—– ‘You are anti-national’: In Parliament, Rahul Gandhi says PM ‘murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur’
DM Monitoring
New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech during the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, August 9, and accused the prime minister of being “anti-national” and “murdering India in Manipur.”
Manipur has been in the grip of ethnic violence since May 3. Over 150 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced.
In his first speech – of about 30 minutes – after being reinstated as a Lok Sabha MP after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a 2019 defamation case, Gandhi said that Modi had failed to listen to the voice of India.
“Some people say that this country has different languages, some say this is a land, some say this is a dharma [religion or way of life], some say this is sona chandi [gold and silver]. But the truth my friends is that this country is one voice. This country is the voice of the people, their pain and their struggle,” he said.
“If we have to listen to their voices then we have to let go of our arrogance. When we do that we will be able to hear the voice of the people, and we have to [do so] by leaving behind arrogance and hatred.”
Gandhi said that Modi has not visited Manipur because he does not consider Manipur a part of India.
“Some days back I visited Manipur. Our prime minister did not go. He still has not gone. Because for him Manipur is not a part of India. You have divided Manipur into two halves. You have destroyed Manipur,” he said.
“As I said in the beginning of my speech that India is a voice. It is the voice of our people, the voice of from the hearts of our people.
“You have murdered that voice. This means you have murdered Bharat Mata in Manipur. By killing the people of Manipur you have murdered India.
“You are anti-national, you cannot be desh bhakts [patriotic], you cannot be desh premi. You have murdered India,” he said.
Gandhi added that this is why Modi has not visited Manipur.
“This is why PM does not go to Manipur because you have murdered India in Manipur.
“You are not the protectors of Bharat Mata, you are the murderers of Bharat Mata,” he said. Loud protests broke out from the treasury benches, a frequent occurrence while Gandhi spoke. Congress MPs could be heard telling Speaker Om Birla that they too will start interrupting when BJP MPs speak.
Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has tweeted that Sansad TV showed Gandhi for less than 40% of his speech.
Meanwhile, amid the protests, Speaker Birla said that Gandhi should be cautious while speaking about Bharat Mata.
“Bharat Mata is our mother. I believe we should be cautious while using such words,” said Birla.
However, Gandhi continued and said: “You have killed my mother in Manipur. One of my mothers is sitting here and the other has been murdered in Manipur.
“Until you end the violence (in Manipur) you are killing my mother,” he said.
Gandhi said that if the government wants, it can use the Indian Army to end the violence in a day.
“But you are not using the army. Because you want to murder India. If Modi does not listen to the voice of the people of India whose voice does he listen to?
Gandhi said that like Ravan listened only to two people, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran, Modi also listens to only two people.
“Ravan would listen to two people-Meghnad and Kumbhkaran. Similarly Modi also listens to only Amit Shah and [billionaire businessman Gautam] Adani. Hanuman did not set fire to Lanka. It was set on fire by Ravan’s arrogance.
“You are putting kerosine on the entire country and then setting it on fire. You did it in Manipur now you are doing it in Haryana,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Gandhi had said that he would not bring up Adani, as his speech on the businessman earlier had “hurt” the government including Birla.
Manipur
Narrating his experience of meeting women in relief camps in Manipur, Gandhi said he wanted to give two examples.
“One woman told me that she had a young son who was shot dead in front of her eyes. The whole night she lay next to his dead body. She left her house and all her belongings.
“I asked her, ‘You must have taken something with you?’ She told me she only had the clothes she was wearing and showed me a photograph. ‘That’s all I have’.”
Referring to another woman he met at a second relief camp Gandhi said that when he asked her about her experience, “she started shaking and fainted in front of me.”
As opposition members raised slogans and protested against Gandhi’s words, he said that these are but two examples.
“These are just two examples. They have murdered India in Manipur. They have murdered India,” he said.
This led to loud protests from the treasury benches. Union minister Kiren Rijiju rose from his seat and demanded an apology from Gandhi.
“Whatever is happening in Manipur is because of 60 years of Congress rule. They are responsible for what is happening in Manipur,” he said.
The debate on the no-confidence motion moved by the Congress on July 26 started on Tuesday, August 8. On Tuesday members of the INDIA alliance said that the motion had to be moved to make Modi speak in the house on the ongoing violence in Manipur.
Modi however remained absent on Tuesday and is likely to speak on Thursday, August 10.
While Modi did speak last month outside parliament – condemning a video that went viral showing two Kuki women being paraded naked – he has failed to speak on the overall law and order situation in the state.
This is the second no-confidence motion being faced by the Modi government after one in 2018.
