Gandhi’s tweets were hailed for their clarity as he named the communities — Dalits, Muslms and tribals — that are being targeted by right-wing groups
Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been vocal over the Hathras rape-and-murder incident in Uttar Pradesh (UP) said Sunday that “Many Indians don’t consider Dalits, Muslims and Tribals to be humans”.
He took to Twitter to take a dig at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and rubbished police claims of there being no rape. “Police say no one was raped, because, for them, and many other Indians, she was NO ONE (sic),” Gandhi wrote in a tweet as he shared a news article published on BBC.com.
The alleged rape and murder of the 19-year-old Dalit girl by four upper-caste men last month and the subsequent hasty, hushed-up cremation by the police in Hathras have sparked widespread outrage and protests across India with opposition parties seeking resignation of Adityanath.
Gandhi’s tweets were hailed for their clarity as he named the communities — Dalits, Muslms and tribals — that are being targeted by right-wing groups.
Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, editor of a Hyderabad-based newspaper, wrote: “Hats off and salute to Rahul Gandhi for speaking frankly”.
Ashok Swain, a vocal critic of Hindu right-wingers, said other politicians should learn from Gandhi.
I want to see other Indian politicians learn to say like this. India needs to accept the mistake, then only it can act to rectify it. https://t.co/ytJhWS1wpU
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) October 11, 2020
It's only by acknowledging our violence do we even start to fix it. It's such a relief to hear a political leader just tell the truth. https://t.co/QTnMYwQGTN
— Karuna Nundy (@karunanundy) October 11, 2020
Because the truth must be told. #Hathras https://t.co/KN0VOX4CjI
— Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) October 11, 2020
However, some political observers said that Gandhi’s naming of the commuinities could be a “bad election strategy’” for a national party no matter how truthful the statement may be.
Asim Ali, a columnist who frequently writes on politics, admired Gandhi’s comments , but added it “makes for poor politics”.
Others saw Congress leader’s comments as a strategy for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections where Muslims form nearly 17 percent of the population.
