As New Delhi decks up for the upcoming G20 Summit and foreign dignitaries begin pouring in for the conclave, the Gandhi scion and Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is busy dissing India during his trip abroad.
On Friday, September 8, Gandhi, who had yesterday met with Alviina Alametsa and Pierre Larrouturou—EU parliamentarians known for their anti-India disposition—today defamed India, saying there is an increase in discrimination and violence in the country.
The Gandhi prince also trotted out what he had been repeating ad nauseam for some time: democratic institutions in India are under relentless assault. However, like always, Rahul Gandhi did not offer corroborative evidence to prove his contentions, leading one to believe it was an exercise in political rhetoric and not rooted in reality.
“Certainly, there is an increase in discrimination and violence in India, and there is a full-scale assault on democratic institutions in India, which everybody knows and is internally and globally commented on,” Gandhi said during his visit to Europe.
When India is hosting G20, world leaders are coming to India..
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) September 8, 2023
Check how Rahul Gandhi is shaming India abroad. pic.twitter.com/fKJuA24y0f
He further added, “Of course, minorities are under attack, but so are other communities, Dalit communities, Tribal communities, and lower-caste communities are also under attack.”
While Gandhi claimed that minorities are under attack in India, he maintained a deafening silence on the inflammatory remarks by members of I.N.D.I alliance—a bloc of opposition parties of which his party, Congress, is a part.
While Gandhi claims minorities are under attack in India, his alliance partners are relentlessly attacking and dehumanising Hindus
Recently, Udhaynidhi Stalin, a senior leader of DMK, an important alliance partner in the I.N.D.I. bloc, made hateful remarks against Sanatan Dharma, comparing it with mosquitos and coronavirus and calling for its “eradication”. When confronted on his genocidal calls against the adherents of Sanatan Dharma, one of the oldest faiths in the country that prides itself on pluralistic traditions and inter-faith tolerance, instead of tendering an unqualified apology, Stalin doubled down on his stand, vowing to uproot the Sanatan Dharma.
The partners of I.N.D.I alliance either remained silent on the raging issue or chose to defend the DMK leader’s provocative statements. Another DMK leader, A Raja, infamous for being one of the accused in the 2G Spectrum case and against whom CBI had filed a charge sheet in disproportionate assets case, came out in support of Stalin, saying he was soft on Sanatan Dharma by likening it to mosquitos and that it should have instead been compared with HIV and social stigmas.
Congress has historically been close to DMK. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin is regarded as a significant partner for Congress’ goal to depose PM Modi from the Centre in the upcoming 2024 general elections. Priyank Kharge, a minister in Congress-ruled Karnataka, threw his weight behind Udhaynidhi Stalin and equated Sanatan Dharma to a disease.
Speaking to the media personnel, the Congress leader said, “Any religion that does not promote equality or does not ensure you have the dignity of being human is not religion, according to me. Any religion that does not give equal rights or does not treat you like humans is as good as disease.”
How Congress is playing up the ‘minorities are under attack’ rhetoric to cultivate a vote bank in an increasingly fragmented opposition
Rahul Gandhi and Congress have long sought to keep up the “minorities are in danger” rhetoric game up to consolidate the minority votes in an increasingly fragmented opposition, where every party is trying to cultivate its vote bank to take on the Modi juggernaut, which draws its strength from broad support from all sections of the society.
Besides polarising the political climate in the country, the ‘minorities are in danger’ narrative is also played up to malign the Centre as communal. Seemingly ordinary incidents of crime are given a religious spin to either defame the Centre or consolidate the minority vote bank.
For instance, over 80 per cent of fatalities during the Nuh violence came from non-Muslims. The violence erupted after Hindu devotees of Jalabhishek Yatra faced attacks from Islamists in Nuh, nestled in the Muslim-majority region of Mewat in Haryana. Even Hindus who did not participate in the procession became the victims of the macabre dance of death witnessed in Nuh and adjoining areas in late July and early August this year.
Yet, Congress, armed with its well-oiled ecosystem and an army of online trolls and supporting journalists, many of whom have turned into YouTubers after being unceremoniously removed from their jobs for peddling propaganda under the pretext of honest and upright journalism, shifted the blame on the Centre and the Hindus for instigating the violence.
With G20 Summit being hosted in India, Gandhi Scion seeks to deviate the world’s attention from India’s stunning growth
Such perversions by Congress leaders and online trolls are then legitimised by central leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, who shields the perpetrators in the hopes of cultivating the minority vote bank and guilt-tripping Hindus into believing that they had elected a party that had enabled hate and violence in the country. This gaslighting is a part of the Congress propaganda to chip away at the cross-section popularity enjoyed by the Modi government.
With hosting its maiden G20 Summit, the Congress machinery has once again hunkered itself in what it does best: deflect attention from India’s giant leaps in GDP growth, rising global stature, and great strides in social inclusion, and instead focus on a straw man that minorities are in danger in the country.
An uneventful G20 would cement Modi’s image as a global leader who brought laurels to the nation, elevated its international standing, and positioned itself as an emerging powerhouse. It would run counter to Congress’ meticulously built propaganda of dystopian conditions prevailing in the country. The comments made by Rahul Gandhi should be viewed in this context—a desperate attempt by a restive opposition leader who seeks to defenestrate the existing leader, even at the cost of defaming his own country.
