Linking incidents of lynching to lack of opportunities, Rahul said that the reason behind the violent occurrences is the anger and dissatisfaction among people resulting from widespread unemployment in the country. He said that the poor were not being given equal opportunities.
BJP's counter attack:
BJP on Thursday slammed Congress President Rahul Gandhi for making a "bad joke" of the country in Germany. In a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Rahul has ridiculed India on an international paltform. He said that Gandhi giving justification for ISIS is horrific and worrisome.
Patra said that it was a veiled threat from Rahul that if Modiji doesn’t “give vision” to minorities, then soon someone else would give the vision. Rahul Gandhi has made a mockery of the minorities of the country.
"Rahul Gandhi said that if Modi Ji fails to give people a vision in the 21st century, it will lead to a dangerous situation, for 70 years your party could not give vision to the country, what about that?" Patra said.
Here are the major points from Rahul Gandhi's address:
Cites ISIS example
He cited the example of Islamic State terrorist group to establish how exclusion of a large number of people from the development process could lead to the creation of insurgent groups anywhere in the world.
In an address that continued for more than an hour, Gandhi said that after the US attacked Iraq in 2003, they brought a law that stopped a particular tribe in Iraq from getting jobs in the government and in the army. This resulted in a large number of people joining insurgency "that fought the US and caused massive casualties". He said, "It didn't end there. That insurgence slowly entered empty spaces. It entered the empty space in Iraq and in Syria and then it connected with...a horrific idea called ISIS," Gandhi said.
Emphasising on tribal, dalits and minorities, Gandhi alleged exclusion of these groups from the development process and said that it could take a dangerous turn.
"If you don't give people a vision in the 21st century, somebody else will. And that's the real risk of excluding a large number of people from the development process," Gandhi said.
Over demonetisation and GST
Apart from joblessness, Gandhi said that the incidents of lynching were result of the anger emanating from demonetisation aftermath and poorly implemented Goods and Services Tax.
Saying that the transformation taking place across the world requires certain protections for the common people, Gandhi accused the BJP dispensation of taking away these protections and hitting the informal economy through demonetisation and GST.
Outlining his idea of India's foreign policy, Gandhi said there are different visions in the world, including that of the US, China and India. He said India's role should be to balance the US and China - much like Europe's role.
On death of father Rajiv Gandhi
The Congress chief said he has suffered violence and he can say that there is only one way to let it go - that is forgiveness.
"And for forgiveness, you need to understand where it is coming from. My father was killed by a terrorist in 1991. When the terrorist died a few years later, I wasn't happy. I saw myself in his children."
On the famous hug to PM Modi:
The Congress chief also mentioned his famous hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament. He said some of his own party members did not like it when he hugged Modi during a debate on no-confidence motion against the government in July.
He said Modi was making "hateful remarks" about him but he showed affection. The basic idea is - it is foolish to respond hate with hate, as doing so would not solve any problem, Gandhi said.
Gandhi also said he disagreed with the suggestion that India was the worst place for women in the world but admitted the rising incidents of violence against women in the country.
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