Complaint Filed Against Congress Party & Rahul Gandhi For Involving Children In Political Propaganda
It has not even been a week since the Congress party launched its “Bharat Jodo Yatra” and the party has courted another controversy, this time for using children in political propaganda.
A complaint has been lodged with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), against the Congress party and its children’s wing called ‘Jawahar Bal Manch’ for targeting minors with political intentions and involving them in political activities.
The Congress party kicked off the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a fancy road-trip from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in an attempt to give a new lease of life to the party in the run up to the various state Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Bharat Jodo Bacche Jodo campaign is organised by ‘Jawahar Bal Manch’ which as per its official Twitter handle, is a department of Indian National Congress. It was formed to target the children between the age group of 7 to 18 years and its ‘Patron Membership Campaign’ was launched on 18 December 2021.
The official website of the Jawahar Bal Manch, states that it seeks to inculcate in children the qualities of social values, creativeness and innovation, personal effectiveness, proactive participation in social and national causes, adherence to democratic, secular and socialist ideals and to take pride in the nation. The need to ingrain in young minds the concepts fraternity, equality and compassion is one of the key purposes of the gatherings of this group, it states.
Rahul Gandhi as part of his political campaign has been visiting schools, and interacting with minor children making them participate in political campaigns and inculcating political ideology in them.
The party through its social media handles has been publishing several videos of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra and his interactions. There are several images and videos that have been circulating in social media that shows children being targeted and made to participate in the campaign with a political agenda under the slogan ‘Bharat Jodo Bacche Jodo’.
The minor children participating in the campaign were seen holding Indian National Congress party flags and shouting political slogans.
“It is highly disturbing that a political party has set up an internal department to mobilise minor children in its activities which are contradictory to the provisions under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”, the complaint filed by NGO watchdog Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) noted.
The complaint also stated that the Election Commission of India and quasi-judicial bodies, including the NCPCR, had made it clear that parading children during election or political campaign is a clear violation of children rights.
The complaint also cited the recent remarks made by Justice Gopinath P of Kerala High Court who said “Children must be totally prohibited from taking part in political rallies, sloganeering etc. Using them like this should not be ok. They do not have the legal right to vote or even drive till they are 18.”
“Using children as props to fulfil their personal political agenda is child abuse which can have a severe long-term impact on their mental health.”, the complaint filed by LRPF stated.
“In this regard, we request you to take necessary stringent action against the Indian National Congress, Jawahar Bal Manch, Mr. Rahul Gandhi and others concerned and also make recommendations to the Election Commission of India to de-recognize Indian National Congress as a political party.”, the complaint concluded.
Lodged complaint with @NCPCR_ against 'JawaharBalManch', a wing of Indian National Congress targeting minor children & using them for its Nation-wide political campaign 'Bharat Jodo' launched by Rahul Gandhi in contravention to provisions of Representation of People Act 1951 pic.twitter.com/wMUzDkN9p5
— Legal Rights Protection Forum (@lawinforce) September 12, 2022
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What RaGa And Christian Pastor Ponnaiah Can Learn From Swami Vivekananda
Rahul Gandhi who is on his “Bharat Jodo” Yatra met with controversial Christian Pastor George Ponnaiah who had spewed venom against Bharat Mata and Hindus.
In the video going viral, one can see Rahul Gandhi deeply engrossed in philosphical discussions about God.
“So, Jesus Christ is a form of God. Is that correct?” asks Rahul Gandhi to which Pastor Ponnaiah replies “He is the real God. God revealed him as a man, human person. Not like Sakthi or other Gods. So, we see in this human person, born like a man, born in the world, the Father.”
This assertion by Abrahamic faith systems that “only” their God is true and other faiths are to be damned is precisely why there is religious conflict across the world.
Call it coincidence, but such problematic revelations from Rahul Gandhi’s philosophical discussion comes a day before the anniversary of one of the watershed moments of India’s world history – Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Chicago Parliament of Religions.
“Only” Vs “Also”
The welcome and adoration that was given to the speeches of Swami Vivekananda during the Parliament of Religions at Chicago made it clear that world is in need of the message of Bharat, but Bharat has to awaken to its sense of duty.
The Parliament of Religions was organized as the part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the European discovery of America by Columbus. The purpose of the Parliament was to proclaim the Christianity as the ‘Only True Religion.’ The exclusive approach considers one’s religion as the only true religion. Once this exclusive approach is adopted then others’ religions are not tolerated. This intolerance impels the followers of exclusive religion to set out on large-scale conversion of others even by fraud and force.
Swami Vivekananda was aware that it is this exclusive approach of these Semitic religions like Christianity and Islam, which was responsible for so much bloodshed and human massacre in the human history.
It is this exclusive approach which is the biggest obstacle in the realization of brotherhood of man. It is well-known that Swami Vivekananda when addressed the audience as ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’ it had an electrifying effect on them.
It was not merely a form of address but behind those words was the great spiritual strength of India, which has always practiced the universal brotherhood in her long history of more than 5000 years.
Taking pride in this fact Swami Vivekananda said, “I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.” Hindus could have this universal approach because they never claim that, ‘the God I worship is the ‘Only True God’. But they say that there is ‘only God’. Everything is the expression of that One.
So we do not say that ours is the only true god and others are false gods. Hindus accept other Gods as ‘also’ a form of God.
Thus our approach is an inclusive approach, an ‘also’ approach. The exclusive approach says ‘this only’ whereas inclusive approach says ‘this also’. It is because of this inclusive approach that the Hindus never went destroying other religious faiths. To usher in Universal Brotherhood it is essential that all religions accept this inclusive –’also’ approach.
The Hindus have this ‘also’ approach because they have the vision of Oneness for the whole existence. As Hindus view everything in the existence as the expression of One, all the manifestations are revered, are accepted. There is then respect for the diversity. As everything is expression of the One, the human soul too is not interpreted as the sinner but as immortal, complete wholeness. This is the message that India has to give to the world.
For the first time to that audience which was used to the exclusive claim to religious truth Swami Vivekananda gave the message, “Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity…. But if anyone here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity, and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance, “Help and not fight” “Assimilation and not Destruction” “ Harmony and Peace and not dissension.”
For the first time to western audience, the message of universal Brotherhood and its proper understanding was given by Swami Vivekananda. Hence, Mananeeya Eknath Ranade wanted this day to be celebrated as Universal Brotherhood Day. Homogenizing the humanity or bringing uniformity in the human society will not usher in Universal Brotherhood but it will only bring further dissentions and destruction. Integrating the various faiths and accepting, as ‘others’ faith also is good for them will bring in Universal Brotherhood. Homogenizing, which Islam and Christianity does, brings destruction of the identity and also the traditional values in the society where as the integration keeps the identity of the communities intact but binds them in the bonds of Brotherhood.
Therefore on this day the message is also for those who are very exclusive in their approach and are undertaking the conversions by destroying the faiths and culture of various tribal and other communities.
Hindus by their philosophy and practice of inclusive approach are destined to give this message of Universal Brotherhood to the humanity. But in order to do that first Hindus will have to understand this unifying and integrating nature of their Dharma.
In the Parliament of Religions Swami Vivekananda also gave us the unifying principles of Hinduism. As put very beautifully by Sister Nivedita, “Of the Swami’s address before the Parliament of Religions, it may be said that when he began to speak it was of “the religious ideas of the Hindus”, but when he ended Hinduism had been created.…These, then were the two mind-floods, two immense rivers of thought, as it were, Eastern and modern, of which the yellow-clad wanderer on the platform of the Parliament of Religions formed for a moment the point of confluence. The formulation of the common bases of Hinduism was the inevitable result of the shock of their contact, in a personality, so impersonal. For it was no experience of his own that rose to the lips of the swami Vivekananda there. He did not even take advantage of the occasion to tell the story of his master. Instead of either of these, it was the religious consciousness of India that spoke through him, the message of his whole people as determined by their whole past.”
Thus on the Universal Brotherhood Day we have to study, absorb and highlight the message that Swami Vivekananda gave in the Parliament of Religions. Not just the lecture given on the first day of the parliament, which is very well known, but the main lecture that he gave in the Parliament of Religions – “The Paper on Hinduism” needs to be studied. It is the study and application of this lecture, which will make us capable of giving the message of Universal Brotherhood Day to the world.
So, if Rahul Gandhi is interested about knowing God, it would do good for him to atleast glance through the writings of Swami Vivekananda while he leisures in his cozy caravan during the “Bharat Jodo” roadtrip.
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