Nehru was closer to Indian philosophy than he was to Western ideas: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi, Nehru’s great grandson and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has said contrary to popular notion, India’s first Prime Minister was much closer to Indian philosophy than he was to Western ideas.

Taking part in a podcast with former Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit, Rahul also described the Constitution as an embodiment of India’s traditional religious ideas and accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of attacking those ideas.

What he would ask Nehru if he were to appear before him by a miracle, Rahul said he would ask his great grandfather to tell him one thing that he should never do. He said he already knew what Nehru’s response would be. “Nehru’s reply would be to never compromise with the RSS,” he said.

“Shaiva philosophy is completely democratic. There is nothing undemocratic about the Shaiva philosophy. Guru Nanak is completely democratic. Kabir is completely democratic,” the Leader of Opposition said talking about strains of democracy found in Indian religious traditions. These traditions do not believe in hierarchy or caste structure, he added.

“There is a very profound and deep democratic strain in India. Gandhiji represented that strain. My great grandfather represented that strain. Ambedkar ji represented that strain. And that is what is under attack”, he said.

“What is under attack is not just democratic institutions of our country. What is under attack is a particular religious philosophy that underpins democracy. The ideas in the Constitution are 3,000 years old. What is under attack is not just a book. What is under attack is a set of religious philosophies that are inconvenient to the RSS,” Rahul said.

“That is what Gandhi used to defend and that is why he died,” he added.

“Nehru was much closer to Indian philosophy than he was to Western ideas. But he was open to Western ideas. He was open to science. He was open to different cultures”, the Congress leader said.

“But his foundation came from Indian spiritual tradition. The Indian spiritual tradition absorbs everything,” he added.

On what lessons should one learn from the freedom struggle to fight the current challenges – posing “existential threat” to many people, Rahul said the leaders of the freedom struggle had awakened the masses about their enslaved status under the British

Similarly, Indians of the current generation would have to be told the truth about problems such as “huge unemployment” and “complete lack of harmony in the country”, the Congress leader said.

India