During a meeting with the Indian Journalists Association in the United Kingdom, Rahul Gandhi stated that the Bhartiya Janta Party wants India to be silent. The Congress leader was asked for his thoughts on the BBC documentary India: The Modi question which was recently released and was banned in India under controversial circumstances.
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Politics and the Publics :
Modi’s first interaction with the press in the UK was at the ‘Politics and the Publics: From Perception to Performance’ talk, in which he answered questions about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, India’s foreign policy towards China and Russia, crony capitalism, and the 2024 General Elections. Danish Khan, the president of the IJA, moderated the discussion.
Rahul Gandhi Thoughts :
Danish Khan, the president of the IJA, moderated the conversation. The viewers, which were mostly made up of reporters from India and the United Kingdom, were eager to hear Gandhi’s thoughts on the documentary’s controversy and the subsequent raids on the BBC’s offices in New Delhi.
There’s real inhibition of voice everywhere in India, an example is the BBC documentary, the Congress leader said, emphasizing that this is merely making news in the UK now because the BBC has only recently experienced this suppression, but that such inhibition of media has been going on in India for the past nine years. In India, journalists are disturbed, threatened, and challenged. Journalists who follow the government’s lead are rewarded.
Gandhi reaffirmed his speech at the University of Cambridge, in which he stated that India’s organisations are in danger and minorities are struggling.
Slandering India:
After it was pointed out that such comments on international trips sparked allegations that he was “slandering India” on foreign territory, Gandhi confronted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign trip speeches, which also included nothing happened in India in 60 years and unlimited corruption in India, which Gandhi said insulted all those who worked hard to make India successful.
He continued to say that it is the Prime Minister of India who defames India when he travels abroad. Gandhi stated unequivocally, he never defamed our country. He went on to say that the BJP enjoys to “twist” what he says.
Rahul dismissed claims that the opposing party is flimsy and fragmented. The basic idea that the RSS and the BJP need to be battled and beaten back is deeply ingrained in the minds of the opposition, admitting that there are tactical issues that require some discussion but the opposition is very much capable of resolving these issues and conversations are going on.
However, Rahul stated that, unlike in most other countries, the opposition in India is no longer fighting a political party. We are fighting India’s institutional structures. We are fighting the BJP and the RSS, which have taken control of nearly all of India’s institutions. There is no such thing as a level playing field.
Gandhi also mentioned a discussion that he had with the foreign minister who reassured him that the government is not understanding the actual threat from China and the prime minister simply stated that nobody has entered our territory and sent the message to China that you can do it again.
“Adani” and crony capitalism were recurring themes throughout the discussion. In the last three years, Mr. Adani has risen from the 609th to the second richest man. He has a great rapport with the Prime Minister.
Gandhi began his week-long visit to the United Kingdom as a visiting fellow at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. On Sunday, he will attend a diaspora event, followed by a meeting in Parliament and a talk at Chatham House on Monday.
