Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of not addressing the problem of Manipur even during the debate on the violence in the northeastern state in Parliament a few days ago.
Gandhi was addressing a meeting organised by the opposition Congress-led UDF alliance in Kalpetta here to welcome him on his first visit to Wayanad after his Lok Sabha membership was restored.
"He (Modi) spoke for 2 hrs 13 minutes. He laughed... he joked... he smiled... his cabinet laughed, joked and smiled... They had a lot of fun. The Prime Minister spoke two hours about everything... Congress, me about INDIA alliance — but spoke two minutes about Manipur," Gandhi said.
Lashing out at Modi, Gandhi said the BJP and the government led by it "murdered the idea of India" in Manipur.
"You have destroyed thousands of families. You have allowed the rape of thousands of women. You have allowed the murder of thousands of people. And as Prime Minister of the country, you are laughing?" he asked.
The Congress leader opined that anyone who murders the idea of India cannot be a nationalist.
Escalating his offensive against Modi, Gandhi further said: "You spent two minutes talking about the murder of Bharat Mata. How dare you do this? How can you dismiss the idea of India?" "What have you been doing for the last four months? Why have you not been there? Why have you not tried to stop the violence? Because you are not a nationalist. Anybody who murders the idea of India cannot be a nationalist," he said.
He said there is a complete divide between the state of Manipur and "there is blood everywhere; there is murder everywhere; there is rape everywhere".
He said the idea of India represents the idea of peace among its people.
"If there is violence, if there is hatred, if there is murder, if there is rape, that is not India. If in a state, the people are killing each other, murdering each other, raping each other, that is not India. India is love and affection between its people, India is the bringing together of people", Gandhi said.
Recalling his speech in Parliament, he said that the BJP has killed the idea of India in Manipur.
"Manipur mein aapne 'Bharat Mata' ki hatya ki hai (You have murdered the idea of India in Manipur). You have destroyed thousands of families. You have allowed the rape of women. You have allowed the murder of hundreds of people. And as Prime Minister of this country, you are laughing!", the Congress MP said.
He said Modi spent only two minutes talking about the murder of 'Bharat Mata'.
"How dare you do this? How can you disrespect the idea of India? What have you been doing for the last four months? Why have you not been there? Why have you not tried to stop the violence? Because you are not a nationalist. Anybody who murders the idea of India cannot be a nationalist, anybody who murders the idea of India cannot love India," he said.
Gandhi also spoke about his bond with Wayanad, saying, "Now, I have come to my family." "Now, I want to ask you - suppose somebody tries to separate members of our family, suppose somebody tries to separate two brothers from each other, suppose somebody tries to separate a father from his daughter, do you think the relationship between the father and daughter will become weaker or stronger?" "If somebody tries to separate a family, the family becomes stronger; if somebody tries to separate a father and a son, the relationship between the father and the son becomes stronger...the love between the father and the son becomes stronger," he said.
He alleged that the BJP and the RSS do not understand what a family is.
"They don't understand that the more they try to separate you and me, the closer we will become. They think -- if we disqualify Rahul Gandhi, his relationship with Wayanad will break. No! If you disqualify Rahul Gandhi, his relationship with Wayanad will become even stronger, his love for the people of Wayanad will become even stronger, and the love that the people of Wayanad have for him will become stronger," he said.
Gandhi alleged that the BJP aims to destroy the country.
"India is a family...they want to divide it; Manipur was a family...they tried to destroy it...thousands and thousands of families in Manipur have been destroyed by the policies of the BJP. So, they destroy families, they destroy the relationship between people. We bring people together, we strengthen families, we strengthen the relationship between people," he said.
The Congress leader said his party and the INDIA alliance will bring Manipur back together.
"We will bring love back to Manipur. We will bring mutual respect back to Manipur. It took you two months to do it, you took two months to burn Manipur… it might take us five years to bring back love to Manipur, but we will do it. This is the fight between the BJP and the Congress," he strongly asserted.
He also recalled his relations with Congress veteran Oommen Chandy, who died last month.
"I am here today after four months... I have come back to Wayanad as your MP. I am happy to come back, but I am also sad that I don't see Oommen Chandy ji here. He was a leader of Kerala and Kerala showed the love and respect they had for him in his funeral. We are thankful for what he did for Kerala...the honesty and transparency with which he worked, and the love and affection that always guided him," he added.