A video is being widely shared on social media in which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is allegedly heard saying, “If you use India’s labourers, farmers and workers, you will not need the Army, Navy and Air Force.”
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that Rahul Gandhi is speaking against having defence forces to protect the borders of India.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “There is nothing wrong in calling them ‘Pottan Pappu’. After all, the Congress accepts someone who makes such nonsense as its leader.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The context of his speech was edited out. Rahul Gandhi was speaking about creating a strong Indian economy that will deter China from border incursions.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by The Hindustan Times on January 24, 2021.
In the video, we can hear Rahul Gandhi say, “You are using the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force to protect India from China. If you use India’s labourers, India’s farmers, India’s workers, you will not need the Army, Navy and Air Force to be standing over there. China will not have the guts to come inside.”
The description associated with the video reads, “Rahul Gandhi invoked the China face-off during the Tamil Nadu campaign. The Congress leader linked China’s aggression to the economy. Gandhi said the Chinese president should be wearing a Made in India shirt. He said if the Indian economy is strong, then China wouldn’t dare intrude.”
As per the description, Gandhi said, “If India’s labourers, farmers and weavers were strong, then the President of China would be wearing a shirt made in India. And I can guarantee you that Chinese people would be driving Indian cars, they would be flying in Indian aircraft, and their houses would have our carpets. Why is this not happening? Our government is insisting on helping 5-6 of India’s richest businesspeople and killing and destroying India’s strength. You are using the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force to protect India from China. If you use India’s labourers, farmers, and workers, you will not need the armed forces to be standing over there. China will not have the guts to come inside.”
We further found that the same video was also shared by the Indian National Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s YouTube channel. The video was of Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with the weaver community in Tamil Nadu on January 24, 2021.
We further found that many media organisations also reported on this incident.
According to LiveMint, Rahul Gandhi argued that India’s fragile economy has emboldened China to make incursions into Indian territory, suggesting China senses weakness in our nation due to economic mismanagement. His remarks linked national insecurity directly to economic fragility.
According to ANI, Rahul Gandhi was talking about the Chinese army occupying the Indian Territory. He said that China was entering Indian territory as the Indian economy was weak. He can also be heard saying that, “China has understood that the Indian economy is on its knees. China can see that every single action of the Indian government is designed to strengthen five or six big business people and weaken India’s real strength—the labourers, weavers and farmers.”
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.