'BJP Resorting To Lies': Rahul Gandhi Breaks Silence On Sikh Remarks During US Visit

Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP was desperate to silence him because they could not stand the truth.

File Photo of Congress Leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi. (ANI)

Rahul Gandhi News: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday broke his silence on the flak he received from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over his remarks on Sikhs during his recent visit to the United States. Responding to the criticism, Gandhi accused the BJP of spreading lies about his recent remarks and asked Sikhs whether there was anything wrong with what he had said and if India shouldn't be a country where every Indian could practice their religion without fear.

The former Congress chief said that the saffron party was desperate to silence him because they could not stand the truth. In a post on X, Gandhi said, "The BJP has been spreading lies about my remarks in America. I want to ask every Sikh brother and sister in India and abroad -- is there anything wrong in what I have said? Shouldn't India be a country where every Sikh -- and every Indian -- can freely practise their religion without fear?".

"As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love," he stated. Gandhi also shared a short clip of his remarks in the US that shows him referring to a Sikh man. His response came after the BJP on Saturday cited a joint statement of several Sikh groups to ask him to withdraw his statement, which it alleged had created an atmosphere of fear in the country.

The BJP has been spreading lies about my remarks in America.

I want to ask every Sikh brother and sister in India and abroad - is there anything wrong in what I have said? Shouldn't India be a country where every Sikh - and every Indian - can freely practice their religion… pic.twitter.com/sxNdMavR1X

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 21, 2024

Speaking to reporters, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that several Sikh and Gurdwara management bodies had met Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai over the issue and that he asserted the sacrifices of the Sikhs had made the country strong.

Addressing a gathering of Indian-Americans in Herndon, a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC, Gandhi had said, "First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. That is superficial."

The senior Congress leader asked one of the Sikh attendees in the front rows to give his name. "What is your name, brother with the turban?" he had asked. "The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India or he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a 'kada' in India. Or he, as a Sikh, is going to be able to go to a gurdwara. That's what the fight is about. And not just for him, for all religions," he had said.

(With PTI Inputs)