Not for judiciary to determine who is a true Indian: Priyanka Gandhi

Priyanka Gandhi defended Rahul Gandhi after the Supreme Court questioned his statements on Chinese incursions, asserting the judiciary has no right to decide who is a "true Indian". She criticised the government for avoiding debate on sensitive national issues like Sino-India relations.

New Delhi: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stated on Tuesday that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to determine who is a “true Indian” and asserted that Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has always shown respect for the Indian Armed Forces.

This comes a day after the apex court reprimanded Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Indian Army and his claim that over 2,000 sq km of the Indian territory had been occupied by China.

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Referring to the Supreme Court’s remarks, Priyanka Gandhi said, “With all due respect to the judiciary, it is not for them to determine who is a true Indian and who is not. The Justice will not decide that. Another thing is that Rahul Gandhi has always respected the Army and our soldiers. His respect towards the Army is clearly reflected in every statement and speech.”

The Wayanad MP further stated that the responsibility of the LoP is to question the government, and that is what Rahul Gandhi has always done. “The government does not like it, and they do not want to answer him; that is why they resort to all these things,” she said.

When asked about the Opposition benches resorting to sloganeering to disrupt the Parliament, Priyanka said, “The Parliament proceedings have been taking place for the past few days. How difficult can it be to run the Parliament? The government should assure the public that it is willing to hold a discussion on the SIR issue, which concerns the entire country.”

“They held discussions on Operation Sindoor, so why not on SIR? Why can’t they address a topic that the entire opposition demands? Have they become so weak that they cannot even manage Parliament effectively?” she added.

On Monday, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi pulled up Rahul Gandhi for his claim that over 2,000 sq km of Indian territory had been occupied by China.

In court, the Bench questioned senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Gandhi: “How do you know that 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory were occupied by the Chinese? Were you there? Do you have any credible material?”

“If you were a true Indian, you would not say all this,” the court remarked. It further asked, “Why don’t you say this in Parliament? Why do you have to say this in social media posts?” However, it also paused the ongoing defamation proceedings against Gandhi related to the statement.

Gandhi had made the controversial claim during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, where he allegedly said, “Chinese troops are thrashing Indian Army soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh,” referring to the December 9, 2022, skirmish in the Tawang sector.