AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi lambasted Rahul Gandhi for characterising India as the land of Hindus in his Mehangai Hatao protest rally in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Owaisi held Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party responsible for the rise of Hindutva in India and blamed them for encouraging Hindu majoritarianism.
“Rahul and INC fertilised the ground for Hindutva. Now they are trying to harvest majoritarianism. Bringing Hindus to power is a secular agenda in 2021. Wah! India belongs to all Bharatiyas. Not Hindus alone. India belongs to people of all faith and also those who have no faith,” Owaisi tweeted.
The censure from Owaisi came after Rahul Gandhi tried to draw a distinction between Hindu and Hindutva following the criticism Congress has been facing ever since Salman Khurshid’s comment on Hindutva in his new book on Ayodhya verdict came out in public. Khurshid had kicked up a massive political storm after he compared Hindutva to ISIS and Boko Haram in his latest book. As his remarks stoked a controversy, a raft of Congress leaders has been pushed into damage control mode, reassuring Hindus that Khurshid’s comment was not the party’s official stand.
As a part of this exercise, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said a Hindu is one who respects all religions, embraces all and fears none. “Read any scripture — be in Gita, Upanishad, Ramayan, Mahabharat. Where is it written that poor and weak people are to be oppressed?” Rahul said. “If there is inflation in the country and there is suffering, then this has been done by Hindutvadis. Hindutvadis want power at any cost.”