Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, underscored the crucial role women must play in India’s future, saying they are often more capable, sensitive and possess a longer-term vision than men.
Addressing students at the golden jubilee celebrations of St. Thomas English High School in Gudalur, Tamil Nadu,Rahul Gandhi responded to a question on who taught him the most about treating women with dignity.
He said, “I grew up in a family where my grandmother was the boss. So, in my family... when I was small, my grandmother was the head of the family. So, I learnt a lot from her and then from my mother and my sister."
Drawing from his broader life experience, he added, “But in general, in life, I have seen that women are extremely capable, often more sensitive, more capable than men, have a longer-term vision than men. And I think it is very important that they have a large role to play in our country, in our businesses, in our defence forces, in our bureaucracy.”
Rahul Gandhi said his broader political struggle was to “develop an India where people are kind to each other.” He also spoke about threats to democracy and democratic institutions under the incumbent government at the Centre.
On the role of youth in safeguarding India’s democratic foundations, he said, “One of the things that I have been talking about is the attack on our democratic foundations. India is a democratic country, but today our democratic system is under attack."
On environmental protection and development, particularly in the context of sensitive hill regions and the Aravalli range, Rahul Gandhi said, “I cannot comment on what the Supreme Court has said because that’s the court’s opinion, in their jurisdiction... but I do feel that it is very important that we don’t sacrifice our environment for development. We need to think about development almost in partnership with our environment, because if we destroy our environment, we cannot have development. So, we have to be sensitive to our environment, we have to be sensitive to these beautiful hills, we have to be sensitive to the ecology, we have to be sensitive to the water if we actually want to develop."
He further said, “What is happening in the Aravalli and this type of stuff is just completely unleashed greed. People are just being short-sighted and greedy and then they are destroying the environment. I think we need balance and we need to be very sensitive to our environment because this does not belong to you and me, it belongs to the future of our country... it belongs to people who come after us. So, we have to be sensitive to that.”
Responding to a student’s question on racism and discrimination, Rahul Gandhi said such behaviour reflected the limitations of the aggressor, not the victim. “Look! If somebody is behaving in an ignorant way, if somebody does not respect other people, that is not a limitation of yours; that is a limitation of the person who is doing it."
Sharing his own experiences, he said, “I get attacked quite a lot. You must have seen my opponents attack me. I don’t take what they say seriously. They have a particular anger, they have a particular frustration, so they are taking out their frustration."
He added, “In the same way, when somebody attacks you, maybe body-shames you, he is taking out his frustrations. It has nothing to do with you. He is not happy with his situation. He is uncomfortable. So, he’s got to find somebody to disturb. So, I don’t take it seriously."
Explaining the essence of democracy, he said, “Democracy is voice. So, democracy is the idea that you should have a voice, I should have a voice. All these people should have a voice. All those children in front of us should have a voice. So, democracy is what gives India its voice, and I have been saying that our democratic structure is under attack, and so our voice, the voice of our people, is under attack. And it is under attack by those in government, by the people who are actually running the government. They are attacking our Election Commission; they are attacking our different institutions. They are threatening people who don’t agree with their ideology. So, for that, we need young people like you, who are brave, who are confident and who are not scared of asking questions.”
Emphasising pluralism and mutual respect, Rahul Gandhi said, “I said in my speech, you know, India has many different religions, many different cultures, many different languages. I asked the girls today... they learn Tamil, they learn English, they learn Hindi, they learn Malayalam. So, we have multiple different languages, different religions, different ideas and we should respect all of them. You are perfectly within your rights to choose a language, to choose a religion."
He cautioned against intolerance, saying, “You are not within your rights to threaten someone because you don’t like the language they speak or attack someone because you don’t like their religion or because you don’t like where they come from. So, I think if you are gentle, kind and humble, none of these problems exist.”
Among those present at the event were Nilgiris MP A. Raja, Gudalur MLA Pon. Jayaseelan, Reverend Mathews Mar Makarios Episcopa, St. Thomas Institutions Correspondent Jobi Koruthi, and the school’s office-bearers.