There was uproar in the Lok Sabha over Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech on Monday, during which he took a swipe at the BJP over being Hindu and mentioned the Agnipath scheme, saying it was the “brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and not the armed forces”.
In a rare occurrence, this led the prime minister and Union home minister to interrupt Gandhi, while defence minister Rajnath Singh also intervened mid-speech in retaliation to the Agnipath remark.
Holding up a picture of Shiva, the Congress MP said those who call themselves Hindus are engaged in “violence and hate” round the clock. His comments drew massive protests from the treasury side even as Modi intervened saying calling the entire Hindu society violent is a serious matter.
But, Gandhi retorted that he was speaking about the BJP, and the saffron party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Modi are not the entire Hindu society. Citing the teachings of other religions to make a similar point, he said his message is about fearlessness and non-violence.
“All religions and all our great men talk about non-violence and fearlessness, but those who call themselves Hindus only talk about violence, hatred and falsehood… Aap Hindu ho hi nahin (You are not Hindus),” he said.
Interrupting him, the PM said it is a “great crime” to call all Hindus violent. Hindu samaaj ko hinsak kehna galat hai,” he said.
Up on his feet by then, Shah also interrupted the Congress leader’s speech and sought his apology to the House and the country for hurting the feelings of crores who take pride in identifying as Hindus. The home minister spoke of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikhs riots to hit back, saying Gandhi has no right to talk about non-violence when the Congress had spread “terror”.
“In the bin, you cannot hide what the leader of the opposition is saying. He has categorically said those who called themselves Hindu are indulging in violence. He doesn’t know that crores of Indians in this country call themselves Hindu with pride. Is he trying to say that each of them speaks about violence? You cannot associate violence with any religion. I demand he apologise. I would advise Rahul to take the opinion of the Muslims and Sikhs on what he said. He should not talk… his party scared everybody during the Emergency,” Shah said.
Moving on with his speech, however, Gandhi stressed that all religions talk about courage. He cited 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.
“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, adding that despite these challenges, he feels proud of the collective effort to protect the Constitution.
“It feels nice that BJP people are now repeating ‘Jai Samvidhan’ after me,” he said. “I am happy and proud to be in the opposition. For us, there is something more than power, it is the truth.”
After Gandhi propped up a picture of Shiva, Speaker Om Birla, however, told him that the rules of the House do not allow displaying placards.
Rajnath vs Rahul on Agnipath scheme
Speaking on the Agnipath scheme for entry into the armed forces, Gandhi said: “One Agniveer lost his life in a landmine blast but he is not called a ‘martyr’… ‘Agniveer’ is a use and throw labourer…”
But, Rajnath Singh and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey countered the LoP saying he must provide evidence. “He (Rahul Gandhi) should not try to mislead the House by making wrong statements. Financial assistance of Rs 1 crore is given to the family of the Agniveer who sacrifices their life while protecting our borders or during war,” the defence minister said.
Adding to this, Shah said Gandhi is not stating facts. “He needs to put the facts out for the public; this is not the place to lie. If he’s not able to justify a statement by facts, then he must apologise to the people of the country,” he added.
Gandhi went on to say the whole country knows that Agnipath is a “PMO scheme” and not the project of the army. “Just like demonetisation, this too is an an arbitrary scheme,” he added.
Demanding that Gandhi’s statements must be expunged, Singh said many countries across the world have a scheme such as Agnipath. “…and we have brought this scheme after much consideration and consultation. Rahul Gandhi cannot mislead the House,” he added.
Calling it a “scheme against the nation”, Gandhi said: “You like Agnipath scheme, so you keep it. But, whenever we come to power, we will remove it.”
He also spoke about the now-revoked farm laws. “The government brought farm laws and told the farmers it will be in their benefit, but to date, the farmers are protesting. But, the laws were brought to benefit big industrialists. You have called them (farmers) terrorists, but you have not agreed to talk to them or embrace them,” he said.
To this, Shah said: “Understand, this is the first speech by Rahul Gandhi. But, he is making a statement which we have never made.” Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also countered Gandhi, saying this government was giving MSP when the Congress was there, but nobody was giving a guarantee of purchase either.
(With PTI inputs)
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