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“I believe in & fight for the truth” said Congress leader, and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi, adding that “the BJP cannot scare me”. Gandhi was addressing a public meeting in Wayanad, his Parliamentary constituency, just days after the police visited his Delhi home for the third time in five days.
On Sunday the Congress leader, according to news reports, had already sent “a four-page preliminary reply to the Delhi Police's notice about his ‘women still being sexually assaulted’ remark made during the Bharat Jodo Yatra”. The police action/ visits had come nearly 45-days after this remark had been made on January 30.
The police team led by Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda had visited Rahul Gandhi's 12, Tughlaq Lane, New Delhi residence and met him, stated news reports.
On Tuesday, he made his first public remarks on the way he was being put under the scanner. He said that such actions, including the police action did not bother him at all and that he would continue to raise the issue.
“Every single institution of the country is under attack, " he said, “the democratic foundation, the Parliament, the Judiciary, the free press, the election commission, the bureaucracy… Every single institution is under attack and it is my duty, and all our duties to fight this assault on India's voice. To fight the violence and hatred that the BJP and RSS are spreading.”
Gandhi said that the BJP and RSS were "confused" and thought that “they are India” adding that, “the confusion is in the minds of the Prime Minister, BJP and RSS. They are under the impression that they are India. They think of themselves as the whole of India. The PM is one Indian person, he is not India. No matter how delusional, no matter or how arrogant he may be, he is just one Indian. The BJP and RSS have forgotten that there are 1.4 billion people in the country and this country is not the BJP, RSS or the Prime Minister.”
Gandhi did not mince words but strongly highlighted that any criticism of the Prime Minister, Bharatiya Janata Party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organisation, was “not an attack on India”. Gandhi said that by attacking the democratic structures it was the PM and RSS “were attacking India” he said that under no condition will he stop saying this.
“Many people may be scared of the Prime Minister, BJP, RSS and the police, but I am not. I am not scared of them in the least. Their problem is they cannot understand why I am not scared. They can terrorise most people, they cannot do it to me. The reason is I believe in the truth, and I fight for the truth.”
The Congress leader said it did not matter to me how much he was attacked, “how many times the police is sent to my house or how many cases are there on me, it does not matter I stand for the truth...That is the way I am… people who hide behind lies will not understand it. The truth does not change. The truth is the same in Wayanad, Delhi and Haryana.”
Gandhi accused the PM, RSS and BJP of “attacking the idea and institutions of India. I will keep repeating it again and again," he added. The Wayanad MP was speaking at the public meeting after handing over keys of new homes provided by the party, to families in Mukkam in Kozhikode district. As reported by Mathrubhumi news this area is a part of Thiruvambadi assembly, under the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat that Rahul Gandhi represents in Parliament.
Gandhi also hinted at democratic alliances and said he still considered the Left parties “as people of my family” adding “this is the spirit, and should be the spirit of our country. We are all one family and we should be allowed disagreements. But disagreements should not become anger or violence. This idea is deeply held in the tration of the nation. Mutual respect, love for each other.”
He said that this fraternity and tolerance was taught by every religion too. “The idea that you should be allowed a voice. And almost as important you should allow other people their voice. Talking without listening is useless.”
According to Gandhi this was the spirit behind the Bharat Jodo Yatra too, “we listened for hours and spoke for minutes…”
He put the central government in the dock saying, “now there is a group of people who are in power in Delhi who do not seem to understand this. That democracy is about speaking and not about shouting. About speaking and listening. It is not about insulting people, humiliating people, or being arrogant. It is not about spreading violence.”
When he had sent his preliminary reply to the Delhi Police after their questions at his residence, Rahul Gandhi had termed the police action "unprecedented" , reported NDTV. He also asked “whether this had anything to do with his position taken both inside and outside Parliament on the Adani issue,” stated the news report.
According to them, Mr Gandhi also asked what was the urgency on the part of the Delhi Police in making two visits in as many days after an initial gap of 45 days after he made his speech in Srinagar. He had also reportedly asked if “any other political party, including the ruling party, has been subjected to such kind of scrutiny or questioning over their political campaigns.”
Rahul Gandhi’s recent speech at Cambridge University has also been targeted by BJP. The BJP leaders have accused the Congress leader of defaming his country when he reportedly spoke of the “threat to democracy” in India.
Indian democracy is under pressure, is under attack. “I am an Opposition leader in India and we are navigating that space. What is happening is that the institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, a free press, the judiciary — is just the idea of mobilisation, just the idea of moving around … these are all getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy”, he said .
The matter also rocked Parliament and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned on Monday afternoon amid furore over Gandhi’s remarks. According to news reports chaos reigned as BJP MPs raised slogans and demanded an apology from the Opposition leader. The BJP has insisted that an 'unambiguous apology' from the Wayanad MP can end the logjam in Parliament.
