Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been leading the charge against Mr. Gandhi, accusing the Congress of having an “anti-national agenda.”
Having clarified his remarks on reservation, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday broke his silence on the other statement—on religious freedom—he had made during his recent US visit that made him the target of attacks from a battery of BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi. The BJP, Mr. Gandhi said, is “desperate to silence him.”.
Speaking on an event in Virginia’s Herndon on September 9, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was talking of religious freedom in India when he asked a Sikh member of the audience his name and said, “The fight is whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a turban in India; or that, he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a ‘kada’ in India; or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That’s what the fight is about, and not just for him but for all religions.
We are of the opinion that every state, tradition, and language is as important as any other one.”.
The Congress leader attacked him for his alleged efforts to divide India, and, on Saturday, the Karnataka BJP also filed a police complaint against him for his remarks.
Taking to X the same day, a defiant Mr. Gandhi said he wanted to ask every member of the Sikh community, in India and abroad, whether he had done anything wrong and accused the BJP of spreading lies.
