Women’s empowerment a smokescreen: Himanta Sarma attacks Rahul Gandhi

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of using women’s empowerment to target Hinduism. Sarma questioned Gandhi’s criticism of Manusmriti while citing practices under Sharia, and challenged him to support a Uniform Civil Code guaranteeing equal rights

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, claiming that he is not a champion of women’s rights but “simply a Hindu baiter”. During an interaction with girl students in Maharashtra on Saturday, Gandhi had criticised the “Manusmriti mindset”, urged students to “smash patriarchy” and said women belonged to themselves, not to their fathers, husbands or sons.

Gandhi is simply using the cause of women’s empowerment as a convenient smokescreen to target and discredit Hindu Dharma, Sarma alleged in a social media post. ”Consider this: how many times has he spoken with the same outrage against patriarchal and medieval practices that persist under Sharia? NEVER,” Sarma said.

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”While Sharia is foundational to Islamic jurisprudence, Manusmriti has no comparable scriptural authority in Hindu Dharma. It is not even a universally binding code for Hindus,” the chief minister said. ”How many times does Rahul Gandhi attack the Manusmriti, and how many times does he attack Sharia with the same fervour?” Sarma asked.

He claimed that the enduring strength of Hinduism lies in its unique ability to ”evolve, reform and adapt with time — as it has for millennia, and as it will for eternity”. ”Every Hindu must therefore ask: what is Rahul Gandhi’s real intent- championing women’s rights, or using them as a pretext to malign Hindu Dharma?” Sarma said.

The chief minister alleged that Congress rhetoric on women’s rights rings hollow when measured against its own record. ”They betrayed our mothers and sisters by reversing the effect of the Shah Bano judgment. It opposed the law against Triple Talaq,” he said.

Shah Bano Begum’s case led the Supreme Court to grant divorced Muslim women the right to maintenance in 1985. Following protests by Muslim organisations, the then-Rajiv Gandhi government enacted a law in 1986 which nullified the apex court’s decision in the Shah Bano case.

Sarma further alleged that just to cling to power in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi’s party ensured that not a single woman found a place in the state Cabinet.

”So here is a simple challenge to Rahul Gandhi: If women’s equality truly comes before politics, will he unequivocally support a Uniform Civil Code that guarantees equal rights irrespective of religion? Or will his idea of ‘women’s rights’ continue to begin and end with attacking Hinduism?”