Thiruvananthapuram, October 07: Dismissing criticisms that his visit to a Dalit house was a political stunt, AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today said he saw himself as going to a human being’s house and not as staying with a Dalit family.
Talking to newspersons here, Mr Gandhi said he did not believe in the caste system.
He said ”I see it as going to a human being’s house and not a Dalit’s house. I am going to a poor man’s house whether he is a Dalit or belongs to a minority community or an upper catse.” He said it was the media, which had framed his visits as visits to Dalit houses. ”Dalit is your frame and not mine. While you see him as a Dalit, I see him as a poor person,” he said. Stating that his aim was to understand what a poor person was facing, Mr Gandhi said he went close to them to know them better.
”All that I do is to understand what the poor people are faced with,” he said, adding the only difference he saw between the poor and the rich was that of opportunity.
—Agencies