Congress vows to fight 'casteist mentality' after FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi

The Congress on Monday, Aug 31 hit out at the BJP after an FIR was filed against Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on a "shuddhikaran" or purification ceremony held at the venue of a rally addressed by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in Uttarakhand's Haldwani asking why the state government had not registered a case over the ritual itself.

The party said it would respond to the FIR through democratic and legal means.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttarakhand Kumari Selja said no action had been taken against those who conducted the purification ritual after Kharge's public meeting while an FIR had instead been filed against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for speaking out against it. Writing in Hindi on X she said the Uttarakhand BJP president had openly defended the ritual and called the case against Gandhi a serious example of the BJP-RSS's "anti-Dalit and anti-Constitution" mindset.

She said Gandhi had merely echoed a question Kharge himself had raised in Parliament that the purification act made him feel the sting of untouchability and humiliated him. "Raise questions about those who conducted the purification — FIR. Talk about Dalit dignity — FIR. Raise your voice for the Constitution — FIR" Selja said asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained silent on the matter.

She said the BJP-RSS should not expect the threat of cases to intimidate the Gandhi family or the Congress and vowed the fight against the "casteist mentality" behind the purification ritual and for the protection of Dalit dignity and the Constitution would be waged with full force.

Congress media and publicity head Pawan Khera also hit out at the BJP saying it was not significant that one more FIR had been added to the 40 to 50 cases already filed against Gandhi across the country. The real issue he said was the purification ritual itself and the fact that no FIR had been filed against those who organised it. He questioned why the BJP and the Uttarakhand government were shying away from registering a case and asked whether they had no intention of ensuring justice for Dalits.

The FIR against Gandhi was registered following a complaint by a member of the Valmiki community in Haldwani who alleged the Congress leader gave a casteist spin to a religious ritual held at the venue of Kharge's programme police said on Sunday. It invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita concerning promotion of enmity between groups and acts intended to outrage religious feelings along with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989.

Complainant Amit Kumar a resident of Jawahar Nagar and a member of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas said he was present during the ritual and cleanliness drive and that Gandhi's remarks at a Delhi press conference on 29 August hurt the community's sentiments accusing Gandhi of branding those involved as practising untouchability and being anti-Dalit. Kumar said he himself belonged to the Scheduled Caste community and that people from various sections of society had taken part in the ritual which he said had no connection to Kharge's caste.

The row erupted after individuals allegedly performed a purification yajna at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on 11 August days after Kharge held a public meeting there on 8 August. While the Congress has called the episode a reflection of the BJP's anti-Dalit mindset the BJP has defended the ritual saying the venue was left littered after the rally and that slogans deemed inappropriate for a religious site had been raised there.

At his 29 August press conference in New Delhi Gandhi demanded an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those responsible for the purification. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later joined the demand calling the incident a reflection of a "reprehensible and shameful mindset" and alleging it violated the SC/ST Act.