Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed a rare face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on the latter claiming that those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hatred and violence, and that the BJP does not represent the Hindu society. This triggered massive protests from the treasury benches, with the Prime Minister himself asserting that Gandhi had labelled a “whole community as violent”.
Gandhi hit back at Modi, saying he was speaking about the BJP and neither the ruling party nor the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh nor Modi represent the entire Hindu society. Besides Modi, who intervened twice, at least five cabinet ministers interjected during Gandhi’s speech that lasted about an hour and 40 minutes, with Home Minister Amit Shah demanding his apology for painting the Hindu community as violent.
Speaking on the motion to thank the President, Gandhi used pictures of Lord Shiva, Holy Quran, Guru Nanak Singh, Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha and Lord Mahavir while referring to Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism and Jainism to underline the significance of India’s syncretic tradition and how religion teaches fearlessness. “Shivji says daro mat, darao mat, shows the abhay mudra (the right hand held upright with the palm facing outwards), talks about ahimsa, but those who call themselves Hindus indulge in hatred, violence and untruth round the clock,” Gandhi said, pointing towards the BJP MPs.
As the treasury-bench members stood up in protest, Gandhi slammed the BJP, saying, “Aap Hindu ho hi nahi (You are not Hindus). It is clearly written in Hinduism that one should stand with the truth and not back down from the truth or be scared of it,” he said.
PM intervenes
Intervening during his speech, Modi said, “This issue is very serious. Calling the entire Hindu community violent is a serious issue.” Gandhi said he is talking about the BJP and the ruling party is not the sole representative of Hinduism. “Ye theka nahi hai BJP ka (This is not the sole preserve of the BJP),” he said.
Home Minister Shah sought the Congress leader’s apology to the House and the country for hurting the feelings of crores of people who take pride in identifying themselves as Hindus. He said the ruckus created by the opposition cannot drown the fact that the words — “those who call themselves Hindus indulge in violence” — were used in the House. He also spoke of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikh riots to hit back at Gandhi, saying he has no right to talk about non-violence when the Congress had spread “ideological terror” in the country.
In a swipe at Gandhi for alleging that ministers do not greet him due to the fear of Modi, the Prime Minister said democracy and the Constitution have taught him to take the leader of opposition seriously.
Meanwhile, Gandhi accused the BJP of launching “systematic attacks” on the Constitution and the fundamental idea of India, noting that millions of people have resisted the ideas proposed by the ruling party. “I was attacked on the orders of Prime Minister Modi and the government. There were 20-plus cases (against me), a two-year jail sentence, (my) house was taken away, 55 hours of interrogation by the ED,” he said.
Agnipath scheme
Referring to the Agnipath scheme for short-term military recruitment, Gandhi said the government regards the Agniveers as “use-and-throw labourers” and does not even give them the status of a “shaheed” (martyr). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh intervened to rebut Gandhi’s charge and said an Agniveer who lays down his life in the line of duty gets a compensation of ₹1 crore. “This House is not for spreading lies. Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the House, to the country and to Agniveers,” Shah said.
Gandhi claimed that the armed forces know that Agnipath was Modi’s brainchild, prompting Singh to accuse the leader of opposition of misleading the House. “If we come to power, we will scrap the Agnipath scheme as it is against jawans, the armed forces and deshbhakts (patriots),” he said.
He also hit out at the Centre over the situation in Manipur, alleging that it has pushed the North-Eastern State into a civil war. The former Congress chief also slammed the government over farmers’ issues, saying it did not want to give a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for crops. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan objected to Gandhi’s remarks and accused him of “misleading” the House. Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Bhupender Yadav also intervened at different points of Gandhi’s speech.