Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has kicked up a political storm with his remarks on the state of religious freedom in India, citing the example of Sikhs.
Earlier this week, while addressing members of the Indian diaspora in Virginia, Gandhi accused the RSS of considering some religions and communities inferior to others and said the fight in India is about this and not about politics.
"The fight (in India) is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a turban...whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a kada or go to the Gurudwara. That's what the fight is about, and it's not just for Sikhs, but for all religions," he said.
However, the LOP's views were in contrast with the findings of a survey of religion across India by Pew Research Center in 2021. According to the survey, Indians of all religious backgrounds "overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths".
The study was based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020."Indians see religious tolerance as a central part of who they are as a nation. Across the major religious groups, most people say it is very important to respect all religions to be 'truly Indian'," the study stated.
The findings suggested that Indians are united in the view that respecting other religions is a very important part of what it means to be a member of their own religious community. More Indians see diversity as a benefit than view it as a liability for their country, according to the survey. "Roughly half (53%) of Indian adults say India’s religious diversity benefits the country, while about a quarter (24%) see diversity as harmful, with similar figures among both Hindus and Muslims," it said.
The study also stated that "relatively few Muslims say their community faces 'a lot' of discrimination in India (24%)". In fact, the share of Muslims who see widespread discrimination against their community is similar to the share of Hindus who say Hindus face widespread religious discrimination in India (21%), according to the study.
BJP reaction
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday condemned Gandhi's recent comments about the Sikh community in the US, calling them "irresponsible" and demanding an explanation from Gandhi.
In an interview with CNN-News18, Puri said he has never encountered any issues faced by Sikhs in India or abroad. "Rahul Gandhi needs to be asked where he is getting these ideas from," he questioned.
The senior BJP leader criticised the Congress leader for making "outlandish statements" while abroad and highlighted a dark chapter in history. "3,000 Sikhs were murdered in cold blood when Rahul Gandhi’s father was in power," Puri said.
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