Man Rahul Gandhi Pointed to while Making His Controversial 'Sikh' Remark in US Counters Congress MP

While interacting with members of the Indian diaspora at an event in the United States on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked a person seated at the front his name and then said that the fight in India is about whether a Sikh like him would be allowed to wear a kada and go to a gurdwara or not. That person, Vii Media CEO and journalist Bhalinder Singh Virmani, has now “fact-checked" the Raebareli MP’s assertions.

“First of all, you have to understand the fight is not about politics. The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a turban in India; or whether, he, as a Sikh, will be allowed to wear a kada in India; or whether he, as a Sikh, is allowed to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about, and not just for him, but for all religions," Rahul Gandhi had said.

In a video statement posted on Facebook, Virmani said that he had spent a lot of time in India and never faced any restrictions to sporting a turban or other Sikh religious symbols. He added that Sikhs as well as people from other religions have the freedom to practise their faith in India.

Virmani also said that, not just in India, he hadn’t encountered discrimination as a Sikh person in America or other parts of the world. The journalist added that public figures like Rahul Gandhi should be more careful while making such statements.

Rahul Gandhi’s remark stirred up a political storm as several members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back in Delhi issued rebuttals. Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri termed the Lok Sabha leader of opposition’s comments “sinister" with the aim of spreading “dangerous narratives" in the diaspora.

“If there has been one time in our history when as a community, we have felt anxiety, a sense of insecurity and existential threat, it has been the times when Rahul Gandhi’s family has been in the seats of power. In 1984, a pogrom was carried out against the Sikh community. As many as 3,000 innocent people were killed. People were dragged out of their homes, tyres were put around them, and burnt alive," the minister said.