Coffee Par Kurukshetra: Has Congress become pro-Muslim? Uproar over Netanyahu’s statement

There was a serious discussion on Congress’s Muslim vote bank politics in India TV’s debate show “Coffee on Kurukshetra” on Thursday. The issue was to oppose the statement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During this, Israel, Congress politics, Muslim vote bank and law and order of Uttar Pradesh were also discussed. India TV Senior Executive Editor Saurav Sharma along with guests Pradeep Singh, Alok Mehta and India TV Political Editor Devendra Parashar joined the discussion. The guests present in the show said that the Congress Party does politics of Muslim appeasement and the party’s recent statements regarding Israel are part of this strategy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that people in India like Israel very much, people love them like crazy. He described the relationship between India and Israel as unique and said that opposition to Israel is seen in many countries of the world, but the situation is different in India. On this, Congress leaders said that Netanyahu should not have said that there is support for him throughout India, but this support is only among Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters.

Congress does pro-Muslim politics

Congress is continuously giving such statements, the purpose of which is to cultivate the Muslim vote bank. It is clear from the statements given by Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on Palestine and Gaza that Congress is now openly taking an anti-Israel line. Priyanka Gandhi had reached Parliament carrying a pro-Palestine bag. Congress called Israeli action in Gaza as genocide and Rahul Gandhi also continuously does politics of appeasement of minorities. This makes it clear that Congress has started openly doing pro-Muslim politics. Congress politics has now focused on “minority appeasement” and anti-Israel statements are steps taken in that direction.

Discussion on relations between Israel and India

Israel has helped India on many occasions. Israel has been a strong partner of India from the 1971 war to defense technology, agriculture and anti-terrorism cooperation. Israel has always stood by India in Kashmir and security matters. Therefore, Congress’s aggressive language against Israel is nothing more than “political expediency”. Israel had also helped India during Operation Sindoor and has promised to continue helping in future also. In such a situation, there is no reason to distance itself from Israel, but the Congress party is doing this for its vote bank.

UP elections and Hindu-Muslim politics

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that now no mafia can openly threaten Hindus. He said that today the mafia cannot threaten any Hindu by waving pistols, threatening or traveling in an open jeep. He said that if any mafia disrupts any religious event then it is certain that he will face the same fate as Ravana and Kansa. There were riots in Mau 21 years ago. About a decade ago, mafia leaders like Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed and Shahabuddin used to dominate the entire state. Earlier the nexus of crime and politics was linked to religious identity. However, the Yogi government has completely changed the situation.

Why politics on Vande Mataram?

There was an uproar in the Kerala Assembly over Vande Mataram. Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday expressed displeasure over the lack of full singing of Vande Mataram in the state assembly before his address, while Chief Minister V D Satheesan said it is not mandatory to sing the full version of the national anthem. Congress and its allies are also playing politics on nationalist symbols to please the Muslim League. It is wrong to make symbols associated with the freedom movement a subject of political controversy.

To see the complete discussion in detail, click on the video given at the top.

(Disclaimer: This article is based on the discussion at the event and the views expressed during the program are the personal views of the guests.)