A war-of-words between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the Parliament by storm on Monday, July 1. While Rahul Gandhi attacked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not being true Hindus and resorting to violence, hatred and lies, Modi said that painting the whole Hindu community as violent was a grave issue. In response, Rahul Gandhi said, “Narendra Modi is not the entire Hindu community, BJP is not the entire Hindu community, and RSS is not the entire Hindu community.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanded an apology from Rahul.
Pointing at ruling alliance MPs, Rahul Gandhi said that those who claim to be Hindus practice violence, hatred, and lies 24*7. Amid commotion raised by the ruling alliance, he said “This is a country of peace. This is not a country of fear. All of our founding fathers talked about peace and eradicating fear. On the other hand, Lord Shiva is also saying the same thing. But those who claim to be Hindus practice violence, hatred and lies. It is written in Hindu religion that we should stand with the truth, we should not fear the truth and peace is in our nature.”
Rahul Gandhi invoked Guru Nanak ji, Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir and said, “The Abhay Mudra represents the next step in the evolution of the idea of facing the truth, fearlessness, and non-violence. It's not enough to internalise these values and overcome fear; it's equally important to empower others to become fearless and non-violent. He also said that all religions talk about courage and showed a picture of a Muslim prayer. Citing a verse from the Quran, Rahul Gandhi said even Islam asks people not to be afraid.
He also took a dig at PM Modi for his comments that he was not biological. “The Prime Minister has a direct connection with God unlike with all humans, who are biological. We are born, we die, but the PM is a non-biological being,” Rahul Gandhi said. The Congress leader also ridiculed Modi for his remarks that it was through a movie that the world knew about Mahatma Gandhi. Shaking hands with Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, Rahul Gandhi said the people of Ayodhya had sent him to the Parliament.