related to the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
“I am a Hindu. All these people are Hindus. They are Hindutva-vadis. Let me explain,” he said, as he opened his speech.
“Who is a Hindu? Someone who respects every religion and is scared of nobody. Those in power are false Hindus… India is experiencing a Hindutva-vadi raj, not Hindu raj. We want to remove these Hindutva-vadis and bring in a Hindu raj,” he continued.
He continued to explain the differences between Hinduism and Hindutva by saying that Mahatma Gandhi, who was a Hindu was killed by a Hindutva Wadi. “Mahatma Gandhi — Hindu. Godse —Hindutva Wadi. What is the difference? Whatever happens, a Hindu seeks the truth. Even if he dies, gets crushed, a Hindu searches for the truth. His way is Satyagraha. He spends all his life searching for the truth.
Rahul mentioned Gandhi’s autobiography, My Experiments With Truth. He claimed that Mahatma spent his entire life trying to understand and search for truth. Alas, in the end, a Hindutva-wadi fired three bullets at his chest. Hindutva-wadis, according to him, are just interested in power, they don’t care about the truth.
“A Hindutva-wadi spends his entire life in search of power. He has nothing to do with the truth. He only wants power and for it, he will do anything… Can kill someone, say anything, can burn, cut, beat, he wants power,” he was quoted saying.
Playing on a pun, he said, a Hindu follows Satyagraha, A Hindutva-wadi is only interested in Sattagrah (quest for power).
“A Hindutva-wadi spends his entire life in search of power. He has nothing to do with the truth. He only wants power and for it, he will do anything… Can kill someone, say anything, can burn, cut, beat, he wants power,” he was quoted saying.
Claiming that he’d read the Upanishads, he said that he found no indication where they stated that Hinduism was about beating a Sikh, or a Muslim. Hindutva, however, according to him, is. He further went on to ask, if you are a Hindu then why do you need Hindutva? Why do you need this new name?
Farmers’ debts have been waived by past Congress-led governments since they are the backbone of India, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi “stabbed them in the back,” according to Rahul. “Narendra Modi Ji has stabbed the souls of farmers, not from the front but from the back.” because he is a Hindutva-wadi.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, speaking at the gathering earlier, also spoke on the farmer’s problem, saying that the BJP administration in Uttar Pradesh spends thousands of crores on advertisements but is unable to provide fertilisers to farmers. She said that people have died while waiting in lines for fertilisers and that the Prime Minister was “touring the world” but couldn’t visit the farmers’ protest to have a discussion.
Following the protest, Rahul stuck by his prior words against Hindus and Hindutva, saying he was not intimidated. “After hearing this, Hindutva-wadis will attack me.” “Go ahead and do it; I’m not frightened!” Gandhi added as he posted a video of himself speaking at this rally on Twitter.
हिंदुत्ववादी ये सुनकर मुझपर वार करेंगे।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 12, 2021
कर लो, मैं नहीं डरता!#NoFear pic.twitter.com/OYK50KTFRQ
In response to the speech, the BJP said that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have a “pathological hatred” of Hinduism.
Sambit Patra of the BJP, as reported by PTI, stated that “It is in the character of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism at every opportunity… What they say is not a coincidence but an experiment. And the headmaster of this experimental lab is Rahul Gandhi,”.
“There is a pathological hatred for Hinduism among Congress leaders… and they get traction for this from the Gandhi family,” he added.
