BJP Sikh leaders take on Rahul over use of Sikh symbols in speech
BJP spokesperson RP Singh dared Rahul to repeat his remarks about Sikhs in India, adding that he would then drag him to court
Sikh leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have launched a vicious attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he used Sikh symbols to illustrate his idea of what he said was an ideological battle in India.
Rahul, who is now in the US, said in Virginia that the political fight in India was over ensuring freedom to all religions.
Looking at the Sikhs in the audience, he went on: "First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. It is superficial. What is your name?
What Rahul Gandhi said
“The fight is about whether... he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India. Or he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a kada in India. Or a Sikh is going to be able to go to gurdwara. That's what the fight is about and not just for him, for all religions," Rahul had said.
In New Delhi, Union minister Hardeep Puri slammed Rahul for what he said was a criticism of the Sikhs as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Singh (RSS) while in the United States.
Rahul’s ‘dangerous narrative’
Puri, a former diplomat, accused Rahul of spreading a "dangerous narrative" among the Indian diaspora.
“He has also let loose a diatribe against the RSS ... and this is made worse because he has not gone out as a common citizen but as Leader of the Opposition."
Puri also said the only time Sikhs faced an "existential crisis" was when the Gandhi family was in power.
Sirsa too attacks Rahul
This was a reference to the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom after then prime minister Indira Gandhi's was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
Earlier, another BJP leader, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, accused Rahul of using "hateful words" against Sikhs.
He 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."
Treason, cries Shivraj
BJP spokesperson RP Singh dared Rahul to repeat his remarks about Sikhs in India, adding that he would then drag him to court.
Union minister and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan attacked Rahul for speaking against the Modi government while travelling abroad as Leader of the Opposition.
“He is constantly trying to malign the image of the country. Maligning the image of the country is equivalent to treason,” he said.
