Rahul attacks government, says forces trying to spread disharmony

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, saying there are forces which seek to spread disharmony and wish to break the bonds between the people.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, saying there are forces which seek to spread disharmony and wish to break the bonds between the people.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi seen here after paying tribute to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 72nd birth anniversary at Vir Bhumi in New Delhi.(Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Addressing a gathering at the ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award’ ceremony, Rahul Gandhi said: “Unfortunately, there are people who prefer a divided and divisive India, out of tune with itself and the world.”

“There are, unfortunately, in India today, men and women who actively promote disharmony, who humiliate and separate, who isolate and kill,” the Congress leader added.

This year’s Sadbhavana Award was conferred on Hindustani classical music singer Shubha Mudgal.

Comparing his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s efforts to ensure harmony in society with that of singer Mudgal, Rahul Gandhi said the singer used her art to bring millions of people together as her songs have broken barriers and brought harmony to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

“My father, Rajiv Gandhi, did the same in politics. He carried millions of people together, bringing India closer and allowing it to imagine a collective dream.

“India has achieved what it has precisely because millions of our people have chosen to live in harmony together. India in harmony with itself is musical,” he said.

Sharing his encounter with music during his high school days, Gandhi said many years ago on one of his first days in high school, the entire class was called into the common room. There surrounded by seniors we were asked one by one to stand on a stool and sing a song, he recalled.

“I can still remember the dread I felt as I stood up on that stool. I didn’t know how to sing; so I stood there quietly for a moment until someone shouted “arre sing something yaar.

“I can’t even tell you what I felt as I quickly belted out a song, the first song I could think of. I finished and as I hurriedly jumped off the stool someone shouted: “that’s not music that’s just noise,” Rahul said.