New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s reference to Lord Ram as a “mythological” figure during an interactive session in the US last month drew criticism from the BJP Sunday.
The remarks were made on 21 April at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. At the event, Rahul also described the BJP as a “fringe group that has captured political power” and accused it of amassing vast amounts of wealth.
The video of the over one hour-long interaction was uploaded on the institute’s YouTube channel Saturday.
Reacting to the Brown University interaction Sunday, BJP national spokesperson C.R. Kesavan alleged in a video statement that “badmouthing Lord Ram and belittling Bharat on foreign soil” seems to be the “core ideology” of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress.
Gandhi’s reference to Ram came in response to a question about how secular politics, “which embraces all religious communities”, can be formulated in an age dominated by Hindu nationalism.
In his long reply, excerpts of which were widely shared on social media by several BJP leaders, Rahul sought to distinguish between Hindu religious traditions and the political ideology espoused by the BJP.
The Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition said the inclusive nature of political thinkers and social reformers who shaped India form the bedrock of Indian tradition and history.
“If you look at all great Indian social reformers, political thinkers, and you go back 3,000 years—Buddha, Guru Nanak, Basava in Karnataka, Narayana Guru in Kerala, Phule, Gandhi, Ambedkar… you see one stream. None of these are bigots,” he said.
“None of these people were saying ‘we want to kill people, we want to isolate people, we want to crush people, we believe that things should be done in this one particular way’. All these people, the voices of whom are in our Constitution, are essentially saying the same thing, they carry everybody along… search for truth and non-violence.”
He added: “I don’t know one person whom we consider great in India who wasn’t of this type. All our mythological figures, Lord Ram was of that kind, where he was forgiving, he was compassionate. So, I don’t consider what the BJP says to be the Hindu idea at all. I consider the Hindu idea to be much more pluralistic, much more embracing, much more affectionate, much more tolerant and open.”
Rahul then went on to call the BJP a “fringe group”, saying he didn’t view the ruling party’s conception as a “Hindu conception” at all.
“I simply don’t view the BJP conception as a Hindu conception. For me, in terms of thinking, they are a fringe group, they are not mainstream. Now that they have captured political power, they have got a huge amount of wealth and they have got power, but they don’t represent the large majority of Indian thinkers by any means,” the former Congress president said.
This time, the Congress chose not to broadcast Rahul Gandhi’s interactive sessions during his US trip. Speaking to ThePrint ahead of the visit, Sam Pitroda, chairperson of the Congress’s overseas wing, said the party had left it to the host institutions to decide whether or not to upload videos of the interactions.
The move was seen as an attempt by the Congress to prevent the BJP from drawing political mileage from Rahul’s remarks on foreign soil. In the past, the BJP has frequently attacked Rahul over his statements abroad, accusing him of defaming India in front of international audiences.
Also Read: Ramayana’s origins remain unknown. Archaeology so far is too limited to prove epic legends
‘Shocking, but not the first time’
Kesavan said Rahul had “demeaned Lord Rama” earlier too.
“When PM (Narendra) Modi visited Kuwait, Kuwaiti nationals gave him a translated version of the Ramayana in Arabic, in stark contrast, Rahul Gandhi mocks Lord Ram calling him mythological during his recent US visit. It is shocking, but this is not the first time he has demeaned Lord Rama,” he said, raking up an affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2007 when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre.
“The Congress had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in 2007, saying there is no historical proof (of the existence) of Lord Ram. Time and again, the Congress and their allies have abused Hindu dharma, and Lord Ram,” Kesavan alleged.
The affidavit was filed by the ASI regarding a project which proposed a shorter sea route from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka, and in response to a writ petition claiming the Ram Setu was a man-made bridge built by Ram.
“The petitioners while seeking relief have primarily relied upon the contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas and mythological texts, which formed an important part of ancient Indian literature, but which cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the event, depicted therein,” the affidavit stated.
Later, the government had withdrawn the affidavit, with the Congress saying it was not aware of its contents before it was filed in the apex court. The party had apparently distanced itself from the affidavit as it had triggered a political storm.
On Sunday, the BJP also highlighted an exchange Rahul had with a Sikh student at the session in the US. The student referred to Rahul’s earlier statement that “the fight in India is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a turban, whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a kada or go to the gurdwara” and questioned the Congress’ track record in treating the SIkh community.
“I don’t think that anything scares the Sikhs. The statement I made was that, do we want an India where people are uncomfortable to express their religion? As far as mistakes of the Congress party are concerned, a lot of those mistakes happened when I was not there, but I am more than happy to take responsibility for everything that the Congress has ever done wrong,” Rahul said.
“I have publicly stated that what happened in the 1980s (referring to the anti-Sikh riots) was wrong. I have been to the Golden Temple multiple times, I have an extremely good relationship with the Sikh community in India and a loving relationship with them.”
Sharing the exchange on X, BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said: “‘You haven’t reconciled with the Sikhs’, a young man tells Rahul Gandhi to his face, reminding him of the unfounded fear-mongering he engaged in during his last visit to the US. It is quite unprecedented that Rahul Gandhi is now being ridiculed not just in India, but around the world.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Ram wasn’t always top god in India. Political chaos, conflict with Turks elevated him
