Rahul Gandhi is now on a tour of the United States, where he has already made some contentious anti-India statements in his talks. Rahul Gandhi said on May 31 in California that minorities such as Muslims and Sikhs are being targeted in India.
In response to a query from the ‘Bay Area Muslim community’ about supposed ‘threats to Muslims’ in India after his address in Santa Clara, California, Rahul Gandhi said that Muslims and other minorities in India are feeling targeted. It is “felt most strongly by the Muslim community because it is done most directly to them,” he added. However, it is being done to all minorities.”
‘The way Muslims are feeling targeted, I can promise Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, and Tribals are feeling the same,’ he continued. What is occurring to Muslims in India now is similar to what occurred to Dalits in the 1980s’.
However, Rahul Gandhi’s remarks did not sit well with Asaduddin Owaisi, President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and self-appointed custodian of Muslim rights in India. He criticised Rahul Gandhi, claiming that many anti-Muslim and anti-Minority riots occurred under Congress governments at the national and state levels.
In response to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, Owaisi said that Rahul Gandhi’s response to the question was meaningless and out of context. He said that it is equivalent to stating that excluding Rahul Gandhi from parliament is incorrect, but it will be right if it occurs to someone else. ‘You were asked a question about Muslims in India, and you said that Dalits and Sikhs experienced the same in the 1980s,’ he explained. Rahul Gandhi is unaware that in the 1980s, when the UP government was in power, the Hashimpura and Maliana killings occurred.’
After days of communal violence in Hashimpura, near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, UP Police apprehended 50 Muslim males on May 22, 1987. The Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UP-PAC) transported them on a vehicle to the Upper Ganga Canal, where they were shot, killing 42 of them. The corpses were thrown into the sea. The prime minister at the time was Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi, and UP was also dominated by the Congress under CM Vir Bahadur Singh.
He went on to say that the ‘Congress administration was in charge in the 1980s when the Delhi massacre occurred, 400 Muslims were murdered in police fire in Moradabad during the Congress government, and his party was in power when the anti-Sikh pogrom occurred in the 1980s.’
The Moradabad incident occurred on August 13, 1980, during Eid celebrations. Police and the Provincial Armed Constabulary opened fire on the Moradabad Eidgah, where some 40,000 Muslims had gathered to worship. The shooting killed almost 300 individuals. The Congress was in control in the state, with VP Singh as Chief Minister and Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister. Notably, Congress was able to plant false news in the media saying that the assault was in retaliation for Muslims attacking security personnel, which was later proven wrong.
‘You should explain what is happening to Muslims, not what occurred in the 1980s,’ Owaisi added. He then chastised Rahul Gandhi for various incidences in which Muslims were victims of atrocities committed in Congress-ruled areas. He said that the Congress party is in power in Rajasthan, where Junaid and Naseer were assassinated, and that numerous suspects have yet to be apprehended. Owaisi further said that Congress-sponsored dharm sansads are being held in Chhattisgarh.
