While speaking in the Lok Sabha on July 1, Rahul Gandhi issued a proclamation, “aap Hindu ho hi nahin” (You are not Hindu). The diatribe was undoubtedly directed against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues, fellow members of both houses and millions of voters and supporters of the saffron outfit. Rahul’s profane rant smacked of three things—his sense of entitlement, ignorance of Indian ethos and outright contempt for democratic norms.
Can Rahul or anyone else decide who is a Hindu or not? During the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, 23.59 crore Indians had voted for the BJP. There are likely millions more who support the BJP but couldn’t vote for their favourite party for various reasons. Undoubtedly, the majority of them identify themselves as Hindus. In a jiffy, Rahul stripped them of their faith and identity.
Who can dare make such a condescending statement? Only someone with an acute sense of entitlement. Unlike Abrahamic religions, Hinduism is timeless (hence also Sanatan), catholic and pluralistic. There is no centralised authority in Hinduism, and no one has any right to pass such edicts regarding the faith.
In contrast, Abrahamic faiths operate differently. In Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya sect has been ostracised from Islam, and its followers are routinely persecuted because their beliefs differ slightly from mainstream Shia-Sunni doctrine. These two sects are also perpetually locked in internecine wars due to their conflicting theological beliefs. Ironically, Ahmadiyyas were at the forefront, along with the Communists and Muslim League, in striving for an Islamic Pakistan. Doesn’t Rahul sound somewhat like the Pakistani establishment when he decrees in the Lok Sabha who is a Hindu and who isn’t?
During his one-hour and 40-minute speech, Rahul also remarked, “Those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hatred, violence and untruths 24×7.” Could anyone, including Rahul, make such an acerbic statement about Islam or any other faith?
Don’t miss the contradiction. After suspects are identified following a terror episode anywhere in the world, the usual comment is: a terrorist has no religion. Yet, the perpetrators of terror insist that they caused the mayhem as a part of a divine mandate ordained by their faith.
Rahul’s scalding allegations against Hinduism are without any basis whatsoever. He can get away with this charade because of the immunity Members of Parliament enjoy. Throughout history, Hindus have resorted to violence only in self-defence. Hinduism is inclusive and encompasses numerous traditions, all equally valid—from devout idol worshippers to outright heretic atheists. Anyone who cares to call themselves a Hindu is a Hindu.
Rahul spoke about violence and hate. Given his track record in this respect, he sounds sanctimonious. While he argues against these evils, he has a history of promoting divisive narratives and aligning with those who seek to divide Indians based on caste, region, and faith. His election campaign centred on reducing Indians to their caste identity. Hate and divisiveness, the bane of India, have been introduced into its socio-economic-religio-cultural life by alien creeds. These creeds often resort to violence and deceit to deal with non-believers or dissent within their ranks. Uniformity, especially in matters of faith, is central to their existence. In contrast, the Indian ethos, indifferent to uniformity, focuses only on harmony.
Who ceded one-fourth of India in August 1947 to the forces of Islamic fundamentalism, where only hate and intolerance rule? Pakistan is not just a country; it’s a bigoted idea that transcends borders. Recall the 1980s and 1990s when Pakistan-trained and funded terrorists, with local support, forced Kashmiri Pandits out of their ancestral homeland. In a recent interview, newly elected National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi threatened a repetition of that dark decade in retaliation for the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.
In the recent past, Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan and Umesh in Maharashtra were beheaded by Islamic zealots. Last week (June 30, 2024), a young couple was publicly humiliated and assaulted in Taliban style by a muscleman affiliated with the local ruling party in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur. On June 27, 2024, a Muslim woman was stripped, dragged by her hair, and thrashed for over an hour by goons for supporting the BJP in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar. Instances of berating and inhuman torture of victims like Anees Mian-Parveen Jahan (Uttarakhand, 2022), Samina (Madhya Pradesh, 2023), and Tahira Bano (Rajasthan, 2023) don’t figure in public discourse.
The killings of Hafizul Sheikh (West Bengal), Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh (J&K), Babar Ali (Uttar Pradesh), Sheikh Waseem Bari (J&K), etc. barely made headlines, either at home or abroad. They were all victims of hate and were guilty of a common ‘crime’: supporting the BJP. This list of hate crimes is indicative and not an exhaustive one.
This loathsome itinerary of hate and violence, however, doesn’t concern Rahul. His public utterances are shaped by the compulsions of power politics and the requirements of his ideological ecosystem. His narrative, divorced from reality, is solely driven by the political dividends he aims to reap. No wonder, with complete disregard for facts, he conveniently blames only those “who call themselves Hindus…” for these twin evils.
There is a method to this madness. For decades, the Congress has been on the decline, and Rahul is in a hurry to resurrect it. His options are limited. It’s difficult to fault the incumbent, Modi, with his performance—his achievements are outstanding in most areas. As a shortcut to gather electoral support, Rahul is increasingly leaning on identity politics and aligning, knowingly or unknowingly, with the forces of neo-colonialism that abhor a resurgent India.
Rahul won Wayanad with the support of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — a rabidly communal party, a post-independence reincarnation of the infamous Mohamed Ali Jinnah-led Muslim League. M. Muhammad Ismail fathered the IUML after independence. Before 1947, he was the President of the Madras unit of Jinnah’s Muslim League, a euphemism for fanaticism and bloodshed. The League has changed its signboard, but not its divisive agenda.
Rahul Gandhi is trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. He cannot carry on with this contradiction for long. Shorn of hyperbole and embellishments, Rahul’s first speech in the newly constituted Lok Sabha was lacking in facts and heavy on communal rhetoric.
The columnist is senior journalist, author and former Chairman of Indian Institute of Mass Communications. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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