RSS, BJP want women to stay at home says Rahul

Washington : Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the Indian American community in Texas, where he also accused the RSS and the BJP of believing that women should stay at home.

Gandhi said that the attitude of Indian men towards women needs to change. The 54-year-old said he is a supporter of women’s participation in politics starting with the women’s reservation bill.

Gandhi said women should be supported financially if they want to start a business and they should be treated equally to men. “The BJP and the RSS believe that women should be restricted to a particular role. They should stay at home, they should cook the food, they should not talk too much and we believe that women should aspire to whatever they want to do,” the Congress leader said.

“The RSS believes that India is one idea. We believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas,” he said .

“Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said. “This is the fight. The fight crystallised in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India. Because what I am saying to you is the union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste. This is all in the Constitution,” Gandhi added. Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics. “I think what is missing in our political systems and across parties is love, respect and humility. Love to all human beings, not necessarily only people of one religion, one community, one caste, one State, or to those who speak one language,” he said.

The BJP launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi over his latest remarks in the United States, callinghim a “black spot” in Indian democracy Gaurav Bhatia, national spokesperson of BJP, also accused Gandhi of trying to weaken Indian democracy with his remarks abroad.