‘Opposition Will Stop Onslaught On Our Freedom’: Rahul Gandhi Alleges Increased 'Violence, Discrimination'
Rahul Gandhi on Friday vowed that the Opposition will stop this "onslaught on our freedom."
There is a full-scale assault on India's democratic institutions, and the European Union (EU) is concerned about this attempt to "stifle" the country's democratic structures, Rahul Gandhi said on Friday, vowing that the Opposition will stop this "onslaught on our freedom," news agency PTI reported. The Congress leader, who is on a European visit that begins in Belgium, addressed a wide variety of issues during a media conference in Brussels, including the Russia-Ukraine crisis, saying that the Opposition supports the government's present stance on the matter.
Gandhi praised India's hosting of the G20 Summit, calling it a "good thing," and citing the government's failure to invite Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge to the event as evidence of a "type of thinking" that "did not value the leader of 60% of India's population."
“There is an increase in discrimination and in violence in India and there is a full-scale assault on the democratic institutions of our country, that everybody knows,” Gandhi was quoted by PTI in its report.
When questioned about the response of the European parliamentarians to some of these issues, Rahul Gandhi stated: “They were very concerned and they felt that there is an attempt to stifle the democratic structures of India, for sure. I mean, they were very, very clear with us."
“The democratic fight and the fight for democracy in India is ours. And it's our responsibility, and we will take care of it. We will make sure that the sort of onslaught on our institutions and our freedom is stopped. The Opposition will make sure it happens,” he added.
He stated that he had "fruitful" discussions with MPs and diaspora members at the start of his European tour, which is part of a larger commitment to go across the world with the Opposition's agenda and have an open exchange of views.
“We discussed with the parliamentarians across the board the relationship between India and Europe, the changing globe, transition into a new sort of energy paradigm, into a new mobility paradigm… we were giving them a sense of the type of challenges India's facing – economic challenges, other challenges. The general sort of attack on the democratic institutions,” he said.
“Internally in India it's been commented on and globally it's been commented on. And, of course, minorities are under attack but so are many other communities – Dalit communities, tribal communities, lower caste communities are also under attack. There is an attempt to change the nature of our country,” he added.
Regarding the issues raised during his discussions with members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Gandhi stated that the violence in Manipur was one of the topics raised from the standpoint of "democratic rights, harmony, and peace between people," and added that when countries "deal with India these days, there are other considerations that are also important."
“The G20 is an important conversation and it's a good thing that India is hosting it. Of course, there are issues in India that we raise (internally),” he said.
“India is a large country and by nature of being a large country, it will have relationships with many other countries. So that's a normal thing. India has every right to have a relationship with whoever it wants… the Opposition, by and large, would agree with India's current position on the [Russia-Ukraine] conflict. We have a relationship with Russia and I don't think the Opposition would have a different view than what the government is currently proposing,” he said in response to a question.
In answer to a query on Kashmir, the Congress leader emphasised that the territory was a "integral part of India" and that it was not anyone's business to intervene.
“The general discussion we're having here, that democratic institutions, democratic structures need to be protected in India and the voice of the people needs to be defended and protected, that goes for every single part of India, including Kashmir,” he said.
When asked about the declining role of the public sector in India, Gandhi stated that the Congress did not oppose the private sector, but rather a monopolistic goal.
He said: "Where we draw the line is where one or two people start to financially control the whole country. And, where one or two people or three people are running everything. That's where our problem begins. There's another element to this, which is that government policies in India have systematically attacked the backbone of our employment system."
"So, it's a two-pronged attack that the government is carrying out: number one, impose huge transaction costs on all small and medium businesses and ensure that you build two or three monopolies/monopolists who control pretty much everything... our problem with Mr Adani is he controls the ports, he controls the airports, he controls agriculture, he controls grain silos, he has real estate, I mean he's everywhere and dominant everywhere," he said.
"We think that's counterproductive for the country. On one side, they are pushing this very monopolistic capital and on the other side, they are devastating the small and medium people from where we get jobs; that's why we are having an unemployment crisis," Gandhi said.
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