Rahul takes on Sangh Parivar

BJP-RSS branding protesters as traitors, alleges Congress vice-president in Assam rallies

Our Bureau

Titabor/ Gohpur/ Bihpuria, Feb 15: Launching a scathing attack on the RashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh (RSS) and the BharatiyaJata Party (BJP), Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged the two organizations have taken it upon themselves to define the ‘tiolist’ and the ‘anti-tiol’.

“It seems only the BJP and the RSS have the license to say who is a traitor and who is a patriot,” he said while addressing a public rally at Titabor in Jorhat district.

Gandhi arrived in Assam on Monday morning and addressed party workers in two meetings at Gohpur and Bihpuria before addressing the public rally at Titabor, home constituency of Chief Minister TarunGogoi.

“I went to Hyderabad a few days back. A Dalit student, RohithVemula, committed suicide there. He did nothing wrong. He only said whatever he had in his heart. The ministers of the government of India ordered the university that he is a traitor and must be banned from the university, forcing him to commit suicide,” Gandhi said.

“In Indian Institutes of Technology, a youth stands up and speaks for the Dalits; the government of India says he is a traitor. The president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union spoke about the poor people, weak people, progress, Adivasis and development etc. What does the government of India say? It terms him a traitor.”

The Congress leader said that whenever the youth speak out against the ideologies of the RSS and the BJP, they are termed traitors. “It seems only the RSS has opened a shop of patriotism; only they can say who is a patriot or a traitor. They (RSS and BJP) are the people who fired three bullets at Mahatma Gandhiji. These are the people who bowed their heads before the British. Now they ask us to take lessons of ‘deshbhakti’ (patriotism)?” Gandhi said.

“This is not fair. I want to tell them that more they pressurize the youth, more the youth will stand up against them and challenge them,” he said.

“What is the meaning of Independence if the RSS can take away the voice of the youth...they have only one agenda — they want power.”

The Congress vice-president also used the occasion to reach out to the people in poll-bound Assam, saying the people associated with the RSS come to the State and voice opinion that there should be one ideology in the entire tion.

“If there is one ideology then what will happen to the diversity of this country? There are different ideologies in every state and that should be respected,” said Gandhi.

 “They said that the BJP would come in full majority in Bihar. They had to taste defeat and rendraModiji never visited the State after the elections. They ran away from there because the people of Bihar told them that the RSS will not rule the State. The people of Bihar will rule the State,” he added.

Gandhi also praised the schemes and initiatives taken by the Congress government in the State, saying they have contributed immensely in developing the State.

“This is the difference between the Congress and the BJP. While we work for peace, the BJP wants to spread violence and destroy the brotherhood between communities.They want to make Hindus fight Muslims. You can see Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Harya... wherever they (BJP) went, they triggered clashes between communities by spreading hatred,” he said.

The Congress vice-president alsoalleged Modi only gives assurances but never fulfills them.

“I remember before the 2014 LokSabha polls, Modiji came to Assam and assured that Rs15 lakh will be deposited in each Indian’s bank account. Is there anyone sitting here today who has received Rs15 lakh in his account?” he asked.

He said the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre accorded special category state status to Assam.

“Crores of rupees were sent to Assam under the special category for its development, which benefitted its people. However, when Modiji became Prime Minister, the first thing he did was to withdraw the special category status from Assam. He not only failed to fulfill his promises but stched away what the Congress government had given to Assam,” Gandhi said.