‘You can’t insult Hindus’: Priyanka Gandhi defends her brother in the face of BJP attack | Latest news from India

Reacting to her brother’s remark in the Lok Sabha that sparked a row, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said Rahul Gandhi cannot insult Hindus. She said the opposition leader was talking about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, not Hindus in general.

“He cannot insult Hindus. He made that very clear. He spoke about the BJP, he spoke about the BJP leaders,” Priyanka Gandhi said as she left the Parliament building with her mother Sonia Gandhi.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi today said in the Lok Sabha that those who call themselves Hindus were inflicting “violence and hatred” round the clock, sparking massive protests by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs.

“All religions and all our great men talk of non-violence and fearlessness, but those who call themselves Hindus talk only of violence, hatred and falsehood… Aap Hindu ho hi nahi (They are not Hindus),” he said.

The Congress leader also held up a picture of Lord Shiva and said his message was fearlessness and non-violence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood up and contradicted his remark.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi against Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha over ‘Hindu’ remark; Amit Shah demands apology

“To label the entire Hindu community as violent is a very serious matter,” said Prime Minister Modi.

Home Minister Amit Shah demanded an apology from the Congress leader.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju sharply criticised Gandhi for this remark.

“I condemn Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji for calling Hindus a violent, hateful and deceitful community. He cannot insult Hindus without reason,” he wrote on X.

BJP leader G Kishan Reddy claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s speech was directed against Hindus.

“Rahul Gandhi and the Congress are in a depression. He has completely lied. We should sympathise with Rahul Gandhi because for the last 20 years he wanted to become the Prime Minister but the public did not give him a chance to become the Prime Minister. That is why he made a speech in Parliament against Hindus. He said Hindus are violent. The people of the country should understand this. As long as there are Hindus in the country, there will be no violence in the country,” he said.

BJP MP Tejashvi Surya called Rahul Gandhi’s speech “shameful.”

“The level of hostility Rahul Gandhi feels towards Hindus is unbelievable. In his maiden speech as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, he insulted all Hindus by calling them perpetrators of violence. Shameful,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Congressman Rajeev Shukla said that Rahul Gandhi had not said anything about Hindus.

“He said that BJP people call themselves Hindus but they do not follow Hinduism. We are all Hindus, we follow Hinduism. What Lord Shiv said, we follow and you do not follow. You use violence, you spread hatred. That is what he is telling BJP people,” he said.

With contributions from PTI, ANI