How the Attack on Rahul Gandhi For His US Remarks Exposes BJP's Own Dubious Relationship with Sikhs https://thewire.in/politics/how-the-attack-on-rahul-gandhi-for-his-us-remarks-exposes-bjps-own-dubious-relationship-with-sikhs/ Paramjeet Singh and Rajarshee Narayan Chowdhury 28/Sep/2024 Senior BJP leaders such as Hardeep Singh Puri (who is himself Sikh) pulled-no-punches, in a column for the Indian Express, Puri wrote: “The only time Sikhs have felt insecure and faced an existential threat in India was in the early 1980s.”
BJP’s national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, referred to Rahul Gandhi’s comments as supposed evidence of the latter having gone from making “childish comments” to “dangerous and mischievous activities”. ..Congress leader Pawan Khera, in responding to the BJP leaders’ attacks on Gandhi, pointed to how the saffron party often construes any criticism of its policies as attacks on India. Khera further reminded how the Prime Minister himself was not above-often in pejorative terms-referencing people’s clothing, most recently, the anti-hijab movement of the BJP, against the school-going girls of Karnataka, fanning communal flames in educational institutions; with members of the judiciary openly attending events by organisations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).