Atanu Das, Sr. Journalist
New Delhi, 24 March , “ I have a small question. Why is each one of them, every thief that is, named Modi?”
In this context a district court in Surat, on 23 March, held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi guilty in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his remark.
Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail.
The conviction came under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC.
He was later granted bail by the court.
Today, he was disqualified from his Lok Sabha membership.
Now, back to his remarks, which the ex-Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made while addressing a rally in Kolar, Karnataka, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
After his statement quoted at the top of this write-up, Rahul Gandhi, smirking, went on to unleash another casteist slur.
“Nirav Modi, Narendra Modi, and, if we look around, there will be other three-four thieves named Modi,” Gandhi said.
In the process, he scored another political self-goal, denting whatever little prospects the party may have had at the time.
The Congress fell further. Come 2019, the party scored a golden duck in Gujarat.
Karnataka, where Gandhi had made his remarks, did not reward the Congress, either.
Later, in the 2022 state assembly elections in Gujarat, AAP and BJP ate into whatever little political presence the Congress had after the demise of Ahmed Patel.
Beyond the point of caring? With the conviction, sentencing, and the unapologetic defence of Gandhi’s remarks by the Congress cadre on TV, the party looks in no mood to reverse its fortunes in the state.
While the party cadre may want the electorate to believe that this was a free speech issue, the casteist slur visible cannot be dismissed lightly.
This is not about the prime minister’s “surname,” as the Congress would want many to believe.
This is more about labelling an entire community as thieves in the hope of scoring cheap political brownie points.
What’s the stand, really? The sentencing comes at an interesting time.
On the one hand, the Congress and some smaller political parties are trying to convince the electorate that in a democracy dissent can have room for labelling and generalising an entire community.
On the other hand , there is the call to not label all Sikhs as separatists (and rightfully so), after the actions of Amritpal Singh and his cartel, and a few radicalised persons abroad, which are hoping to ignite a debate around “Khalistan.”
What is the expectation the BJP seems determined to stay on the offensive, as they have been since the matter emerged, and prevent the Congress from portraying the verdict in their own light.
