‘Fascism already there, democratic structures collapsed’: Rahul to Italian daily

• ‘The balance of powers is off. Justice is not independent. The press is no longer free. Democratic structures collapse’
• Media fuelling communalism at the behest of people in power to deflect people’s attention from pressing issues
• Fascism is defeated by offering an alternative. If two visions of India confront each other in the vote, we will be able to prevail’

Congress leader is likely to face wrath of the BJP and other saffron groups for his that “fascism” has already been in India” in an interview to an Italian newspaper.

In a rare interview with the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, said: “Fascism is already there. Democratic structures collapse. Parliament is no longer working. I haven’t been able to speak for two years; as soon as I speak they take my microphone off. The press is no longer free.” The Hindustan Times quoted Gandhi as saying: “The balance of powers is off. Justice is not independent. Centralism is absolute.”

On the question of Hindu-Muslim divide in the country, the Gandhi scion said that communal division was there but underscored that the situations were not as dire as portrayed by the media under the aegis of the government. The media is playing deplorable role, he said and added that “communalism” is being fuelled by the news outlets precisely to deflect people’s attention from pressing issues like “poverty, illiteracy, inflation, the post-covid crisis of small, indebted entrepreneurs and landless farmers”.

Gandhi also opened up on his experience of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in the interview, saying that the journey was more like a ‘Tapasya’ (sacrifice). He was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying: “In Sanskrit, the oldest language in the world, there is a word, Tapasya , which is difficult for a Western mind to understand. Someone translates it with ‘sacrifice’, ‘patience’, but the meaning is different: to generate heat. The march is an action that generates warmth, makes you look inside yourself, makes you understand the extraordinary resilience of the Indians,” Gandhi said.

On the question of any change in sight, Gandhi said it entirely depends on opposition unity. He said “It is sure Modi can be beaten. Provided you oppose a vision: not linked to the right or the left, but to peace and union. Fascism is defeated by offering an alternative. If two visions of India confront each other in the vote, we will be able to prevail.”

Rahul Gandhi, however, avoided comments on the ongoing the Russia-Ukraine war. On India-China relations, the Congress president said, “Of peaceful competition. I don’t think the West can be competitive with China on an industrial level, especially in low-value-added production. India can and should be. For the resilience of her people.”

The Congress leader made another shocking claim that Rajiv Gandhi too was aware that his demise was near, reported the HT, referring from the interview. Gandhi said, “I don’t know if he knew it was the Tamil Tigers who would kill him. But he felt that a concentration of energies, interests and forces had arisen which would have cost him his life.”

Gandhi scion he was not afraid of his life. “It’s not a matter of fear. I do what I have to do,” he said.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM