New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government during a Constitution Day program at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. Gandhi accused the government of systematically silencing the voices of Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, and other marginalised communities who dare to speak out against injustice.
A poignant visual backdrop to Gandhi’s speech was a picture of Rohit Vemula, a Dalit scholar who died by suicide in 2016. “In this country for the last 3,000 years whoever talks about Dalits, tribals, backward classes, poor, his mic gets switched off. When the mic was switched off, a lot of people came and told me to go and sit. I said I will not sit, I will stand, switch off the mic as much as you want, I will speak whatever I want to. Here is Rohith Vemula’s photo behind, he wanted to speak but his voice was taken away…,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi used Vemula’s tragic story to exemplify his central argument, that the government suppresses dissent and silences those who attempt to raise concerns about social inequality. He directly linked Vemula’s death to his efforts to advocate for the rights of marginalised students.
Delivering a speech before a large gathering, Gandhi said that the government was erecting barriers between development and the most vulnerable sections of society. He argued that the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, are actively constructing these obstacles, preventing marginalised communities from accessing progress and opportunities and benefiting a few business tycoons of the country.
“On Constitution Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government hosted a special event in Parliament. I can guarantee that the Prime Minister has never read this Constitution, because if he had, his actions would be entirely different from what he does everyday,” Rahul Gandhi, holding a copy of the Constitution, made a sharp remark.
Gandhi contrasted the current political climate with that of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, in which he served. He acknowledged that the UPA had attempted to bridge the gap between the poor and development but fell short of completely dismantling the systemic barriers.
He criticised the BJP for not only failing to continue this work but for actively strengthening these barriers, exacerbating the difficulties faced by the underprivileged.
