Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Monday triggered an uproar in the Lok Sabha with his remark targeting the BJP, saying those who call themselves Hindus “only talk about violence, hatred and lies”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interrupting Gandhi’s speech, said painting the entire Hindu community as violent was a serious matter.
After the exchange amid a war of words between the Opposition and the ruling NDA’s MPs, union minister Amit Shah demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi displayed a poster depicting Lord Shiva in the House.
“Abhayamudra is the symbol of the Congress…The Abhayamudra is the gesture of fearlessness, the gesture of reassurance and safety, which dispels fear and accords divine protection and bliss in Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism and other Indian religions… All our great men have spoken about non-violence and finishing fear… But, those who call themselves Hindu only talk about violence, hatred, untruth…you are not Hindus,” Gandhi said in the House.
“The PM says that (Mahatma) Gandhi is dead and Gandhi was revived by a movie. Can you understand the ignorance?… Another thing I noticed is that it is not just one religion that talks about courage. All religions talk about courage,” he added.
Amid the din, PM Modi stood up and objected to Gandhi’s remark. “Calling the entire Hindu community violent is a very serious matter,” he said.
Union minister Amit Shah slammed Rahul Gandhi’s remark, demanding an apology.
“The Leader of the Opposition has categorically said that those who call themselves Hindu talk of violence and do violence. He doesn’t know that crores of people proudly call themselves Hindu. Connecting violence with any religion is wrong. He should apologise,” he said.
With inputs from ANI