Earlier today, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi escalated his caste rheotics as he made contentious remarks concerning the Indian Army. Gandhi, who was speaking at a public rally at Rae Bareli, criticised the ‘Agniveer Scheme’, and insinuated that there is a distinction between jawans belonging to the lower castes vis-a-vis those belonging to the upper castes.
“Narendra Modi has made two types of Jawans. One is the son of a poor, Dalit, Backward Class, minority community, and the other, is the son of a rich family. The son of a poor family has been given a new name: Agniveer,” Gandhi said.
Shame upon Rahul Gandhi to spread filthy lies about our armed forces.
— Vishnu Vardhan Reddy (Modi ka Parivar) (@SVishnuReddy) May 13, 2024
"PM has made two types of Jawans. One is the son of a poor, Dalit, minority called Agniveer, who won't be getting any facilities like pension
The other is from a rich family who will get all those things"… pic.twitter.com/gXnLaC2SUx
“PM Narendra Modi and his office have imposed the Agniveer scheme on the country. He wants the money that goes as pension and in the canteen facilities of Jawan to go to Adani in the form of defence contracts…” Gandhi said.
Alleging that Agniveers who lay down their lives in the line of duty won’t be accorded the status of martyrs, Gandhi added, “You will not be given the martyrdom status because you are an Agniveer and your family is poor.”
“You won’t get a pension, you won’t be able to avail of the canteen services. If you are martyred, the government of India won’t protect your family,” Gandhi further said.
“However, If you are not an Agniveer, if you are a senior officer, If you are one of the four, how will it be selected you all know, right? Then you will get the status of martyr, receive medals, can avail of the services of the canteen, and the government will protect your family till their last breath,” Gandhi said.
The Gandhi Scion claimed that there were two Indias and two types of martyrs within the Army. “There are two Indias and two types of martyrs within the Army,” Gandhi said.
The Caravan conducted a ‘caste analysis’ of 40 CRPF soldiers martyred in Pulwama terror attack
It is worth noting that Gandhi’s divisive rhetoric aligns with The Caravan’s infamous report in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019 wherein it had conducted a ‘caste analysis’ of 40 CRPF soldiers who were martyred in a brutal attack engineered by Pak-based Jaish-e-Muhammad.
As The Caravan reduced the supreme sacrifice of our soldiers to their mere caste identity, which was done primarily to attack the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi seems to have taken their path with his dangerous rhetorics inciting caste divides with the Indian Army, and sowing divisions within an institute tasked with maintaining the country’s security and sovereignty.
Gandhi’s sinister bombast threaten to pit soldiers of one caste against another
The Indian Armed Forces take pride in being one of the few institutes across the world where any kind of discrimination finds no place and merit gets rewarded. It has selflessly served the country, be it in times of war or during natural calamities, the Armed Forces has never discriminated on any grounds against its soldiers or subjects.
Moreover, there was a general understanding across the political spectrum to not politicise the forces and undermine the country’s national security for one’s short-term electoral gains. But Rahul Gandhi seems to have junked that approach as he claimed there are two Indias within the Army, and soldiers belonging to different castes are treated differently by the government.
While Rahul Gandhi’s dangerous rhetorics have the potential to irreversibly damage the secular and inclusive fabric of the Indian Armed Forces, more sinisterly, it demonstrates the desperation among the Wayanad MP and the Congress party to champion the old colonial doctrine of “divide and rule” in their last-ditch attempt to wrest control from PM Modi, who appears on his way to return to power for the third time in a row in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
