On Thursday (20th March), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi courted controversy after he attacked merit in India as ‘unfair’ to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes. He also promoted ‘caste census’, meant to divide the Hindu community
He made the disturbing remarks during his podcast with ‘economist’ Sukhadeo Thorat. During the course of the 15-minute programme, Rahul Gandhi claimed, “I have had discussions with people about the caste census, where I am saying, look, all we are doing is exposing the truth. Nothing else. And they will say to me directly that no, one must not expose this truth.“
The Gandhi scion then mouthed platitudes about the Indian constitution and how the equality of Indians could only be ensured through a ‘caste census.’
He alleged that the concept of ‘merit’ is flawed and inherently discriminatory to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Castes. The Congress leader also claimed that merit is unfair and an ‘upper-caste narrative’.
“There is a completely flawed concept of merit where I confuse my social position with my capability. Because for anybody to say that our education system or our bureaucratic entry systems are fair to Dalits and OBCs and tribals, that is just a complete fallacy. Because they are culturally not connected to these communities at all. So the entire narrative is an upper-caste narrative. This notion of merit is actually itself an unfair idea,” Rahul Gandhi was heard saying.
He also claimed that electoral representation of SCs, STs and OBCs meant nothing as the ‘real power’ lay with the bureaucracy, corporations and intelligence agencies.
Rahul Gandhi claims BJP, and RSS are eliminating Dalit history without evidence
Without furnishing any evidence, the Gandhi scion alleged that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) have been eliminating the history of SCs, STs and the OBCs.
“There is another bigger problem. The history of the Dalits, the history of the OBCs, the histories of tribals have just been eliminated. I never heard of a Dalit narrative. And then at the same time, there is this idea that is being pushed by the RSS and the BJP – it is basically to destroy their history, to destroy the history of the Dalits and the Adivasis and the OBCs,” he brazened out.
Rahul Gandhi suggested a deep-seated ‘conspiracy’ behind the supposed ‘non-existence’ of Dalit history in mainstream Indian education.
“No, but that history is not available to, through the main education system. An upper-caste boy or girl who is going to a school in New Delhi has no idea about this. You know, that’s how they can say things like, oh, I don’t see any caste discrimination.Obviously, you don’t see caste discrimination,” he was head saying.
Rahul Gandhi misleads about caste census through emotional appeal
During the course of the podcast, Rahul Gandhi was seen making an emotional appeal (bereft of logic and rationale) to convince his audience about the ‘merits’ of the caste census. He suggested that a ‘caste census’ would magically expose the ‘truth of discrimination’.
“But I think the idea that truth of discrimination in India should be known to everybody. This is a powerful idea. Why are people so much against the caste census? Like what don’t they like about it? What is it that creates this reaction?” he claimed.
The Gandhi dynast insinuated that the incumbent BJP govt had somehow captured the political, education, healthcare and bureaucratic system and thus prevented the SC, ST and OBCs from knowing the ‘actual truth’.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the caste census is a fundamental exercise and those not supporting it are somehow ‘anti-national.’
“I think not supporting the caste census is actually anti-national. Because what you are saying is that we are not ready to accept the truth of what is going on in our country. So I’m quite wedded to the idea of the caste census,” the Congress leader alleged.
He further recommended ‘deepening’ the exercise to further divide the nation along caste lines and make the exercise more ‘sophisticated.’
Rahul Gandhi and his anti-national agenda
After having failed to counter the BJP on issues of development, national security and cultural preservation, Congress has taken it upon itself to divide the Hindu community by exploiting existing fault lines.
Besides promising a caste census, the party has also assured to lift the upper limit on reservation in its 2024 election manifesto.
Rahul Gandhi himself has been campaigning with the slogan ‘Jitni abadi utna haq,‘ hinting at proportional representation in government jobs, admission to colleges and more.
This has the potential to further polarise and divide the society. Not only that, once such demands are fulfilled, it can extend to electoral politics.
Given that India’s demography is changing fast, it may not be long until certain religious communities like Muslims to demand fixed representation based on their population size. It would then be akin to setting the nation on the path to disaster.
The nefarious objective behind the caste census is to divide the Hindus into castes and unify the Muslims, rendering the Hindu majority helpless and weak in the face of Muslim vote bank consolidation.
The Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, thereby hopes to gain electorally through such a strategy and return to the corridors of power.
While the drastic implications of the exercise of ‘caste census’ may look far-fetched today, it will not take long for the country to plunge into chaos when dangerous ideas of proportional representation manifest in reality.
OpIndia had previously reported how the concept of ‘proportional representation’ turned out to be a disaster for a peaceful country like Lebanon and why India must be wary of it.
