BJP 'resorting to lies' says Rahul, hits back at saffron party for their tirade about his US visit

'As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love,' Rahul said.

New Delhi: As the BJP raised a furore over his comments on religious freedom in India claiming that he made comments against Sikhs, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the saffron party was "resorting to lies" because they cannot stand the truth.

"The BJP has been spreading lies about my remarks in America. I want to ask every Sikh brother and sister in India and abroad - is there anything wrong in what I have said? Shouldn't India be a country where every Sikh - and every Indian - can freely practise their religion without fear?" Rahul posted on 'X' while sharing a video of his remarks he made in Washington.

"As usual, the BJP is resorting to lies. They are desperate to silence me because they cannot stand the truth. But I will always speak up for the values that define India: our unity in diversity, equality, and love," he added.

The BJP had attacked Rahul for raising questions about Sikhs with union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and UP Minister Raghuraj Singh calling him "number one terrorist" while Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad announced a Rs 11 lakh reward for cutting his tongue. On Saturday, the BJP cited a joint statement of several Sikh groups to ask Rahul to withdraw his statement.

During his visit to Washington, Rahul told a gathering on September 10, "first of all you have to understand what the fight is about. The fight is not about politics. That is superficial."

Pointing to a Sikh man in the audience, Rahul said the fight is about whether he as a Sikh is going to be allowed to wear his turban, whether he is allowed to wear 'kada', allowed to go to a gurdwara. "That is what the fight is about and not just for him, but for all religions."

"What the RSS is basically saying is that certain states are inferior to other states, certain languages are inferior to other languages, certain religions are inferior to other religions, certain communities are inferior to other communities. That is the fight about. We are of the opinion that whether you are from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, all of you have your traditions, all of you have your language and every single one of them is as important as any other one," he said.

"The fight is about what type of India we are going to have. Are we going to have an India where people are allowed to believe what they want to believe, where people are allowed to respect what they want to respect, say what they want to say, listen to what they want to listen to... Or are we going to have an India where only a few limited people can decide what is going to happen. Problem is that these people do not understand India," he added.