On the occasion of the twelfth anniversary of the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, several Indians took to various social platforms to remember the cowardly terror attack that was unleashed by Pakistan on Indian soil killing more than 170 people and injured 300 others.
On 26th November 2008, 10 Islamic terrorists from Pakistan had sneaked inside the country to create havoc in the country for four long, un-ending days. Shooting and bombing several locations in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, the terrorists left a trail of blood. Between 26/11 and 29th November 2008, not just 167 lives were lost, but the entire nation was gripped in fear and worry.
Sadly, even as the country remembers 26/11 in horror and mourns the trail of dead bodies, Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi has maintained a stoic silence. The usually social-media-savvy Congress prince did not even share a tweet in remembrance of the victims of Mumbai terror attack.
The Congress party had shared a token rememberance.
However, Rahul Gandhi has decided to maintain silence. Strangely, Rahul Gandhi, who is otherwise rather active, has not tweeted or retweeted any tweets connecting to Mumbai attacks. He instead a put out a tweet to condemn against the police action against the alleged protest by Punjab farmers near the Haryana-Punjab border.
नहीं हुआ है अभी सवेरा,
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 26, 2020
पूरब की लाली पहचान
चिड़ियों के जगने से पहले,
खाट छोड़ उठ गया किसान
काले क़ानूनों के बादल गरज रहे गड़-गड़,
अन्याय की बिजली चमकती चम-चम
मूसलाधार बरसता पानी,
ज़रा ना रुकता लेता दम!
मोदी सरकार की क्रूरता के ख़िलाफ़ देश का किसान डटकर खड़ा है। pic.twitter.com/UMtYbKqSkM
So while his Twitter account is active, not one tweet or statement has been made by the part-time politician. His other recent tweets are condolence and obituary messages on the demise of footballer Diego Maradona, Congress leader Ahmed Patel and Dr Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, a Shia leader and Islamic scholar.
However, Rahul Gandhi’s insensitive conduct is not surprising anymore. Even, in 2019, he had not made any statement remembering the carnage that was unleashed by Pakistan or paying tributes to the victims that fell to the terror attack.
Partying after 26/11
Ironically, on the day when Pakistani terrorists slaughtered Indians on the streets of Mumbai, the crown prince of Gandhi parivar Rahul Gandhi was partying in a farm house in Delhi.
Rahul Gandhi was partying in the outskirts of Delhi at the ‘sangeet’ for the wedding of Samir Sharma, his childhood friend. They were at a sprawling farmhouse at Radhey Mohan Chowk.
According to India Today’s 2008 article, “Saturday night’s ‘sangeet’ was a lavish affair. It was hosted by Leena Musafir, sister of the woman with whom Samir is getting married, and her husband Inder. The party was attended by over 800 guests, including regulars at Page 3 dos. “When everyone is cancelling parties or just keeping them low-key, Rahul Gandhi had no business to be celebrating.”
The article further reads, “His action makes us lose faith in future leaders,” said Ajay Bahl, a leading corporate lawyer who was trapped in the thick of the action on 26/11 at The Oberoi, Mumbai, but managed to escape with the help of the hotel staff. The Gandhis, including Sonia Gandhi’s mother Paola Maino, were present in strength at the 2004 wedding of Samir’s sister, Sarika, who is married to actor turned- TV producer Rahul Bhatt. Sarika and Rahul now manage a television production house”.
With the kind of insensitivity that Rahul Gandhi displayed even as the 26/11 siege was on-going, it is not surprising that even after 12 years, Rahul Gandhi pretends as nothing had happened in Mumbai. It is more glaring, because the Congress, its sycophants in the media and for that matter most of India’s left-leaning media ecosystem, has been for nearly a decade, projecting Rahul Gandhi as a ‘youth icon’ who is worthy of becoming the PM of India.