"Nothing more condemnable, despicable, intolerable...": VP Dhankhar on Rahul Gandhi's remarks in US

New Delhi [India], September 12 : Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday over his recent remarks on reservation and the Sikh community while in the US.
While addressing participants of the third batch of the Rajya Sabha Internship Programme at Parliament House on Thursday, Dhankhar took a jibe at the Congress leader's remarks without taking his name and said that every Indian outside the country has to be an ambassador of this nation. The Vice President said that he was "pained and disturbed that some people in position have no idea" of Bharat.
"They have no idea of our Constitution, they have no idea of our national interest. How painful that one who holds a Constitutional position is doing just the reverse of it! Nothing can be more condemnable, despicable and intolerable than that you become part of enemies of the nation!" Dhankhar said.
https://x.com/VPIndia/status/1834175931092554141
"I am sure your heart must be bleeding at what you see. If we are true Bhartiyas, if we believe in our nation, we will never side with the enemies of the nation. We will all stand stiffly for the nation," he added.
He further emphasised the sacrifices of brave hearts and said that "we can't ridicule our nationalism."
"Imagine, ultimate sacrifice has been given by how many to get this freedom, in protecting this freedom, in protecting the nation! Our brothers and sisters are also involved in combat positions. Mothers have lost their sons, and wives have lost their husbands," Dhankhar said.
The Vice President alleged that some people "want to divide our nation" and called it "ignorance in extremity."
"They do not understand the value of freedom. They do not understand that this country has a civilizational depth of 5000 years. Let me invite your attention first to our Constitution. This Constitution is sacred. It was structured over three years of painstaking work by the founding fathers of the Constitution, and the members of the Constituent Assembly, over 18 sessions, without disruption, without disturbance, without sloganeering, without any posters being raised. It worked through the mechanism of debate, dialogue, discussion and deliberation. Challenges, boys and girls before them, were Himalayan, insurmountable. The issues were divisive, there could not be an easy consensus. They worked for it, they work for us. And now, some people want to divide our nation. This is ignorance in extremity," he added.
On September 9, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that the Congress party will think of scrapping reservations when India becomes a "fair place," which it is not. The Congress leader was interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
He also reiterated the need to conduct a caste census while saying that 90 per cent of the country's population--OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis--not having proper representation in the country is the "elephant in the room."
During his interaction with the Indian diaspora in the US, Rahul Gandhi said that the fight is about whether a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a turban in India and would be able to visit a Gurdwara.
"First of all, you have to understand what the fight is about. Fight is not about politics. It is superficial. What is your name? The fight is about whether he, as a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear his turban in India. Or he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear a kada in India. Or a Sikh is going to be able to go to Gurdwara. That's what the fight is about and not just for him, for all religions," he said.
Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Congress leader's comments, saying that speaking 'anti-national' things has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. The Home Minister said that talking about discrimination in such a way shows the divisive thinking of the Congress leader.
"Speaking anti-national things and standing with forces that break the country has become a habit of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. Whether it is supporting the anti-national and anti-reservation agenda of the JKNC in Jammu and Kashmir, or speaking anti-India things on foreign forums, Rahul Gandhi has always hurt the security and sentiments of the country," Shah said in a post on X.
The BJP slammed the Congress leader's remarks, saying that he has reflected his "political and family DNA" regarding the issue.
"Rahul Gandhi has reflected his political and family DNA regarding reservation, on foreign land. He spoke about ending reservations by Ambedkar ji. His family did that. In 1961, Nehru Ji said that reservation is wrong. He had said that it makes people second-class. Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi opposed the Mandal Commission and its report. Rajiv Gandhi had said that those who are given reservations are fools," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said earlier.