Congress President Rahul Gandhi gave an interview with Ravish Kumar broadcast on 11 May 2019. Ravish did not ask him difficult questions such as on Rahul’s lies, how could Rahul say that Modi Government brought a law which allows shooting of tribals, or the fake Rs 15 lakh promise lie, or the lie that Modi ‘gave’ Ambani Rs 30,000 crores, or the lie that industrialists’ loans worth lakhs of crores (ranging from 1.1 lakh to 5.5 lakh crores on different occasions!) were ‘waived off’, etc.
Of course, no one could have imagined Ravish taking such an interview, asking such real questions. A very big lie said by Rahul Gandhi in that interview was: “We will protect everyone, if even RSS members say that they are being attacked, we will help them too”.
What a claim! Let us see this on facts of the past incidents. These incidents reveal the truth about the nature of not only the Congress, what it thinks about the threat to the life of Narendra Modi, and the lives of Hindus in general, and activists of the Hindu Right in particular. In reality, many of the Congress leaders are glad when the Hindu activists are killed or attacked. The Left-liberals want the silence of the Right-wing Hindus, preferably over their dead body.
The Ishrat Jahan case is one pertinent incident. Instead of showing any concern over the attempted attack on Narendra Modi, former Gujarat CM and then Congress leader S S Vaghela and Congress Party had directly accused Narendra Modi of stage-managing the encounter and calling Ishrat Jahan as ‘innocent’ in June 2004 before the confession of the Lashkar-e-Toiba on 14 July 2004, and even later.
In 2010 terrorist David Headley whose real name was Dawood Gilani and who was involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai also admitted that Ishrat was Lashkar’s terrorist. It was reported in June 2013 that the Congress deleted David Headley’s confession!
Let us see how Congress & its ecosystem reacted last year on a plot by Maoists to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As per reports on 8 June 2018, a letter accessed by the Pune Police revealed a plot by Maoists i.e. Communist radicals to assassinate PM Narendra Modi in a “Rajiv Gandhi type incident” by “targeting road shows”. The Pune Police arrested 5 persons in this regard.
After this, as expected, there was an attempt to deny any such threat to Modi, attempt to pooh-pooh the claims of the Pune Police by the usual suspects- i.e. the anti-BJP politicians and the ‘secularist’ intellectuals. ‘Secularist’ journalists Swati Chaturvedi and Rohini Singh went to a ridiculous level to malign the NSA Ajit Doval. Leaders of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party like Sanjay Nirupam took the usual path of pooh-poohing this threat.
In Oct 2013, bomb blasts at Narendra Modi’s rally in Patna by Indian Mujahiddin terrorists killed 6 and injured 85. BJP rightly condemned the then Central Govt of UPA as well the then Bihar Government of JD-U who was then not a part of NDA for security lapses.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi went on to say that any probe into the blasts should also find out if any political parties were behind the blasts for personal benefits [implying that BJP could have done those blasts- what third class charges!].
Congress leader and then Rahul Gandhi’s Guru Digvijay Singh too tried to imply that the blasts could have been done by the BJP & did not directly blame Islamic radicals. Expressing surprise over the “coincidence” of bomb blasts and Modi’s rally, Congress’s Digvijay Singh called for a thorough probe, noting that it could otherwise create a “perfect setting for Modi’s launch in Bihar”. Digvijay also gave a reckless statement that the ‘BJP gains from such blasts & riots’ as if it did them. It was just one of the many such reckless statements given and lies spread by Digvijay Singh. It was no ‘coincidence’ that there were blasts and Modi’s rally, the blasts were TARGETED at the rally.
In 2008, there were bombs planted in Surat just 2-3 days after the Ahmedabad blasts of 26 July 2008. And on one occasion, Modi walked past a live bomb in Surat on 31 July 2008. SIMI activist Abu Basher was the mastermind of the Ahmedabad blasts & most likely also involved in these Surat bomb planting and he was arrested within 3 weeks, and he confessed his involvement. MPs of the Congress, SP & BSP visited the house of Basher in his native place of Azamgarh, for which they were condemned by the BJP. Clerics like Delhi’s Jama Masjid’s Shahi Imam Bukhari and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi defended Basher. The Congress of course did not condemn either Bukhari or Azmi for such acts.
After the deadly Coimbatore blasts of 14 February 1998 which killed 58 and nearly killed L K Advani, the then Congress President Sitaram Kesri accused RSS of carrying out the blasts. After this, there were reports that he denied having made the allegation. But he then denied having denied the allegation and stuck to his charge. Even these blasts nearly killing Advani who had a miraculous escape as his flight was delayed by over 90 minutes due to bad weather, and killing 58 people, many of whom were BJP workers were not enough to melt the heart of the Congress.
Most political leaders and parties expressed shock and revulsion over the blasts. The then President K.R. Narayanan and Prime Minister I.K. Gujral expressed shock over the bombings, DMK president and TN Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said the blasts were part of a conspiracy by foreign forces to disrupt the electoral process. The then Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta [of CPI] and CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet too said that they suspected a foreign hand behind the blasts. Gupta blamed the ISI for attempting to disrupt the election process in India. But the Congress stooped to an unimaginably low level even in this case, blaming RSS.
DMK Government of TN at least banned the Al-Umma and took action after the blasts, but the Congress continued to defend the terrorists even after the blasts and instead accused RSS of carrying out the blasts.
The Islamic radicals who carried out these bomb blasts belonged to the Al-Umma and the TMMK. After these blasts, the Congress actually allied with Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagham (TMMK)– a party involved in these Coimbatore blasts after the blasts- in 2004, 2006 etc. The TMMK used to contest polls directly earlier. In Feb 2009 it formed a separate political wing called Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK).
In 2006 Congress-DMK Government in TN released Islamic radicals, withdrew cases against them and in 2009 released the Coimbatore blasts convicts pre-maturely. Congress also passed a resolution demanding release of Abdul Madani, accused in the Coimbatore blasts in 2006, about than 1 and half years before his acquittal in this case in 2007.
So much for ‘protection’ to RSS members being attacked, it was protection to terrorists attacking BJP leaders. By alleging that RSS did the 1998 Coimbatore blasts, Congress also helped Pakistan, which got a chance to allege the same, and defend the Islamic radicals, as well as the charge that Pakistan was helping such terrorists.
Congress candidate Imran Masud had himself threatened to chop Modi into pieces in 2014. He was given ticket again in 2019, so much for ‘protecting’ BJP-RSS people.
There have been massive killings of Hindu activists by Islamic/Communist radicals. Rahul Gandhi knows very well how much the RSS workers suffered due to attacks by Communists in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura during the days of the Left dominance there, and even today to a lesser extent in Kerala. And the Congress Party instead allied with the Left Front at the Centre from 2004-2008, and also in West Bengal in the 2016 Assembly polls, instead of defending RSS workers from these attacks!
The RSS office was bombed in Chennai on 8 August 1993 killing 14 by Islamic radicals. Out of these 14, six were full-time pracharaks, very important in RSS, not just ordinary workers. And out of these six, 5 were senior pracharaks. This resulted in a crackdown on Islamic fundamentalist organizations, especially the Al-Umma by the AIADMK Government. But under the DMK rule, 16 Al-Umma men who had been detained under TADA for their alleged involvement in this RSS office blast of August 1993 and for possession of weapons were released on bail in January 1997 when the DMK Government prosecutor did not oppose their bail. The Congress did not even issue a token condemnation of this act of the DMK, when DMK was not its alliance partner.
In Godhra 59 Ram sewaks including 25 women and15 children [including babies and toddlers] were killed, roasted to coal by 2000 Muslims on 27 February 2002, far from condemning the killers, Rahul’s Congress stooped to an unimaginably low level.
Within 3 days of Godhra, the Gujarat Congress leadership in Gandhinagar prepared a report that claimed that the incident was ‘provoked’ by kar sevaks who were shouting slogans from Ratnam to Godhra!
The late Amarsinh Chaudhary, the then Gujarat state chief of the Congress Party, came on TV on 27 February 2002 and blamed Ramsevaks for ‘provoking’ the Godhra carnage, alleging that they did not pay for tea and snacks. India Today (11 March 2002, covering events till 28 Feb 2002) said: “…While former chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary condemned the attack on the train he also blamed the Ram sevaks for provoking it. ”
In January 2005, the then Railway Minister Lalu Yadav got a Banerjee committee to give a fake report that the Godhra carnage was an ‘accident’. Everyone knows the truth and in February 2003 there was a JUDICIAL CONFESSION by one Muslim accused of this too. If it had been an accident, the Ram sewaks would have ran out of the train and saved their lives, it was a mob of Muslims who did not allow them to run away and burnt them to coal. Congress [along with CPI and CPM , RJD, SP etc] staunchly defended the Banerjee report and condemned BJP for opposing it with Congress spokesmen Abhishek Singhvi and Anand Sharma in the forefront!
The Congress fully defended the final Banerjee report in March 2006 which was same as the interim report and instead demanded the immediate resignation of the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and condemned Modi!
When the Nanavati Commission, which was a full-fledged Commission of Inquiry having all powers under the Commission of Inquiry Act, gave its report in September 2008 that Godhra was a well-planned act done by Muslims, UPA allies like Congress, RJD and Left parties CPI, CPM again refused to accept it, and instead condemned the report.
In Feb 2011 the trial court convicted 31 Muslims and called the Godhra carnage as a pre-planned act. Even after this, the Congress refused to accept Muslims did Godhra.
In July 2002, the Congress officially accused the Sangh Parivar of having burnt the train in Godhra. This is like accusing Rahul Gandhi for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, so third class is the charge!
In 1948 after Gandhiji’s murder RSS men were ruthlessly crushed by the Nehru Government. In fact, one day before Gandhiji’s murder, on 29th Jan 1948 Nehru was reported to have said that: “He will crush the RSS”. The so-called Gandhians, who claim to present the other cheek when slapped on one, horribly attacked the RSS workers, sympathizers and specially Marathi Brahmins, even though they were all innocent, whereas as per Gandhian philosophy they should have presented their cheek even if they had been guilty. No court ever found the RSS responsible in any way, and Nathuram Godse himself made it clear several times that he and he alone was responsible for Gandhiji’s killing. The Justice Kapur Commission appointed by the Congress Government also said that RSS could not be held responsible. But, without any evidence, houses of RSS men were burnt, looted and cadres killed also. As just one example, the press of the Marathi newspaper Tarun Bharat was burnt.
Never in the past 70 years has the Congress ever apologized for these acts of 1948.
Far from defending RSS men when they were attacked, the Congress has itself attacked RSS men in 1948, and defended the HEINOUS KILLERS and other attackers who attacked members of RSS, BJP, VHP and other Hindu activists in the past. And Rahul Gandhi has the audacity to make such a fake claim of ‘defending RSS people if attacked’, without answering the above incidents ever. And of course, it would have been a miracle if the interviewer Ravish Kumar had cross-questioned Rahul’s claim with the above facts, instead of taking it at face value!
(The writer is the author of book “Gujarat Riots: The True Story” which gives all details about the 2002 riots- Godhra and after, one of the admins of www.gujaratriots.com and one of the admins of the Twitter handle @gujaratriotscom)
