New Delhi: Saffron leaders weren’t the only ones to invoke the message of Swami Vivekananda and his historic speech at the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago. On Monday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi used Swami Vivekananda to target the BJP and claimed his historic Chicago speech should be a charter for the way forward in what she described as today’s atmosphere of hate and intolerance in India.
The Congress has been extremely vocal in raising issues regarding “intolerance” against the dalits, minorities and people with a viewpoint that differs from the that of the government. In a swipe at the Centre, Mrs Gandhi said: “Swami Vivekananda’s slogan of oneness in his historic Chicago speech is as relevant today as it was in 1893, and should be the charter for the way forward in today’s atmosphere of intolerance and hate.”
On the 125th anniversary of Vivekananda’s address at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Mrs Gandhi raised the issues of sectarianism, bigotry and fanaticism that have now swept the world. “While promoting the idea of the oneness of all religions, Swamiji promoted with equal zeal the idea of the equality of all human beings,” she said.
The Congress president said the views which Swami Vivekananda spoke of in his 1893 address were still relevant today. Mrs Gandhi said: “Today, more than ever, we are engulfed with the same challenges of prejudices which Swamiji spoke about. In today’s atmosphere of intolerance and hate, Swamiji’s message should be the Magna Carta for the way forward.”
After being accused of being pro-minorities by saffron leaders, the Congress president referred to Swamiji’s invoking of the Bhagwad Gita. She said that speaking in Chicago, Vivekananda, as a representative of Hinduism and India, eloquently quoted from the Bhagvad Gita, and said: “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation, and sent whole nations to despair.”
On social media too, the Congress paid rich tribute to Swami Vivekananda and his speech, which talked about “universal brotherhood”. The Congress is going all out to show Vivekananda is very much a part of Congress history, and also implying that the NDA government is not following the path of Swami Vivekananda.
