I may also be killed but I don’t care: Rahul Gandhi

 

Churu (Rajasthan), Oct 23, 2013, (IANS): "My grandmother was murdered. My father was murdered. Now I may also be killed one day. I don’t care about it," said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, making an emotional pitch for Rajasthan’s ruling party at an election rally here.

 

Gandhi accused the BJP of sparking communal tensions in the country for political benefits, and equated the plight of Uttar Pradesh’s riot-ravaged Muzaffarnagar district’s people with himself.

 

He said that he can understand their sorrow and grief as his grandmother and father were also murdered.

 

Gandhi, 43, was referring to the communal riots that took place in Muzaffarnagar that claimed more than 40 lives and rendered thousands homeless.

 

"My grandmother was murdered. My father was murdered. Now I may also be killed one day. But I don’t fear being murdered. I don’t care about it... I see my face in the plight of Muzaffarnagar’s people," Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the mammoth rally.

 

His grandmother, then prime minister Indira Gandhi, and his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, were both assassinated. While Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi Oct 31, 1984, Rajiv was assassinated by a Tamil Tigers suicide bomber at a political rally in Tamil Nadu May 21, 1991.

 

Gandhi referred to his speech as "dil ki baat" (A talk from the heart) and said he wanted to share his story with the people.

 

"I was in classroom at my school when someone approached my teacher and whispered something in her ears. The teacher told me to go home immediately. I called up home from principal’s office. I heard a scream from our housemaid. I was told something wrong had happened to my grandmother," recalled Gandhi.

 

Gandhi said he and his sister Priyanka were taken home, hidden under the passenger seats of a car by bodyguards.

 

"When I reached home, I saw blood of my grandmother on the road and the blood of two security guards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, in a room. They had always been like my friends. The incident filled me with a rage. It took me 10-15 years to calm down my anger," said Gandhi.

 

Gandhi added that recently a legislator from Punjab was sitting in his room.

 

"The legislator told me that had he met me 20 years ago, he would have murdered me. But now he wanted to hug me. The point I want to drive home is that nobody has in-built anger. Anger is instilled by political parties. It takes years to calm down the anger, but a minute to ignite it. That is why I am against BJP and its politics," said Gandhi.

He accused the BJP of causing bloodshed for political benefits.

 

"I am against the kind of politics BJP does as they spark fire of tension for political benefits... they hurt people for political gains."

 

"They will go to Muzaffarnagar and set fire in it. They will go to Gujarat and set fire in it. They will go to UP and Kashmir and will do the same. We have to run from pillar to post to douse the fire."

 

He said he wants "India to stay together, stand together".

 

"The BJP divides people, but I want the people of India to be united."

 

He said anger is not only generated by murder, but also by lack of basic amenities.

 

"Unemployment and hunger also create anger. We are working towards eradicating these things. That is why we brought in employment guarantee scheme and food security bill," said Gandhi.

 

He added that the Congress wants to develop an infrastructure to promote manufacturing.

 

The Gandhi scion said he wants the youth to have political rights in their pockets just like they have mobiles.

 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, AICC general secretary Gurudas Kamat and several other senior party leaders addressed the rally.

 

Discus thrower Krishna Poonia joined the party at the rally.

 

Voting for the assembly in the state is slated for Dec 1 and counting will be on Dec 8.

 

Pointing towards Sikhs sitting there, Gandhi said that people in Punjab were angry then but now that anger has subsided.

 

"Some months back, an MLA from Punjab had come to me. Talks were going on. Before leaving he told me that had he met me 20 years back, he would have killed. He said that he was full of anger then but now he can even embrace me.

 

"It takes years for that anger to subside but a minute to provoke it... it take so much time to remove that anger and create brotherhood," he said.

 

Relating the anger among a section of people due to communal violence to the larger theme of resentment due to deprivation in society, the Congress Vice President said that anger does not emanate only from killings and also from hunger.

 

Reaching out to youths, Gandhi also promised to end the "quotaism in political system", where a handful run the show, in the same his father late Rajiv Gandhi brought an end to quota system in telephone allocation.

 

"We have to change one more thing in the next 10 years and this we have to do with youths. The biggest lacunae in our country is in the political system. Be it of BJP, Congress, BSP and SP. This system is run by 300 to 400 people. I want that in coming years, system should be run by lakhs of youths.

 

"Rajiv Gandhi had brought to an end to quotas in (landline) telephone and all of you got a mobile phone in your hand. I want to bring an end to this quotaism in the political system and as you have mobile phone in your hand, political power will also be in your pocket in future," Gandhi said.

 

Noting that political change will be heralded in the country after 2014, he said once Congress party introduces it, all other parties will follow suit like they do in other aspects.

 

"The fight for 2014 is going on. My job is not only to win elections but also to tell you the long-term thinking for future," he said, promising youths of Rajasthan not only employment in India but also abroad in the time to come due to the measures taken by the UPA government.

 

Gandhi said Congress is doing the politics of rights. In a speech laced with anecdotes, he talked at length of the rich poor divide in society telling people that while BJP only talked about roads, Congress-led UPA not only built three times more roads than them but also gave employment, food security and land rights to people through laws on food security, MNREGA and land acquisition.

 

"When a woman watches television, they see the rich in aeroplanes, big boats and cars on one hand and on the other hand their kids who are hungry and sitting idle at home. They ask what will happen to them. When will they board the plane and the ship.

 

"On the other hand, the youths also have their pain. We want to bring everybody together. The poor, the rich, all sections of people belonging to all communities and all religions. We are not saying that the poor only live in India. Without business and industry, the country cannot progress. We want there should be a partnership between the poor and the rich," he said.

 

Gandhi said that ongoing works like laying of new railway lines and setting up of freight corridor will create new avenues in manufacturing sector for the youths in the country.

 

Going interactive with the women and youths in the rally, the Congress Vice President told them that his party tries to lessen the pain and anger among them and takes measures to create employment for crores of the unemployed.

 

"Congress is doing the politics of the poor, the politics or rights...I want that the country stays united and fight together," he said.

 

He said that the country’s fabric is damaged and people are killed due to BJP’s politics on the other hand.

 

"This does not help the country. This damages the nation. People die due to it and this generates anger. I have seen it not once but twice," he said referring to the assassination of his grandmother and father.