Indian opposition leader’s US speech triggers row at home

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Congress, India’s main opposition party, has triggered a political storm by suggesting that his country’s minority Sikh community may be facing persecution there.

Addressing the Indian diaspora in Virginia as part of his US tour, Gandhi launched a verbal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and on the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is ideologically affiliated with it.

Criticizing both, Gandhi claimed they “misunderstand” India’s diversity. “India at heart is a union of languages, traditions, histories, religions. Everything,” he stated. He also accused the RSS of viewing certain religions, languages, and communities as inferior and suggested that, politically, this is what his party opposes.

In a separate comment directed at a Sikh individual in the crowd, Gandhi said, “The fight is about whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear his turban in India.” This remark, which appeared to address religious freedom in the South Asian country – a point continuously raised by Washington – triggered backlash from BJP leaders, including Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who is a Sikh.

If Sikhs ever felt “insecurity and an existential threat” in India, it was during Rahul Gandhi’s family’s time in power, Puri said at a press conference in New Delhi, according to the Indian Express. He was referring to the crackdowns on Sikh separatists in the 1980s when Indira Gandhi, Rahul’s grandmother, was prime minister.

“In 1984, there was a pogrom against the Sikh community,” Puri claimed, adding that “over 3,000 innocent people were killed.” He added that the Modi-led government has “gone out of its way” to address issues and concerns within the Sikh community.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, another minister in Modi’s cabinet, stated that Gandhi’s remarks tarnished India’s image abroad.

Meanwhile, the US and Canada are investigating allegations that New Delhi was involved in an assassination and in another attempt on their soil. While India has denied the allegations from Ottawa, the Foreign Ministry has established a special committee to monitor the US case.

Last year, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urged the Biden administration to designate India as a “country of particular concern.” New Delhi has rejected these claims.

Gandhi also criticized Modi during a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, implying that the Indian leader had been “blown apart” by the opposition’s success in the recent general election. This, according to Gandhi, explains why Modi made claims of his “divine nature” earlier this year. “Internally, we saw it as a psychological collapse,” the opposition leader said.

Although Modi won a third term as prime minister this year, his party, the BJP, failed to secure an absolute majority in the 545-member Lower House and had to rely on regional allies to form a government. The Congress Party, which leads the opposition bloc, made significant gains, winning nearly 100 seats.