New Delhi: Dubbing it a dangerous and false narrative, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday slammed Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for his comments on Sikhs during his visit to the United States.
“Rahul says that the Sikh community in India has a certain anxiety that they cannot wear a ‘turban’ or ‘kada’. I have been wearing a ‘turban’ and ‘kada’ for more than last 60 years now and I have never come across anyone who would say that they have any difficulty in wearing them,” he pointed out.
The BJP leader added that if there’s been one time in our history where we have felt insecure and faced existential threat, it was at the time when Rahul Gandhi’s family was in the seat of power. “It was in Rahul Gandhi father’s time when a pogrom was carried out. Our 3,000 people were killed. It’s not like he is unaware of all this. He has been in politics long enough. So he should realise that if he is outside the country or even inside the country and makes such statements, then he will be laughed at. This is a statement which deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms…He is trying to incite our brothers who live outside the country…He is making statements without any basis.”
Puri underlined, “I am happy that the BJP government has gone out of its way to address issues and concerns of the Sikh community. “When he (Rahul) talks about issues which are sensitive and involve our national identity, unity, strength in unity in diversity, it seems as if he is trying to set a new, dangerous and false narrative.”
Puri also rapped Rahul for hitting out at India’s legal system and the (Lok Sabha) elections outcome. The BJP leader said he (Rahul) has not gone there as an ordinary citizen… he has gone out as the Leader of Opposition.
What did Rahul Gandhi say
The Union minister was reacting to Rahul’s remark in Herndon, Washington DC, while interacting with the Indian diaspora. During the address, he said, “The fight is not about politics. That is superficial.” After pointing at a man in the audience wearing a ‘turban’, he pointed out that the fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban or kada in India or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to the gurdwara. “That’s what the fight is about. For all religions, not just for him.”
Manjinder Sirsa also condemns Rahul’s comments
Another BJP leader, National Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa, also condemned Rahul Gandhi’s comment on Sikhs’ freedom of practice. Sirsa alleged that Rahul had used “hateful words” against Sikhs. He said, “Your dirty politics is creating division in the country. You have stooped low and you say Sikhs in India cannot wear turban and kada… you say Sikhs and gurdwaras are not safe in India. I condemn these words.”
