Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stands by the statement he made about Sikhs in America. There is a big controversy going on over this, but in the midst of this controversy, when Rahul Gandhi recently gave clarification, he asked in a questioning tone what wrong did he say? Rahul also shared a video clip of his speech in America, in which he is saying that Sikhs in India are scared and worried whether they will be allowed to wear a Kada and a turban in India or not. Cases have been filed against Rahul in many states of the country regarding this statement and many Sikh organizations have also opposed it. This statement of Rahul has received the support of terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who runs an organization called Sikh for Justice. Radical Sikh organizations are propagating the fact that Sikhs are unsafe in India. For this, they are basing their statements on the statements made by BJP leaders during the farmers’ movement.
But the question is what is the benefit of Rahul Gandhi giving this statement and sticking to it? Can Congress get any benefit from it? The reality is that Rahul Gandhi’s statement is not very good from both political and social point of view. It is not giving rise to any ideological debate either. Historically, there is only one example of Sikhs being afraid, when there was a massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 and Sikhs were leaving Delhi, selling their shops and houses at a throw-away price and fleeing to Punjab. Sikhs have been targeted by some BJP leaders but the situation is not such that they are afraid of wearing a ‘kara’ or a turban. That is why if Rahul had given a statement in America for some reason, then it does not make any sense to justify it by releasing a clip of that statement again 10 days later. On the contrary, BJP leaders have got a chance to dig up old wounds.