Rahul Gandhi's Youth Convention held on November 26, Friday in Ahmedabad gave immense fodder to sensational journalism. The media was kept out of this convention but that did not stop the media from using hearsay or second hand information gathered from those who were leaving the convention premises after it ended and using that information to come up with sensational headlines.
Lucky for us, the student (Soumyaa Harsha) who caused all the excitement by her questions is a volunteer at Choices International and so we asked her to submit the transcript of her conversation with Rahul Gandhi. We hope reading the actual transcript will help you see through the sensational media headlines.
Note: Soumyaa's conversation with Rahul Gandhi was in her individual capacity and not as a Choices volunteer. Her political opinion is not a reflection of Choices international.
Transcript
Soumyaa Harsha: Sir you said that our system should be more open so that more people can enter politics. But don’t you think for that security (in the state) is of prime importance. And Narendra Modi in our state has provided that. I look up to you and I think you talk sense. So keeping your credibility at stake who do you think are the 3 people in congress who can match Mr. Nitish Kumar and Mr. Narendra Modi with respect to development and security?
[The whole auditorium applauded.]
Rahul Gandhi: Well why just 3? I can name many. Mr. Manmohan Singh is a bulletproof man, A K Antony and Mr. Chidambaram. And, I don’t agree with you w.r.t. Narendra Modi. But yes I respect Mr. Nitish Kumar because he changed the politics in Bihar from cast based to development. But, what Mr. Modi did was development but at a huge cost. There are 140 million Muslims in our country and they are also an important part of our society and they feel that they are not being treated fairly.
SH: (interrupting) But sir we don’t have a better choice than him.
RG: (continuing he asked Soumyaa) You tell me, if you were a terrorist recruiter what would you look for?
SH: Courage?
RG: No, as in which state would you go to?
SH: Kashmir
Crowd: Kashmir, UP, Assam
RG: (surprised) Why don’t you think Gujarat would be the place to come?
Crowd: (unanimous) NO!!!
RG: Well, I think it will be on the top of the list.
SH: Then Sir you are the only one who thinks like that in this hall other than a few.
RG: It’s OK if I am the only one. But I believe in it and I have the courage to say this.
SH: Sir, I am not scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RG: Well I am not saying that you are scared, but, I am saying that development has come at a cost. Tell me if your brother was murdered in front of your eyes would you not be biased then?
[Crowd applauded]
There were many dictators in history who did a lot of development in their country but was that good? Even Mao developed China, but was he good for China?
[Another boy stood up in the audience]
Boy: (in Hindi) Sir, today (in Gujarat) I feel much more secure in going to Muslim populated areas and making friends there.
RG: All I am saying is that this development has come at a huge cost. It is a dent on this country.
Some examples of how main stream media covered this interaction and the way his opponents have used it for their benefit:
