New Delhi: Tearing into the Narendra Modi government for virtually splitting Manipur through its divisive politics, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha: “Aap deshbhakt nahin ho. Aap deshdrohi ho (You are not a patriot. You are a traitor).”

Rahul’s blunt remarks cast a slur on the BJP on a day when Mahatma Gandhi gave the Quit India call in 1942, which was opposed by their ideological mentor RSS. Saddled with the taint of not participating in the freedom struggle for decades, the RSS and its latter-day progeny BJP are now being attacked by the Opposition for working against the national interest by pursuing divisive politics.

Participating in the no-confidence motion debate, Rahul said: “Manipur has ceased to exist. You have broken it. You divided the state. I went to the relief camps. The Prime Minister didn’t go. One woman told me her son, her only child, was shot dead. She stayed with the body the whole night. She got scared and fled in the morning, leaving everything at her home. She had some clothes and a photograph of her son. Another woman shivered and fainted when I asked what happened to her.”

Pointing out that these were only two examples of the colossal tragedy in Manipur, Rahul thundered amidst incessant disturbances by the BJP members: “Inhone Manipur mein Hindustan ki hatya ki hai. Hindustan ka qatl kiya hai (These people have murdered Hindustan in Manipur).”

As the BJP members, including ministers, created an uproar, recalling the “atrocities” in the Northeast during Congress rule, Rahul hit back: “Aapke Pradhan Mantri Manipur nahin ja sakte. Aapne Bharat Mata ki hatya Manipur mein ki. Aapne Manipiur ke logo ko maar kar Bharat
ki hatya ki hai. Meri ek Ma yahan baithi hai. Dusri Ma ko inhone Manipur mein mara hai (Your Prime Minister cannot go to Manipur. You have killed Bharat Mata in Manipur. By killing the people of Manipur, you have killed Bharat. My one mother is sitting here. My other mother was killed in Manipur).”

Contending that the Indian Army can bring peace in Manipur in one day, the former Congress president said: “You don’t use the army because you want to kill Manipur. Modi doesn’t listen to India’s voice. Ravana used to listen to two persons — Meghnad and Kumbhakaran. Modi also listens to two persons — Amit Shah and Adani. Lanka was not burnt by Hanuman. Lanka was burnt because of Ravana’s arrogance. Ram didn’t kill Ravana; he was killed by his arrogance.”

Rahul continued: “You are throwing kerosene all over the country. You spread kerosene on Manipur and lit the fire. You did the same thing in Haryana. You are trying to burn the entire country. You are trying to kill Bharat Mata in the entire country.”

The Congress leader had earlier in this speech explained that Bharat Mata was the voice of the people, the pain and suffering of the people, and Modi was trying to suppress that voice.

By claiming that what happened in Manipur was an attack on India and was an anti-national act, Rahul appeared to be trying to expose what many perceive as the hollowness of the RSS-BJP’s nationalism. Rahul has often pointed to Jawaharlal Nehru’s concept that Bharat Mata meant the toiling masses of India, whom the BJP didn’t care for. He hinted even on Wednesday that Modi was not concerned about the pain and miseries of the people of Manipur because he didn’t understand the true import of Bharat Mata.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge elaborated in a tweet later: “Rahul Gandhi expressed India’s voice in Parliament today. Nehru had said people of India are themselves Bharat Mata. Our own brothers and sisters are suffering the violence in Manipur. They are dealing with the BJP’s insensitivity. Ministers are talking about sundry issues instead of telling the nation how the violence started; how was it allowed to spread, why didn’t the Prime Minister refuse to even issue an appeal for peace, why didn’t he visit the state to understand the people’s pain? Is the Modi Government immune to the pain of the people? Is their politics limited to only their vote?”

By linking the apathy towards Manipur to nationalism, Rahul reignited an old debate as the RSS had sided with the British in the freedom struggle at a time when Congressmen were fighting for independence and spent their lives in prison.

Using the occasion of August 9, Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate said: “Before the Quit India movement was launched with the do-or-die slogan in 1942, all the provincial Congress governments resigned in 1939. But the BJP’s forefathers were running governments with Muslim League in Sindh, Bengal and NWFP.”

Shrinate added: “The BJP’s icon, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, not only opposed the Quit India movement but wrote a letter to the British governor John Herbert, suggesting ways to crush the movement. When Congress leaders were arrested on August 9, BJP’s forefathers were doing sycophancy of the British. What face they have to talk of freedom movement?”

Shrinate posted an image of the letter on Twitter to support her claim.

The Congress has been combining historical facts with contemporary politics to challenge the BJP on the nationalism turf. While the BJP has influenced people by merging its majoritarian politics with nationalism, often described by political scientists as Hindu nationalism, the Congress is struggling to make inroads into that space with constitutional principles.