I am feeling absolutely wretched about the state of my country. My father was in RSS & even he wouldn’t recognize the state of my country.
Rahul Gandhi was asked a question by London-based CEO Malini Mehra at the Chatham House and she said, “I am feeling absolutely wretched about the state of my country. My father was in RSS & even he wouldn’t recognize the state of my country said the daughter of an RSS member in conversation with Rahul Gandhi in London”, words which went viral.
Rahul Gandhi told her that coming from her, this statement was especially powerful as her father was in the RSS, and even though could witness the shocking changes sweeping over India.
See the full speech here below:
It is the duty of every Indian, everywhere in the world, to speak up for India’s core values and protect our beloved democracy. pic.twitter.com/MQQweHkch4
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 7, 2023
Of course as usual, because she was concerned about democracy falling, those who opposed her statements wondered whether she was funded by George Soros.
Malini said she is one among the millions who do not recognize the country they were born and brought up. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Rahul Gandhi said. “What do you think? Why am I here today? I am feeling wretched…” Malini said.
“It is the duty of every Indian, everywhere in the world, to speak up for India’s core values and protect our beloved democracy,” Rahul Gandhi wrote sharing a video of the interaction.
As the video went viral, TV Mohandas Pai, former Infosys director, called Malini Mehra an ‘economic refugee’. “Rubbish! These economic refugees left India many years ago, we stayed, worked hard, paid taxes, and built our country! Now they talk nonsense. We do not need them to abuse India. Kept away, we are better off without you and your ilk! Just stop these abuses,” he tweeted.
Mr Pai got a series of responses calling Malini Mehra and other NRIs “economic refugees”
Read some of them:
You “built this country” during Congress rule no, Mr Pai? Your Infosys bloomed in the 90s during MMS’s liberalization. So a lot of good did happen then. And these “economic refugees” suddenly become valued NRIs when they cheer for Mr Modi
You “built this country” during Congress rule no, Mr Pai? Your Infosys bloomed in the 90s during MMS’s liberalisation. So a lot of good did happen then. And these “economic refugees” suddenly become valued NRIs when they cheer for Mr Modi https://t.co/dBav8SkCiD
— Ajay Kamath (@ajay43) March 8, 2023
Someone else said, “According to Mr. Pai NRI’s who praise RSS & Modi are true desh bhakts & connected to their roots. NRIs who criticize the state of affairs in the country are economic refugees.”
Another comment: Is everything = abuse? Or that’s the easy way out? Amazing that you refer to “economic refugees” given the number of engineers Infy had go abroad. You benefited too. Is there a term for outsourcing refugees?”
She is not a random NRI lady. She is Malini Mehra. London-based, quite influential in climate orgs circuit. Heads and boards many EU-run NGOs. She runs an NGO in India CSM that receives crores of funds from Fairtrade initiative Europe that is in partnering with OSF.”
She is not random NRI lady. She is Malini Mehra. London based, quite influential in Climate orgs circuit. Heads and boards many EU run NGOs. She runs NGO in India CSM that receives crores of funds from Fairtrade initiative Europe that is in partnering with OSF.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) March 7, 2023
According to Malini Mehra’s biography, she has worked and lived across the world and is now based in London. Since 2017, Malini has served as a Commissioner on Sustainable Development to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and she is an Ambassador for London Climate Action Week.
Author Salil Tripathi also said, ” If those words & Rahul Gandhi’s response got applause -@ChathamHouse of all places – shows people aren’t fooled. India’s democratic decline is in plain sight now. The spell will be broken.”
“The response to the BBC documentary was eye-opening for many who hadn’t quite twigged what was happening in India. Much greater scrutiny will be applied to India now,” Malini added commenting on the BBC row.
What is so different about India than in the past?
What is so different about India than in the past? Laws passed hurridly through muffled Opposition parties who are not allowed to speak in Parliament, their mikes are switched off, especially if it is a controversial topic, laws such as the anti-conversion law which gave license for Christians to be attacked mass scale during their prayer meetings and Sunday services on fake charges of forced conversion, bulldozing down Muslim settlements without following any protocol, lynching has increased rapidly.
Lawlessness stalks across states because many goons, empowered by their political leaders know they will not face consequences. Violent rapes, murders, crime, and the law of the jungle reign. Journalists are still in prison for minor things while criminals are released from prison. Fanatical Hindutva monks keep uttering genocidal speeches in grand events now in cities all in the presence of police and sometimes BJP leaders. None of these people are arrested.
So, is Malini Mehra exaggerating when she says this is not India she grew up in. No, she is not. In old India, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees, and many others were civil and polite, celebrated each other’s festivals and children played together regardless of religion. In old India, people used to say “Pehla Aaap”, very politely. In new India, people say rudely and openly, “Tu Saap!”
The fanaticized mobs are now bullying the others, breaking down religious sites, rushing into their places of worship and insulting them, and even lynching them. Throughout all this, the paid Media is adding fuel to fire, rubbing salt to bleeding wounds and dividing Indians even further. What can we do to bring back a safe India to all? One of the first steps Rahul Gandhi and the Congress team did was to initiate the Bharat Jodo Yatra to unify India again.
A little about Malini Mehra
Malini Mehra is an award-winning civil society leader with three decades of experience in the sustainability, climate change, and human rights arenas. With a powerful international career, she has founded an award-winning Indian NGO working on corporate responsibility and climate change; led international campaigns for Oxfam and Friends of the Earth International, including at the UN Beijing Women’s Conference (1995), UNFCCC Kyoto Climate Conference (1997) and OECD Multilateral Agreement on Investment. As Director of the People’s Decade for Human Rights Education she led work on the World Trade Organisation and at the infamous ‘Battle of Seattle’ (1999).
Malini Mehra FRSA joined the GLOBE International secretariat as chief executive in November 2014. She has developed new ventures, including treaty coherence & convergence; legislative-judiciary dialogues on climate change; democracy & governance; gender equality; citizenship education, and youth engagement.