Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of seeking to capture India’s institutions and attempting to change the country’s nature.
Gandhi, who addressed an event at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, compared the Hindutva organisation to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organisation founded in Egypt in 1928 that may countries consider to be a terrorist organisation.
“RSS is trying to change the nature of India,” Gandhi said. “Other parties haven’t tried to capture India’s institutions. RSS’s idea is similar to the idea of Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world.”
His remarks came a day after he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS of dividing people and spreading hatred at an event in Germany’s Capital Berlin that was organised by a diaspora group called Indian Overseas Congress, PTI reported.
“The Congress belongs to all, works for everyone and our work is to spread the thought of unity in diversity,” Gandhi said. “Today, the government in India is working differently. The BJP-RSS people are dividing our own people. They are spreading hatred in our own country. Our job is to bring the people together and take the country forward and we have shown how to do it.”
The Congress chief once again claimed that while China creates 50,000 jobs in a day, India creates employment for only 450 people. On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party had questioned the source of Gandhi’s claim.
“There are long speeches, spewing of hatred but farmers are still committing suicide and the youth cannot see a future,” Gandhi told the audience in Berlin. “We want India to go forward and you will never hear of any Indian spreading hatred or anger anywhere. This is our culture, this is your culture.”
The Congress president claimed that his thoughts were inspired by Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism. He thanked the members of the Indian diaspora – many of whom are from Punjab – for supporting the Congress and helping the party form the government in the state. “When we needed you, you stood with us and helped us form our government in Punjab,” Gandhi said. “A friend in need is a friend indeed and you have been true friends.”
Gandhi also cited the langar (community kitchen) concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one – no matter how weak or poor – should go hungry. “The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy,” he added.
Gandhi is the wisest fool in Congress: BJP
The BJP criticised the Congress president, saying he was “incapable of playing a positive and constructive and a mature role as a leader of Opposition”. Gandhi, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “has proved that he is the wisest fool in the Congress”.
The saffron party’s spokesperson Sambit Patra also said Gandhi was not mature. “You have said that the ideology of the government is that of the Muslim Brotherhood?” Patra said. “You’re a parliamentarian and the president of a Congress party. Rahul ji you have no maturity and understanding of India. You have no facets. The only quality you possess is hatred against PM Modi and BJP.”
BJP National Secretary RP Singh accused the Congress leader of evoking Guru Nanak Dev keeping vote-bank politics in mind. “Rahul Gandhi reminds us of riots against Sikhs in 1984,” Singh said. “He needs the votes of Sikhs and hence ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’. But when it comes to justice for Sikhs then suddenly there is no friendship.”
Singh alleged that the Congress government in 1984 had claimed that only 600 Sikh had been killed in the riots. “It was Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji who submitted a docket to the government, indicating that around 3,000 Sikhs were killed in 1984,” he added.
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