JOIN USRahul equates labourers' 'tapasya' with Hindu Gods in Ujjain
Equating labourers, farmers and others who are doing 'tapasya' (penance) to Hindu Gods, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government is not doing anything for them while 2-5 people who do 'pooja' of the Prime Minister are cornering the whole wealth in the country.
Wearing a tilak after a 'darshan' of Lord Mahakal in the temple-town of Ujjain, Rahul addressed a public meeting here where he sought to target the Modi government with Hindu symbolism and calling Lord Shiva as the biggest 'tapaswi' while also referring to Lord Krishna and Lord Sri Rama as 'tapswis'.
"There is no parallel to the ‘tapasya’ of Shiva, Krishna, Rama and India is a land of 'tapaswis'. Hindu religion respects all ‘tapaswis’, fold our hands. In this land, who is a tapaswi?" Rahul said as he referred to migrant labourers who walked to their homes during Covid-19 and farmers among others.
Though he has been describing his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' as a 'tapasya', Rahul this time sought to downplay himself and put the "penance" of farmers, migrant labourers, carpenters, barbers, gardeners, electricians and small businessmen. They do 'tapasya' their entire life and doing 'tapasya' they die, he said.
"This yatra is nothing as it is just a three-month ‘tapasya’, on a day maximum of eight hours. The only thing is there may be small pain in your knees, you may feel thirsty. Actual ‘tapasya’ is done by farmers, labourers etc," he said.
"Now my question is, if the Hindu religion tells us that we should honour the ‘tapaswis’, why is that they are not respected, honoured, revered. The government is not doing anything for those who do ‘tapasya’ in this country. Those who do Narendra Modi’s ‘puja’ are getting everything from railways, ports, airports, roads, power and water. Two-five people who do ‘puja’ of Modi are being given the whole wealth of India," he said.
After referring to Bhagavad Gita's teaching that one should do their duty without expecting the results, he said it is the duty of the government to reward the ‘tapasya’ of people who work hard for the country.
He said the farmers who he met during the yatra have elaborated on their plight, including how insurance companies fleece them. "You can get everything on the internet except the addresses of the private insurance companies which cater to farmers," Rahul alleged.
On youth, he said they too do penance and appear for exams but their efforts are "robbed" by Vyapam-like scams in Madhya Pradesh. The youth's future has ended and even a young engineer ends up as a labourer. "Even selling 'pakoras' is not an option these days," he said mocking Modi's remarks about people who can even sell the snack to beat joblessness.
Repeating his themes on price rise and unemployment, he said demonetisation and GST broke the backbone of people and it was actually a "weapon" to hinder common people's cash flow. Interestingly, he did not refer to communalism and polarisation by the RSS-BJP in his speech in Ujjain.