The Bharatiya Janata Party came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in the United States about the Sikh community, saying the Congress leader is trying to create a "dangerous narrative" by speaking on "sensitive issues" abroad.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri told a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi that Gandhi's remarks were "sinister" in nature as he tried to spread falsehood among the members of the Sikh community living abroad to "eke out a living" and do not have much connection with India.
"I condemn is the strongest terms the statement he has made about Sikhs not being able to wear turbans and kadas," the BJP leader from the Sikh community said.
Referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that happened during the Congress's rule, Puri said, "If there has been one time in our history when as a community we have felt anxiety, a sense of insecurity and existential threat, it has been the times when Rahul Gandhi's family has been in the seats of power."
"In 1984, a pogrom was carried out against Sikh community. As many as 3,000 innocent people were killed. People were dragged out of their homes, tyres were put around them and burnt alive," he said.
Addressing a gathering of several hundred Indian Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, on Monday, Gandhi accused the RSS of considering some religions, languages and communities of being inferior to others and said the fight in India is about this and not about politics.
"First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. That is superficial," Gandhi said as he asked one of the Sikh attendees in the front rows to give his name. What is your name, brother with the turban," he asked.
"The fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or a kada in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That's what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions," said Gandhi, who is on a four-day visit to the US, which began Saturday.
Hitting out at the Congress leader, Puri said Gandhi, of late, has been making statements on sensitive issues, which "involve our national identity, unity, the strength of our unity and diversity". "I think he is trying to set a new kind of narrative which I think is a dangerous narrative," he said.
"I think this is far more sinister because Rahul Gandhi was trying to spread a false narrative while speaking in front of those, who belong to my community and are trying to eke out a living in the US with hard work and honesty. Because they do not have much connection with the country (India)," he added.
