Distorted clip of Rahul Gandhi goes viral claiming he will end Reservations; Fact Check
A video clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been making rounds on social media, leading to widespread claims that he intends to scrap caste-based reservations in India. The six-second clip features Gandhi saying, "We will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place." Several BJP leaders and social media users have shared the clip, suggesting that this reveals the Congress leader’s supposed agenda to end reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
The official X account of BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) shared the brief video clip on September 11, asserting that Rahul Gandhi had made his intentions clear about ending reservations. Their post read: “...Rahul Gandhi has made his intentions clear about ending reservations for SC, ST, and OBC!”
Similarly, X user Pradeep Bhandari (@pradip103), a premium subscriber, shared the video on September 10, captioning it: “RAHUL GANDHI’S AGENDA EXPOSED! RAHUL AND CONGRESS INTENDS TO END RESERVATION IN INDIA. THIS IS WHY THEY HAD SNATCHED RIGHTS OF DALITS IN KARNATAKA. CONGRESS IS ANTI-DALIT!”
Several other BJP-affiliated pages and users, such as @BJP4Haryana, @TheSquind, @AshokShrivasta6, and @RealBababanaras, echoed similar sentiments while sharing the video, further fueling the notion that Rahul Gandhi plans to abolish reservations.
A thorough investigation reveals that the viral clip is taken from a longer interview and interaction session with Rahul Gandhi at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The full interview, which lasts over an hour, is available on Rahul Gandhi’s official YouTube channel.
The relevant segment of the video begins at the 53:37 mark, where a participant in the audience asks Gandhi about the Congress party’s stance on caste-based reservations. Specifically, the individual asks, “At what point, if at all, would you move away from the idea of caste-based reservations being a permanent solution to the underlying grassroots issues that necessitate such a reservation-based system?”
Responding to this question, Rahul Gandhi highlights the disparity in the representation of underprivileged communities such as Dalits, tribals, OBCs, and minorities in India’s decision-making institutions. He elaborates that India has failed to offer adequate participation to these communities, noting: “The problem is that 90% of India is not able to play [a role]. Go through the list of every single business leader in India; show me the tribal name, show me the Dalit name, show me the OBC name. Out of the top 200, I think there is one OBC. They are 50% of India. We are not treating the symptom, that is the problem.”
At the 57:00 mark, the segment that has gone viral begins. Gandhi continues, “It [caste-based reservations] is not the only tool. There are other tools. But we will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place... and India is not a fair place.”
The key phrase from Rahul Gandhi's statement—“We will think of scrapping reservations when India is a fair place”—has been shared widely, but the subsequent part of his answer—“and India is not a fair place”—has been omitted in the viral clip. The full context of his remarks clarifies that Gandhi was emphasizing the current need for reservations due to the inequities faced by disadvantaged communities, rather than suggesting an immediate end to the policy. He acknowledged that India is far from achieving fairness and equality, which is why reservations remain essential.
Thus, the claim circulating on social media that Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party intends to scrap reservations is misleading and false. The viral clip has been edited to distort the actual message conveyed during the interview.
Following the circulation of the misleading video, Rahul Gandhi issued a clarification on September 11, stating, “Yesterday someone misrepresented my statement that I am against reservation. But let me make it clear – I am not against reservation. We will take reservation beyond the limit of 50%.”
The viral clip of Rahul Gandhi purportedly stating that he would end reservations has been taken out of context from a longer interview. His remarks were about the broader issue of social fairness and the continuing necessity of caste-based reservations in an unequal society. The viral six-second video shared by BJP leaders and others does not accurately reflect Gandhi's full response or stance on reservations. Instead, it misleads viewers by omitting critical parts of his statement.
देख रहे हो बिनोद, राहुल बाबा का असली चेहरा 😳👇
— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) September 11, 2024
राहुल गांधी ने एससी, एसटी और ओबीसी के लिए आरक्षण खत्म करने के बारे में अपने इरादे स्पष्ट कर दिए हैं ! pic.twitter.com/ZscpgWv6Sl
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
