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Addressing an interactive session at the prestigious Lee Kaun Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore on Thursday, 8 March, Congress President Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the BJP, saying that there is a general atmosphere of "intimidation" in India where there is politics of dividing people and using their anger to win elections.
The school where Gandhi delivered his address is part of the National University of Singapore.
There is a particular type of politics that’s not only happening in India but in a number of places – of dividing people, of using (their) anger to win elections and that’s what is happening in India.Rahul Gandhi, as quoted by PTI
‘Don’t Like an India Where People are Being Beaten up For What They Eat, Say and Wear’
Gandhi added that he is proud about the idea of plurality in India. “It’s the idea that people in India can say anything they want, do anything they want and they won’t face any problem and that is being challenged,” he was quoted as saying.
During the address, Gandhi also accused the BJP and the RSS of indulging in anti-minorities politics. “Mahatma Gandhi died protecting minorities. We, the Congress party, have been protecting minority people for the last 70 years. We don’t like (an) India where people are persecuted, where people are being beaten up for what they eat, what they say and what they wear,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi on Judge Loya Death Case, SC Judges Press Conference
Commenting on the recent controversy of four senior Supreme Court judges holding an unprecedented press conference, Gandhi said, "They actually went out to the press and said, listen we need the people to hear our voice because there is something fundamentally wrong."
Making an apparent reference to the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, Gandhi said:
I don’t know if you know the details about the comments they (judges) were making but the centre of the issue is the case of (BJP president) Amit Shah. So, there is a challenge to the institutional structure of our country.Rahul Gandhi, as quoted by PTI
Notably, Shah was discharged as an accused in the cased.
Three-Day Visit
Gandhi is on a three-day trip to Singapore and Malaysia during which he is scheduled to meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak, besides interacting with the Indian community, and business leaders, reports PTI.
Earlier on 8 March, Gandhi paid a tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at the INA memorial in Singapore.
He also held a meeting with Indian entrepreneurs in Singapore.
(With inputs from PTI)
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