NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday criticized Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment that India gained its “true independence” after temple of the ram was built, calling it “betrayal.”
Addressing party workers after inaugurating the ‘Indira Bhavan’, Rahul Gandhi said Bhagwat’s claim that India did not gain independence in 1947 is disrespectful to all Indians.
“Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every two or three days what he thinks about the independent movement, what he thinks about the Constitution. In fact, what he said yesterday is treason because he claims that the Constitution is invalid. It is to claim that the entire fight against the British was invalid. And he has the audacity to say it publicly. In any other country he would be arrested and tried. That is the fact.
“To say that India didn’t get its independence in 1947 is an insult to each and every Indian. And it’s about time we stopped listening to this nonsense that these people think they can go on parroting and shouting and screaming, right? That’s the “The Congress Party has worked with the Indian people and built the success of this country on the foundation of the Constitution,” he added.
At an event in Indore, Bhagwat suggested celebrating the consecration day as ‘Pratishtha Dwadashi’, marking India’s sovereignty after centuries of ‘parachakra’.
The RSS chief recalled meeting former President Pranab Mukherjee when ‘Ghar Wapsi’ was debated in Parliament. He recounted Mukherjee’s words about India’s Constitution being the most secular in the world, questioning the authority of others to lecture India on secularism.
“After India gained its political independence from the British on August 15, 1947, a written Constitution was drafted in accordance with the path shown by that specific vision, arising from the ‘I’ of the country, but the document was not crafted in accordance with the spirit of the vision at that time,” said Mohan Bhagwat.
“The true independence of India, which had faced many centuries of persecution, was established on that day (the Ram Temple ‘pran pratishtha’ day). India had independence, but it was not established,” he said.