'Praised China's BRI That Goes Through PoK': Hardeep Puri Slams Rahul Gandhi Over UK Speech

Union Minister Hardeep Puri said, "If any individual goes outside the country he has the freedom to speak but along with that freedom comes what I call the need to have a sense of responsibility."

New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on India's democracy during his recent visit to the United Kingdom. Targeting the Gandhi Scion, Puri said that every individual who goes outside the country has the freedom to speak their mind but "along with freedom comes a sense of responsibility".

 

He further took a potshot at him for hailing China's Belt & Road Initiative as a visionary step. "Does he know that China's BRI goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?" he said.

 

Speaking to the media this morning, Puri said "If any individual goes outside the country he has the freedom to speak but along with that freedom comes what I call the need to have a sense of responsibility."

 

"We are the world's oldest democracy but Mr. Gandhi goes to the UK and says Indian democracy is facing an attack on the basic structure," he added.

Puri questioned Rahul Gandhi's objective behind his statement and asked him to apologize categorically.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) should apologise categorically, unequivocally. He also said the core of BJP ideology is cowardice. I don't know what he is trying to say. Today India is the 5th largest economy and soon we will be 4th largest economy," Puri said.

 

He also reminded Congress that it was under the Indira Gandhi regime that civil liberties were curbed.

 

"His grandmother invoked Article 356 50 times to suspend & dismiss legitimately elected state governments," he said.

 

Gandhi is in the crosshairs of the ruling BJP for several comments he made in the UK. While addressing a lecture at Cambridge University in London recently, the Congress leader said, "Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy."