Largely Silent on Abhaya Case, Rahul Lectures in US on RSS, BJP Stand on Women

New Delhi: As the Kolkata rape-murder case sparked global outrage, with protests emerging in several countries, Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi remained silent on the specific case but addressed the broader issue of women’s safety during an interaction with students at the University of Texas. Gandhi criticised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ), accusing them of promoting restrictive roles for women, suggesting that they should "stay at home, cook, and not talk too much," while advocating for women’s freedom to aspire to any role they choose.

Gandhi said, "The BJP and RSS believe women should be restricted to a particular role, they should stay at home, they should cook the food, they should not talk too much, and we believe that women should be allowed to aspire to be whoever they want to be."  He also highlighted the problematic attitude towards women among many Indian men, stating, “It starts with an attitude that Indian males have towards women... in a large number of Indian males, the attitude towards women is ridiculous.”

While largely silent on the ongoing Kolkata case, where the brutal murder of a woman has intensified calls for action on women’s safety, Gandhi shifted focus to broader concerns about the government’s constitutional and ideological approach. Addressing the Indian diaspora in Dallas, Gandhi highlighted his differences with the RSS, saying, “The RSS believes that India is one idea, and we believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas. We believe that everybody should be allowed to participate, allowed to dream, and should be given space regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, or history.”

He stated, "This is the fight, and the fight was crystallized in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India."

Gandhi pointed out that the Indian Constitution is the foundation of modern India and accused the BJP of undermining it. "People understood what I was saying. They were saying that the BJP is attacking our tradition, attacking our language, attacking our states, attacking our histories," he added. Gandhi emphasized that an attack on the Constitution also affects religious and cultural traditions. He referenced his speech in Parliament, stating, "That is why in my first speech in Parliament you must have noticed when I described abhayamudra, the fact that this is a symbol of fearlessness and it is present in every single Indian religion... When I was saying this, the BJP could not stand it. They don’t understand, and we are going to make them understand."

In his address, Gandhi also stressed that the fear of the BJP had vanished after the election results, and the Indian public had become more aware of their rights. "We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP or the Prime Minister of India. So these are huge achievements, not of Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party. We are peripheral. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realized democracy, of the people of India who realized that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We are not going to accept an attack on our religion, on our state," he concluded.

BJP slams Rahul Gandhi

Union Minister Giriraj Singh slammed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi , saying, " Rahul Gandhi , who was stalled by the country with just 99 seats, instead of praising the country, is talking against it. He is singing songs of praise for anti-India enemies like China. He should have cases of anti-nationalism registered against him for praising China."

Singh further added, "To know and understand the RSS, Rahul Gandhi will need to take multiple lives and call his grandmother. The RSS is a representative of the country's culture, something he will never understand. His sole purpose is to defame India on a global platform. He should be in jail for insulting the country."