Rahul Gandhi claimed on Friday that there is a difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, and accused BJP and RSS of spreading hate. In his video address on the launch of the Congress party’s digital campaign Jan Jagran Abhiyan, the Congress leader further denigrated Hindutva as violent and blamed the BJP and the RSS for using Hindutva to spread hatred among people.
Rahul Gandhi said in the video, “Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh or a Muslim? Hindutva of course is. But is Hinduism about killing Akhlaq? In which book is this written? I have not seen it. I have read the Upanishads, I have not seen it. Where is it written that you should kill an innocent man? I am unable to find this, in Hindu scriptures, in Islamic scriptures, in Sikh scriptures. I can see it in Hindutva,”
“…I have read the Upanishad’s…where is it written to kill an innocent man?…”
— INC TV (@INC_Television) November 12, 2021
Shri @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/35q1U5omW6
The former Congress president said that while the scriptures of Hinduism clearly did not suggest the killing of an innocent, the ideology of Hindutva supports such violence.
Rahul Gandhi further said that the ideology of the Congress party was overshadowed by the ‘hateful ideology’ of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said, “Today, whether we like it or not the hateful ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has overshadowed the loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology of Congress Party, we have to accept this. Our ideology is alive, vibrant but it has been overshadowed,”
“विचारधारा की लड़ाई सबसे ज़रूरी लड़ाई हो गयी है!”
— INC TV (@INC_Television) November 12, 2021
श्री @RahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/2uB8GTwEi3
Rahul Gandhi then further explained the need of Congress workers to understand what their ideology is. He said, “This is the foundational mission of Congress karyakartas. This is going to be central. And in my view, (K C) Venugopal ji and others might have a different opinion, but in my view it should be compulsory. It should be mandatory. Every single person should go through it. It should be a rigorous course and it should develop people who have real understanding of what it means to be a Congressperson,”
Notably, Rahul Gandhi’s statements differentiating between Hinduism and Hindutva comes in the backdrop of Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s comparison of Hindutva to Islamic terror organisations like ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Boko Haram. Salman Khurshid compared ISIS, one of the most dreaded Islamic terror group has been responsible for terror attacks across the world in recent years to Hindutva through a comment made in the chapter called ‘The Saffron Sky’ in his book ‘Sunrise over Ayodhya’.
