On December 24, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra went on a 9-day break. In the last leg of the Yatra at Delhi before the 9-day holiday, Rahul Gandhi addressed the participating ‘Yatris’ and claimed that animals like dogs, cows, buffalos, and pigs joined the Yatra, and no one was harmed. The Yatra which started on September 7, spent around 18 days in Kerala. Notably, Kerala Congress leaders had slaughtered a cow in the middle of the road a few years back in order to make a political point.
‘Dogs, cows, buffalos, and pigs joined Bharat Jodo Yatra’
Gandhi claimed that different types of animals also joined the Yatra. He said, “You must have seen the Yatra. Have you seen any violence during the Yatra? Did anyone hurt anyone? Did anyone abuse anyone? No. Did you see hate in this Yatra? Did anyone ask about your religion, caste, or gender? No. No one even pointed out your clothes. I don’t know if you have noticed, but dogs joined the Yatra. Dogs came… no one hit the dogs. Cows, buffalos, and pigs also joined the Yatra. I have seen it. All animals came. All people came. There were no hate, violence, or wrong questions.” He also pointed out that leaders from Haryana and Kerala fell during Yatra, and people helped them.
Rahul Gandhi forgot what his party members did in Kerala
While giving this speech, flaunting how his Yatra was bringing people and animals together and spreading the message of love and peace, Gandhi completely forgot or ignored what his fellow party members did in Kerala. In 2017, in defiance of the centre’s move to enforce a cow slaughter ban, Rijil Makkutty and his aides dragged a calf and brutally slaughtered it in the middle of the road. The cow is considered a sacred animal by Hindus, and the act of publicly slaughtering a calf was meant to send a signal to the Hindus and a pro-Hindu government at the centre.
Rahul Gandhi was then forced to try and limit the damage. “What happened in Kerala yesterday is thoughtless, barbaric & completely unacceptable to me & the Congress Party. I strongly condemn the incident,” he had tweeted.
However, the charade of having a genuine concern for the feelings of Hindus stood exposed as Makkutty continued to remain involved in party activities. The agony expressed by Rahul Gandhi on Social Media and the supposed ‘suspension’ of Rijil appeared as an eyewash.
The fact that Rahul had allowed Makkutty to continue to work for the Kerala State Congress unit asserted that he had no compunction in associating himself with someone who had wantonly hurt the Hindu sentiments by butchering a calf. The pictures of Rijil and Rahul, and Priyanka, in the runup to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections testify to it.
Furthermore, Makkutty was also part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra when it was crossing Kerala. Gandhi was reportedly seen with him on September 26. Rijil Chandran Makkutty, the said IYC leader, had posted about the development on his official Facebook page. The meeting took place in Pattambi town in the Palakkad district. Rijil, who is currently serving as the Vice-President (Kerala) of the Indian Youth Congress, followed it up with another Facebook post on Thursday (September 30).
He claimed, “Yes, RSS is the enemy of the country. Rahul Gandhi is speaking out, without hesitation, against RSS hate politics. Yes, we can join hands against the hate politics of Sangh Parivar.” Rijil Chandran Makkutty also reminisced about the excitement he experienced while meeting the Congress scion.