Rahul Gandhi Sikh Remark Row: Union Minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday lashed out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, over his recent assertion on the condition of Sikhs in India during a visit to the US.
"I have been wearing 'Turban' and 'Kada' for more than the last 60 years and I have never come across anyone who would say that they have any difficulty in wearing a 'Turban' and a 'Kada'," Puri said. Referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he stated, "It was in his (Rahul Gandhi's) father's time when a pogrom was carried out. Our 3,000 people were killed... It's not like he is unaware of all this."
The BJP leader also lauded the successive governments under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he described as going "out of its way to address the issues and concerns of the Sikh community". "I don't think Sikhs have felt safer and more honoured than any time in our history after 1947," Puri stated.
He also claimed that the remark in question had the potential to set a "rather dangerous narrative". "There are some sensitive issues, which involve our national identity, unity, strength in unity in diversity. When he (Rahul Gandhi) speaks on such topics, it seems like he is trying to set a new, rather dangerous narrative on those things," Puri said.
Addressing the Indian diaspora at an event in Washington DC on Monday, Rahul Gandhi had said, "First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. Fight is not about politics. It is superficial." He then proceeded to ask a member of the audience his name.
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After the man responded, the Congress leaders said, "The fight is about whether...he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India. Or he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a kada in India. Or a Sikh is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That's what the fight is about and not just for him, for all religions."
(With inputs from ANI)