"Dangerous Narrative...": Minister Slams Rahul Gandhi's Comment On Sikhs

Union Minister Hardeep Puri has slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over comments in the United States, including criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and seeing the battle with the BJP as an ideological divide over questions like "is a Sikh allowed to wear a turban (or) kada?"

In a lengthy attack Mr Puri accused Mr Gandhi of spreading a "dangerous narrative" among diaspora in the US, and for criticising the government while abroad and holding the Leader of the Opposition post.

"He said members of the Sikh community have difficulty in wearing a turban or kada... where is he getting this information from? I have worn a turban for over 60 years... word a kada for longer... and never come across anyone who expressed any sense of anxiety," he told NDTV.

"Yes there was one occasion in our post-independence history, in the 'young' leader's father's time when there was a pogrom carried out against members of my community (referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots after Indira Gandhi's assassination)... when 3,000 innocent Sikhs were killed in cold blood."

"Yes... at that point some of my brothers, fearing for their lives, may have shed a turban, temporarily or permanently, but never since. I think whichever way you look at it (Mr Gandhi's comment), it is highly regrettable. It is totally unlikely any Sikh, and that includes a distinguished leader who was Prime Minister for 10 years (referring to the Congress' Dr Manmohan Singh), would have expressed this..."

Earlier the Union Minister had spoken darkly of "something far more sinister".

"The people in front of him (at the event in the US where Mr Gandhi was speaking) were from my community. They eke out a living in the US, and don't have a strong connection with the country. And to them Rahulji is spreading this false narrative..." Mr Puri had said.

"The other day he said, 'there is a very large economy (referring to China) where there is no unemployment'... sometimes he says something else. He has also let loose a diatribe against the RSS (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor) ... and this is made worse because he has not gone out as a common citizen but as Leader of the Opposition."

"And what has happened (during Mr Gandhi's US tour)... he has attacked the legal system in India, he has attacked the outcome of the election, that the Congress' accounts were frozen..." Mr Puri said, complaining also that Mr Gandhi neglected to mention India's development over the past decade.

READ | RSS Thinks Women Should Stay Home, Says Rahul Gandhi. BJP Reacts

Mr Puri also ripped into Mr Gandhi's comment about the BJP-Congress divide being about freedom of action, such as practice of religion. Mr Gandhi had referred to the practice of Sikhism and said, "The fight is not about politics. The fight is about whether a Sikh can wear his turban... it is for all religions."

He thundered "I have been wearing a turban for over six decades and a kada for longer... and never had a problem." He reminded Mr Gandhi the only time India's Sikhs faced an "existential crisis" was when his family was in power,

"... if there has been one time in our history as a community we have felt anxiety, and that is too mild a term, we have felt an existential threat... it was when Rahul Gandhi's family was in power."

"In 1984 a pogrom was carried out against the Sikhs. Three thousand innocent people were killed... dragged out of their homes, tires were put around them, and they were burned alive."

READ | Enough To Charge Congress' Jagdish Tytler In Anti-Sikh Riots Case: Court

Mr Puri then referred to Rajiv Gandhi's controversial "whenever a big tree falls, the earth shakes" comment and said it was "as close to a justification for targeting a minority community as I have seen".

Manjinder Sirsa Attacks Rahul Gandhi

Hardeep Puri's sharp attack came hours after another BJP leader, National Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, also tore into Rahul Gandhi on the comment about Sikhs' freedom of practice.

Mr Sirsa accused Mr Gandhi of using "hateful words" against Sikhs and said, "Your dirty politics is diving the country. You have stooped so low that you allege Sikhs in India cannot wear turbans and kada... you say Sikhs and gurdwaras are not safe in India. I condemn his words."

"India is proud of its Sikhs. You used gurdwara, dastar or pagh (turban), kada and kripaan (the curved blade wielded by Khalsa Sikhs) to spread hate in your heart against Sikhs..." he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi's Comment On Sikhs

Mr Gandhi, interacting with Indian diaspora an event in Virginia in the US, had stressed the fight between the BJP and the opposition, much of which had banded together under the INDIA umbrella to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party in the Lok Sabha poll, is "ideological".

He had also stressed this fight is "for all religions", and attacked the RSS and the BJP, saying neither understands that India is for all people.

READ | Rahul Gandhi's "Thali, Chawal, Dal, Sabji" Attack On RSS In US

Using a plate of food, a thali, as an example, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, "In India everything works together...if someone says rice is more important than dal (in a thali) and vegetable are the least important, what will happen? That is what BJP does," he said.

Mr Gandhi also said something had "changed" after the election, in which the INDIA bloc stopped the BJP from an outright majority and left it relying on the NDA to form the government.

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