Rahul Gandhi accuses RSS of damaging India’s education system
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a four-day visit to the US, said the people running the education in India must be Independent and not ideological
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has called for the need for independent people to helm India’s education system while accusing ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ideological fount Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of damaging it.
He said the education system was feeding ideologies and RSS was placing most of the vice-chancellors. “One organisation [RSS] placing its people in our education system is really damaging. The people who run education in India must be Independent and not ideological,” he said at an event in Dallas in the American state of Texas on Sunday.
Gandhi, who is on a four-day visit to the US, said India needs to boost manufacturing if it wants to solve its unemployment problem. He highlighted India’s potential to compete with China in global production if it focuses on enhancing manufacturing.
Gandhi said India has abundant skills but needs to align its strategies for production. He called for increased vocational training to bridge the gap between the needs of business and the education system while criticising its “ideological capture”.
Gandhi said his role as the Opposition leader in Lok Sabha was more than just opposing the government. “It is much broader and simpler.” He added it was about injecting the values of love, respect, and humility, which are missing in the Indian political system across parties.
“Love all human beings, not just one religion, one community, one caste, one state, or people who speak one language. Respect all those building India, the most powerful and the weakest.” He said a man wearing a turban, sitting in front of him deserves as much respect as someone who is not wearing one.
“...so deserves the one who speaks Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. These are not just languages. They carry with them history, culture, music, food, dance,” said Gandhi. “If you tell people of Andhra Pradesh that Telugu is not as important as Hindi, you are insulting them and telling them their histories are not important. This is the battle being fought in India,” he said.
Gandhi recalled one of his speeches in Parliament and the description of the idea of fearlessness in every religion. “When I was saying this, the BJP could not stand it. They do not understand. And we are going to make them understand.”
He referred to the 2024 national election results and said the people of India have decided they are not going to accept attacks on the Constitution, religion, and states. Gandhi praised the Indian diaspora in the US for their values of love and humility and called them the ambassadors of India.