Be it in government or opposition, many Indian leaders and politicians love to enjoy foreign visits, particularly the Western countries of the Europe and Americas. They go there, try accomplishing the task in hand to their will and capacity, official or personal, and make sure to visit people and places of their interests, and happily return often without much attention or news at home. However, Mr Rahul Gandhi aka Gandhi scion, currently the Congress Member of Parliament from Raebareli, UP and the leader of opposition (LOP), is one such prominent leader, who in almost all foreign visits invite considerable attention of media with spicy news owing to his fixtures and antics, and it’s seldom that any of his visits would conclude without controversies and eyebrows raised by his detractors at home and abroad as well. Needless to mention, if a question is to be raised as to who should be made responsible for this, for sure none other than Mr Gandhi is accountable for this imbroglio. After all, his own mother Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the most powerful and popular leader within the party, have had so many foreign trips and the most people don’t even know the exact purpose of the visit, what to talk about any controversy.
In this context, the author would not speculate or delve upon various news and Gandhi scion’s conduct as a young man since the dawn of this century, instead, keep this analysis limited to his more recent events. Since independence, the Indian National Congress (INC) aka Congress, the oldest political party of India, has more or less remained a bastion and stronghold of the successive pedigrees of the Nehru-Gandhi lineage. The Congress under the leadership of this dynastic family has either directly or through proxy ruled the country for the maximum period and its only after arrival of the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national scene that the power has been continuously alluding them for over ten years now. Consequently, many leaders’ and more particularly the Gandhi scion’s frustration and desperation to oppose every programme and policy of Mr Modi and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), nationally and internationally, has reached to such a personal level that they are so often seen or perceived pitted against the interests of very nation itself. During the recent US visit, several programmes of Gandhi scion have been marred with controversies, which many of his critics and detractors sense as anti-national activity.
History of Controversial Foreign Visits
Of course, Gandhi scion didn’t do this for the first time during the US visit: In fact, along with his mentor and advisor Sam Pitroda or even standalone, he has invited controversies through his acts and utterances on the foreign soil on many occasions, at times crossing the limits of decency with no holds barred. For instance, during his 10-days long visit to the United Kingdom in February-March 2023, he engaged in successive controversial addresses at the places like the Cambridge University, the Chatham House, the British Parliament, and so on, besides a series of talks and meetings with the Indian diaspora, members of the political class, private business community leaders under the aegis of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC), that included a press conference too. Needless to mention, the Gandhi Family’s close aide, adviser and the IOC head, Sam Pitroda (Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda) has accompanied Gandhi scion nearly in all major events and fixtures in the US, UK and other countries.
During this trip, while addressing the Indian Journalists Association (IJA) at London on 4 March 2023, he alleged that the democracy and democratic institutions in India have been either completely hijacked, ended or in serious peril but, surprisingly, the so-called defenders of democracy such as the United States and European countries are oblivious yet doing nothing to restore it in India because they are earning business and money from the country. He added that it’s not just an Indian battle (left to be fought by people like him), it’s a much more important battle, a battle for a huge part of democratic world on this planet. He did not stop here, he quoted the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) as a fundamentalist and fascist organization, comparing it with the Muslim Brotherhood; he charged the Modi government spying on the opposition politicians along with him; the opposition’s voice was being stifled in the Parliament; Dalits, tribals, minorities and women are suppressed and mistreated; and that the BJP and RSS follow the ideology and politics of hatred and violence, among many other undesirable things.
Somewhat similar utterances were made by him while speaking a year before in May 2022 in Cambridge at the India@75 event at the Cambridge University’s Corpus Christi College. There he said that a systematic attack was being made on institutions stamping out the conversation, adding further that the deep state, the CBI and ED were chewing the Indian state and eating it in the same way as in Pakistan. He specifically blamed Prime Minister Modi that he was deliberately leaving out a huge chunk of India’s population including Dalits, tribals, minorities, and so on, and together with the RSS fiddling with the foundational structure of India. The author finds no point in narrating or listing all such events with details at all the foreign destinations where Gandhi scion chose to attack secularism, democracy, treatment of minorities, environment of hatred and violence in India with his imaginary fears and apprehensions while speaking about his political rival BJP, RSS and Prime Minister Modi. However, a few more instances are briefly listed here just to bring in more clarity.
On an earlier occasion, he had accused the BJP and Modi government in the US with allegations of the politics of hatred and violence, and favouring only the top few companies in India before an audience at the University of California, Berkley. During his visit to Germany and UK in 2018, he compared the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood (a radical Islamist/ Terrorist Organization) and blamed BJP for excluding dalits, tribal and minorities from the development process, made allegations that similar exclusion politics has given rise to terrorist group like Islamic State in the past. During the same year, he demanded from the Malysian soil that the demonetization scheme be withdrawn while in Singapore he charged the Modi government of divisive politics, using anger and intimidation to win elections. In Bahrain (2018), he alleged that the anger is visible in India on the streets and the government is engaged in converting fear into hatred and violence between the communities.
Days ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit in 2023, the Gandhi scion visited three major cities of the US viz. San Francisco, Washington and New York, and associated self with several organizations and individuals better known for anti-India, anti-Hindu and anti-Modi activities, while addressing / meeting the Indian-American diaspora, so-called think-tank community, academicians, lawmakers and the media. The central talking points of his dialogue during various meetings and interactions included that the democratic values have seriously eroded during the Modi regime in India; secularism is compromised with minorities, particularly Muslims, being discriminated and persecuted; dalits and tribals being deprived of their rights, freedom of expression of the lawmakers as well as common people suppressed; and that the intolerance was on the rise everywhere. Previously, in April 2022 too, in a meeting with Nicolas Burns, the then US ambassador to China and a former undersecretary of state at US State Department, he had raised issue, “I don’t hear anything from the U.S. establishment about what’s happening in India. If you are saying partnership of democracies, I mean what is your view on what is going on here…” Needless to mention, many of his critics and political analysts have interpreted this akin to calling for international interventions in India to change the existing political regime.
Controversies Associated with Current US Visit
The recent US visit of Gandhi scion was scheduled from 8 to 10 September 2024, which is also his first trip to this important country with a sizeable Indian diaspora after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which recorded considerable gains for the Congress in terms of the Lok Sabha seats compared to the previous two parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2019. This visit was also significant from the point of view that it preceded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the United Nations later in the same month. During his short trip, he visited Dallas and Washington DC accompanied with the Indian Overseas Congress President Sam Pitroda at all places and had interaction with the Indian diaspora, business groups and the US Congressional democrat representatives. Like in the past, his 3-days fixtures and meetings generated controversies and sharp reactions in India and US as well. On the last occasion, he had visited America in May 2023 for six days, where he indulged in strong criticism of the Modi government and interacted with many individuals and entities, which are well known for their anti-India stance and activities detrimental to India’s interests. Some of his more controversial issues from the current visit are briefly dealt with in the following paragraphs.
(a) Controversial Sikh Remarks
In the past, Gandhi scion has at occasions whipped up a political storm with his controversial remarks on the state of religious freedom in India, but usually such remarks were centred around the Muslims and Christian minorities but this time, apparently, he deliberately chose to take up the case of Sikhs in one of his key addresses. While speaking to the diaspora at an event in Virginia, he said that the fight (in India) was not about politics. Turning to a Sikh audience, he inquired his name and then spoke, “The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a turban in India; or whether, he, as a Sikh, will be allowed to wear a kada in India; or whether he, as a Sikh, is allowed to go to a Gurudwara. That’s what the fight is about, and not just for him, but for all religions”.
Quite obviously, the Gandhi scion’s specific allusion to Sikhs followed by implicit averment that their religious faith was in jeopardy in India has serious ramifications with dangerous implications at a time when the Sikh militancy and sentiments for an independent Sikh state are already being fuelled by the several Sikh terrorists and separatists based in the countries like Canada, the US and UK. Of course, some analysts have tried to down play it only as an opportune action in view of the state assembly elections in Haryana in near future. If the leader of opposition in India himself opts to associate self with an unsubstantiated and fake narrative being floated by such elements, undoubtedly, this is bound to boost the revival of separatist sentiments and violent activities linked with the sinister and violent Khalistani movement at a time when some Western government are already patronizing such elements under the garb of human rights and freedom of expression. It’s a double standards of the Western countries like the US and Canada who have granted shelter and citizenship to many Sikh absconders and terrorists wanted by India for multiple crimes such as murder, violence and sabotage against the humanity.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the alleged US based pro-Khalistan attorney, and a designated absconder and terrorist wanted by both the Punjab state and Indian governments was prompt to endorse Gandhi scion’s remarks on Sikhs saying that Mr. Gandhi justified SFJ’s (Sikhs for Justice) global Khalistan Referendum campaign, holding that his statement on the existential threat to Sikhs in India was bold and historically accurate. The statement of Gandhi scion on Sikhs generated a strong reaction in India not only from the government and BJP but also from the leaders of some other parties, intelligentsia and a large section of media. A Sikh BJP senior leader and union minister Hardeep Singh termed his remarks as “sinister” with the aim of spreading dangerous narrative in the diaspora and disaffection among the Sikhs away from the ground realities. Referring to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and carnage under the Rajiv Gandhi Congress government, he said that if there has been one time in our history when as a community, we (Sikhs) have felt anxiety, a sense of insecurity and existential threat, it has been the times when Rahul Gandhi’s family has been in the seats of power. While making this statement, he was referring to a pogrom carried out against the Sikh community in Delhi and other places under the active supervision of some Congress leaders (some of them prosecuted later on) in 1984 leading to the death of over three thousand innocent people, many of them were burnt alive.
Ironically and unfortunately, Gandhi scion created an unfounded controversy during his foreign visit about the religious freedom of Sikhs while he has been usually putting forth similar narratives and alarms for the minority Muslim community in India. In the same gathering, he made unsoliciting remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, whose commitment and integrity for the nation has remained beyond doubt all the time. Mr. Puri and yet another Sikh Union minister deplored Gandhi’s statement as stunningly bizarre and alien to the lived experience of all Sikhs that it defies comprehension, adding further that the Sikhs consider India their homeland, their motherland, and their karma bhoomi. Actually, his seditious remarks shocked many conscientious Indians from various walks and the storm created thus has not subsided till the writing of this piece. The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh treated his remarks shameful and anti-national demanding his apology for defaming India on the foreign soil.
(b) Meeting Anti-India Congress Lobby in US
During his visit to the Washington DC, Gandhi scion met a group of lawmakers such as Ilhan Omar, Ro(hit) Khanna, Barbara Lee, Jonathan Jackson, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Shri Thanedar, Jesus G Garcia, Hank Johnson, Jan Schakowsky, etc., many of them well-known Congress men and women of the US Democratic Party as part of the anti-India lobby who have been vehemently opposing and criticising India on issues like the status of religious minorities, mainly Muslims, in India, Kashmir and abrogation of the Article 370, CAA/NRC, Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, and so on. Of them, Ilhan Omar, a Somalia-born a well known radical Islamist and a democrat member to the House of Representatives from Minnesota has particularly been peddling lies about the alleged attacks or atrocities on minorities, independence of Kashmir, human rights issues and the freedom of speech in India. Omar has often publicly claimed that the Muslims are facing atrocities at the hands of Hindus in India and only some time back she was in news for endorsing Canada’s allegations (without evidence) of the Indian officials’ involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar and her visit to the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir advocating an independent Kashmir. Its natural that Omar’s meeting or picture with Gandhi scion would not go well with any patriotic Indian; hence, their meeting invited controversy and severe criticism back home.
It is not surprising that some leaders the BJP as also common people have criticized Gandhi scion of harbouring anti-India sentiments and working against the interests of the nation having seen him sharing bonhomie and comfort with the US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in pictures. Reportedly, Omar also has close connections with the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar’s rulers as well as links with many other radical Islamic organizations such as Islamic Relief and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a Western branch of the Jamaat-e-Islami banned in India due to its terror links. The head of the BJP IT Cell have openly gone to the extent of describing Omar on X as a radical Islamist and an advocate of independent Kashmir. If nationalist and patriotic Indians have raised a voice against the ilk of Ilhan Omar, it’s not without valid reasons, just a few are cited here:
- The congresswoman made a visit to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK) in April 2022 on a Pakistan sponsored trip, officially met incumbent and past Pakistani prime ministers and raised the issue of the so-called human rights violations by the Indian government in the Jammu and Kashmir.
- Omar introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives (US Congress) in June 2022 condemning (alleged) human rights violation in India, targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and other religious and cultural minorities.
- Using her X handle, Omar condemned the killing of the Khalistani separatist and terror suspect Hardeep Singh Nijjar wanted by the Punjab and Central governments in India for serious crimes committed in Punjab, urging the US to extend support to Canada in their alleged probe of the involvement of Indian agencies, without any sustainable evidence or lead being made available so far.
Needless to mention that aforesaid are just few malicious actions of her larger anti-India stance and agenda as part of certain lobby of the democrat members in the US Congress, who have been working against India for long to cause it harm economically (through sanctions) and socio-politically. In the past, her visit to POK and narrow-minded politics has received attention of the Ministry of External affairs in India which formally criticized and condemned her dubious activities in violation of the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. Similarly, Ro Khanna and some other Democratic Party Representatives too are known for their anti-India stand and vicious campaign on many occasions. Gandhi scion has been visiting US and other foreign countries on the previous occasions simply as a Member of Parliament or a private person carrying specific political ideology but now he is the leader of opposition enjoying the status of a cabinet minister; hence the need to act more responsibly. Therefore, whatever way he conducts himself abroad, it really matters and may have a direct impact on the Indian polity and economy. Therefore, he is expected to conduct in a manner supplementing the Indian interests abroad rather than engaging himself in activities that may cause embarrassment and potential harm to his own country.
Some of the Congress representatives such as Barbara Lee is among the known Prime Minister Modi-hater, who was part of a campaign to deny US Visa to him many years ago, and last year in June 2023 too, she was part of a campaign urging President Biden not to host the State Dinner for Prime Minister Modi and/or raise certain specific issues such as the religious freedom, human rights, etc. at the occasion. In fact, as many as 75 US Congressmen, mostly from the Democratic Party from the Senate and House of Representatives had strongly written on this occasion to the US President Biden about the alleged back-sliding of democracy (a narrative floated by Gandhi scion and other partymen) and atrocities on minorities in India. This fake narrative of the ill-informed Congressmen was mainly based on inputs from anti-India lobby and radical organizations active in the US as well as utterances of Gandhi scion during his US visit.
This anti-India and anti-Hindus move was led by the Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, both from the Democratic Party, who are well known India baiters and Modi critic for the last many years on a variety of issues including status of Kashmir, human rights, treatment of minorities (Muslims), CAA and NRC, and so on. One Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib even announced boycott of Prime Minister Modi’s address accusing him as a leader with a “long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists, etc. The issue for consideration here is that the leaders of rival parties in India may have their ideological and other differences based on their party interests but should any of them go abroad and start spreading fake narratives and accusations just to gain some political mileage back home?
(c) More Controversies & Criticism
Here, the author would like to cite just two more instances briefly amongst many that too led to controversy and raising of eyebrows back home, more particularly among the intelligentsia and media persons.
(i) Participation in an SFS Event
Gandhi scion participated in an event of the Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), where the discussion was moderated by Edward Luce, a journalist and the Financial Times chief US commentator & columnist based in Washington, DC. This visit is seen as controversial due the university’s alleged connections with the US intelligence and some controversial organizations, and Luce’s own background; more particularly, the SFS has a contentious reputation as the “Spy Factory of the CIA”, which allegedly serves as a training ground for the operatives of the US national security connected with the Central Intelligence Agency as well as other national security entities in the US.
The SFS has often invited criticism for its ties to the organizations linked with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Royal family of Qatar, with many faculty members receiving handsome grants from these entities. Besides, the Institution’s faculty connections with Al Jazeera and many other Islamic organizations opposing India ‘tooth and nail’ too make the SFS controversial and avoidable, considering the Indian national interests. Edward Luce himself has a controversial history with India. While serving as the South Asia bureau chief for the Financial Times (FT) in New Delhi from 2001 to 2006, he was known for his constant critical stance on Indian politics and severe disagreements with the BJP’s ideology and actions. In the following years too, he has been very often reporting and writing criticism of the Indian government and institutions. Considering the controversial history and status of SFS as also the background of the event moderator, Gandhi scion should have avoided this visit as a responsible Indian lawmaker and the leader of opposition in India.
(ii) Assault on India Today Journalist
In an ugly incident on 9 September 2024, Rohit Sharma, India Today’s correspondent in the US was assaulted by the Congress workers when he was interviewing the Indian Overseas Congress Chief Sam Pitroda just before the arrival of Gandhi scion in Dallas, US. According to Sharma, the members of Rahul Gandhi’s team charged at him when he asked Pitroda whether the Congress MP and leader of the opposition (Rahul Gandhi) would raise the issue of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh during his engagement with the American lawmakers. During this assault, his mobile phone was snatched, and he was pressurised to delete the data/interview and even confined in a room by about fifteen men for some time, as Pitroda proceeded to the airport to receive Gandhi scion. In their release later, the US Press Club slammed the Congress supporters for attack on the journalist at Gandhi scion event, calling it a violation of the US First Amendment rights.
Back at home, journalists have sought action over India Today reporter’s assault by Gandhi scion’s team. A senior India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai interviewed Sam Pitroda online with specific and pointed queries about the incident, to which Pitroda simply answered that he was not aware of the incident and that he would look into it. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, holding the charge of Information & Broadcasting, has recently disclosed of having received a memorandum from journalists seeking action over the reported assault, who said that he would forward the complaint to the Press Council of India to enable them to consider legal action in the matter. Here the author would like to say that Gandhi scion and his party so often claim of running the “Mohabbat Ki Dukan” and championing the cause of the freedom of speech but everyone of them is just keeping silence over the issue of the cruelty subjected to a reputed journalist in the US by their own workers.
(iii) Other Issues
Besides, Gandhi scion made several other debatable observations and allegations on the Government of India and independent institutions at various events. He lauded China over its development and progress observing, among other things, the countries like China and Vietnam have no employment issues while India still suffers with a serious unemployment problem. Though the Communist regime in China is like an ‘iron curtain’ to really extract any independent and reliable information or data on any subject but the available indicative data and reports in public domain clearly suggest that the employment problem in China is far worse than India (the author is consciously not quoting figures available on internet due to its reliability factor). Speaking at Georgetown University, Gandhi scion claimed that the recent parliamentary elections were unfairly conducted. He said that the Election Commission’s bias and the BJP’s substantial financial advantage distorted the electoral process and consequent outcome. On the contrary, the DisInfo Lab, an independent research based international NGO, in a detailed report has recently exposed how the West’s, mainly US, deep state tried to subvert Indian electoral outcome in 2024 by deploying their vast resources. Similarly, he also made controversial observations and remarks on the RSS, Constitution, democracy, reservation in India, etc.
(iv) Global Reaction and Criticism
Needless to mention, Gandhi scion’s meeting with the US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, his controversial and divisive Sikh remarks as also rather contradictory, or even absurd, remarks on reservation, Constitution, election process, etc., have invited strong reaction nationally and globally. The ruling BJP and some of its allied parties, including sections of media and intelligentsia as also independent opinion influencers globally have criticized while the Congress and some of their allies have endorsed it. Although controversies and divisive remarks are not for the first time, but this time more political uproar is on account of his current status of the leader of opposition (LOP). While a responsible political leader’s visit carry expectations of improving bilateral relations of countries but here it has been just the opposite in patronizing anti-India lawmakers, controversial remarks on religious freedom and reservation, visit to dubious institutions, and so on. The BJP IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya have gone to extent saying that Gandhi scion is harbouring anti-India sentiments, labelling Omar as a radical Islamist and advocate of Independent Kashmir. The Rajya Sabha MP and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that Rahul Gandhi is known for spewing anti-India venom, but what he has done this time is of serious concern.
On their part, the Congress President and some leaders have defended Rahul Gandhi meeting Omar as part of a US delegation as also his other actions. The IOC Chief Sam Pitroda opined that in every event and interaction, Rahul Gandhi furthered India’s interests and spoke of the need to ensure security for the most marginalised. Here it may be relevant to mention that the present Indian External Affairs Minister External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had refused to meet Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal during his official visit to Washington DC in December 2019 expressing his disappointment over her stand and conduct in moving a controversial resolution over the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir in the US House following the removal of the Article 370.
A responsible and patriotic leader of a country is expected to respond in similar manner while dealing even with the lawmakers of a foreign country acting against the former’s national interests. Surprisingly, a more stringent and harsh reaction against Gandhi scion came from an American businessman and community leader Sajid Tarar of Pakistani origin. Unleashing a scathing critique of the Congress leader over his recent controversial India remarks during US visit, Tarar held that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks were destructive to India’s international image, standing and democratic ethos. “Every utterance Rahul Gandhi has made in the US has chipped away at India’s image and its democratic values,” observed Tarar during his discussion at Dr Qamar Cheema show of Pakistan.
End Note
While on tour to the foreign countries, Gandhi scion has so often visited the organizations of dubious nature and credentials, some of them with a distinct anti-India tag, and people known for their anti-India stand on various issues. At occasions, he even gave a clarion call for the Western democracies’ intervention in expediting change in the present political dispensation (Modi regime) in India. In a recent report by the DisInfo Lab titled “The Invisible Hands: Foreign Interference in Indian Elections 2024”, it is alleged that various Western entities invested substantial resources to influence the 2024 Indian Lok Sabha elections. The report has made very lucid and categoric references, along with details, of the US based Henri Luce Foundation (HLF), George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF), and French Indologist Christophe Jaffrelot of engaging in a coordinated effort to sway Indian voters. From the same report, the following extract is quoted here for a reference.
“Unfortunately, as millions of Indians were deciding their future, a section of the global media and academia was planning a sinister plot to influence their decisions through an orchestrated and well-funded plan. The extent of this Influence campaign was not restricted to the Western media itself; many Indian conduits were at the forefront and acted like the anvil that was ready to be molded to any shape.”
Gandhi scion’s foreign visits have so often stirred political controversies in the past too for his association and interaction with people and organizations involved in anti-India activities. His past speeches and actions in the US, UK, Germany and some other countries had been criticised by his political opponents, also by independent intelligentsia and analysts as well. It is generally perceived that in his zeal for the rhetoric and bitter attacks on the Modi government, he often crosses the limits in undermining and belittling very India abroad. In every country, parties with different ideology and political rivals criticize each other on programmes and policies, including occasional personal attacks. However, this author has not experienced political rivals discussing or demeaning their own country on the foreign soil. For sure, it is not desirable to amplify the domestic disagreements at the foreign platforms. Sooner Gandhi scion learns this simple fact, better would be for him, his party, and the nation.
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