Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has addressed the Indian diaspora in New York during his ongoing US tour. In his address, the PM aspirant opined that the central architect of modern India was Mahatma Gandhi, an NRI. In his now-controversial speech, the Wayanad MP said that the freedom movement of India began in South Africa under the aegis of Gandhi. He further described Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Subhas Chandra Bose as NRIs.
"All the giants that have emerged from India, you can see that there were certain qualities that all of them possessed. Firstly, they searched for, represented and fought for the truth. Secondly, all these people were humble, and there was no arrogance in them. That is how Indians have worked in the US, and that's why Indians are successful here," the Congress party's official handle quoted him as saying.
Netizens are describing RaGa's speech as an affront to the sacrifices made by those who participated in the 1857 sepoy mutiny, which has been described as the First War of Independence by Veer Savarkar. "By saying that India's freedom movement took root in South Africa first, RaGa has tried to erase the contributions made by Mangal Pandey, Jhansi Rani, Khudiram Bose, Balagangadhar Tilak, Chandra Shekar Azad and others," a Netizen wrote
