Difference between Students, Idiots and Andhbhakts | Lok Sabha | Rahul Gandhi

Duration: 25:33 2264 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

Rahul Gandhi opens his address by expressing deep pride in the recent student protests across India, framing them not as acts of anger or violence but as a profound expression of hope from the country's future generation. He urges all political parties, including those within the BJP, to respect this sentiment and suggests that even conservative leaders would find agreement with their own children regarding these demonstrations. To structure his argument, Gandhi introduces a framework derived from an eighteen-year-old student who categorized people into three distinct groups: students, idiots, and Andhbhakts (blind followers). In this definition, a true student is characterized by humility, an open mind, and the understanding that knowledge is dynamic; they accept their limitations and respect the truths of others. Conversely, he describes "idiots" as arrogant individuals who believe they know everything, view the universe as static, and pretend to be God because they lack genuine truth. The third category, Andhbhakts or blind followers, are defined by those who blindly follow idiots without critical thought. Gandhi contrasts these groups further by explaining that while students wear their pursuit of truth proudly on their chests and never use force against others whose truths differ, the other two categories rely on images, violence, and superficiality to maintain a false sense of divinity or power. He argues that the student's primary aim is to seek understanding like a sponge absorbing new knowledge, whereas the non-student types require an image to sustain their ego because they cannot admit ignorance. This philosophical distinction serves as the lens through which he analyzes the current educational crisis and the broader political climate in India. Gandhi then pivots from this theoretical framework to critique the actual conditions of Indian education, asserting that the student protests were a reaction against a brutal system captured by private interests and ideological forces like the RSS. He highlights specific grievances such as exam paper leaks where wealthy individuals pay millions for answers while honest middle-class students are bypassed, alongside rampant privatization that turns exams into extortion schemes costing lakhs of rupees to the poor. According to Gandhi, these systemic failures have been exacerbated by an organization whose soul has allegedly hijacked the education ministry, forcing students to buy nonsensical history and follow a rigid structure rather than pursuing their passions or asking meaningful questions. Ultimately, Gandhi concludes that the protests represent a courageous rejection of being defined as "unboxed" or controlled by those who fear independent thought. He praises the students for overcoming their fears to challenge authority on issues ranging from employment rights to religious freedom, noting with irony that even high-ranking officials like the Home Minister lacked the courage to appear in parliament due to this intimidation. While facing accusations of using inflammatory language against members of other parties, Gandhi maintains his stance that these leaders authorized violence against students and ordered them to be shot down, emphasizing that the real battle is not about external enemies but about overcoming internal fear and reclaiming the right to define one's own future without censorship or coercion.

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Thank you. Speaker, sir, for letting me speak on the subject of students, of their exams, of the education system, of your proposed bill. But, before I start, I'd like to say that I was very excited, reassured by what the future of this country did on our streets. This was not anger. This was not violence. This was not hatred. This was an expression, deep expression of the youth of this country, of the future generation of this country. And I feel that all political parties must respect this expression, including including my friends in the BJP. In fact, I'm pretty certain, and I've seen examples of it, if my friends in the BJP were to go and ask their own children what they felt about what their brothers and sisters were doing. They would find agreement among their own children. There is nothing wrong with what has happened and every Indian should be proud. Now, I thought I'm going to be giving a speech about the next generation. And so I was thinking, how do I start this speech? What should be the starting point of this speech? And I thought a good starting point, speaker, sir, would be a conversation I had with some students, young girls, which gave me a very interesting perspective. It was their perspective, but I think I agree with the perspective. I'd like to lay this framework first on the table. The question I asked the girl was, "You said to me that you're a student. What does this mean? Does it mean that you study in a college? Does it mean that you study in a school? Does it mean you read books? What does it mean?" She gave me the most beautiful answer. She said, "A student is someone who has open mind and open heart. Student is someone who right from the beginning accepts that they do not know everything. Student accepts that whatever he knows will be superseded later by new knowledge. Student understands that the universe is constantly changing. Dynamic. In movement. And so student understands that knowledge is also constantly changing. Most important value of a student, she said to me. I asked I said, "Yeah, very good definition. What's the most important value of a student?" She said in one second, "Humility." I said, "Why?" She said the student knows that they do not know the truth. The student respects the truth of all other living beings, all other human beings. Like Gandhi ji said in his autobiography, "The search for my truth." Meaning, this is my truth, your truth might be different. Then I asked her the next question. I said, "You've defined the category very well." This category of student. Who else is there? She says there is another group of people. They are not students. Who are they? She says they're absolutely convinced that they know everything. They believe that the universe is static. And they believe that knowledge emerges from inside them. They believe that they are God. That everything that is to be known is known to them. They are arrogant. They don't listen. They don't respect other people's truth. So, I said, "What do you call these people?" She said, "I call them idiots." >> [laughter] >> So, So, I So, So, she said to me She said to me, "There are two categories. There are two categories in this world. The student." She said, "A farmer can be a student. A lawyer can be a student. A doctor can be a student. Unemployed youth can be a student. It's the thirst to learn. Thirst to understand. Like a sponge. You want to take everything in. You want to understand. It's beautiful. It's It's even respecting the rest of the universe. What about these idiots? She says to me, "These idiots They don't listen to anything anyone says." Sir, I'm defining a student, sir. I will I will Let me carry on. Sir, so I said So, I said, "Sir, You know, the student who is there What is his aim?" I asked him. He said So, he said to me "What is his aim?" Student's aim Okay, sir. So, she said So, I said what about I said the other type. So, sir, I said, "Okay. What about this other type of person? Who is not a student?" So, she said the hallmark She said the student She says the student wears the truth on his or her chest proudly. It's written here. And I said, "What about the other type?" She says the other type requires an image. It requires an image and as that image >> an image and as that image is not true because the idiot is trying to pretend that he is God. >> [singing] >> I'm not talking about that. As it is not true and the idiot is trying to pretend he's God, he has to create this massive image. Then I ask a question, sir. Many my social Yeah, yeah. Sorry, sir. My social Yeah, yeah. Student have or video idiot video So many of the social about the town Your PC category can you get here? Your PC category can you get here? What can you get PC category? Many of the car and back. It's called a dollar day. She says to me, "And about is a person who is absolutely convinced that another idiot is God." So these are the three categories. student idiot and and back who follows the idiot. Now I get out of here. So speaker, sir I found this to be a very nice framework. And this framework came to me from a 18-year-old girl. lovely student probably one of the pro-protesters in the chat to be good programs. So superficially So look at that. So superficially look at that. Can I marry your students here? >> What? Exams come out of my mouth going. What? Education system can I come out of my mouth going? What you should be close to my mouth going? You suck it. Education system is very expensive. More money is spent on one exam on one on one exam than is spent by the government on our education budget. Sir I does going to take students going to take So I'm going to take my birthday. Sir, please. >> Sir, sir, sir. You will not allow anybody to talk to you. >> Because I am May I not calling anybody that? I am not calling anybody that. Sir, speaker, sir. I am going to go. I am going to go. Students going to go. Sir, idiot should not use going to go. I will not use. Now, let me Sir I am going to take my mouth going to take my mouth going. I am going to take my mouth going. >> No. >> Sir I am going to Sir, but I am Sir, I am going to take my mouth going to take my mouth going. So, speaker, sir. So, I define this young lady gave me a beautiful framework. Three categories of people. I found this to be Speaker, sir. Order, order, sir. Sir, to keep to keep house in order, sir, is your is your esteemed responsibility. Sir, the moment I open my mouth, the entire opposition starts to shout. The Sir, it is it is unparliamentary. Let us just be precise. It is unparliamentary for me to use that word against another member of parliament. I have not used that word against anybody. I have just stated that this category exists. Sir, again they're going Speaker, sir. Interrupt them. No. So, there are three categories of people. I'm not using the word. There is one category of people called student, vidyarthi. Jo vidya ka dhoondta hai. And then there are the two other categories which I will not name. But, these categories have natures. So, the student is never scared of the truth. He loves the truth, goes towards the truth. Student never uses force against somebody else. Because he knows that that person's truth is different than my truth. The other category, they do not like the truth. They need an image. They need force. They need violence. Superficially it looks that our students were upset because of exams. They were upset because of the education system. They were upset because they have to study hours and hours and hours. And then paper leaks. Some rich boy or girl pays 30-40 lakh rupees, gets the paper, gets the job. And your middle class ka gareeb student hai, imandaar hai, wo bypass ho jata hai. So, they're upset because of these things. And our system is terrible. It's terrible. It's cruel. Lakhs and lakhs of rupees are taken from the poorest people. Everything has been privatized. Paper leaks. In one exam something happens. In another exam something else happens. Some people are allowed re-exam. Some people are not allowed re-exam. Rampant privatization means private companies are checking exams, wrong papers are going. It's a brutal, terrible system. It's an extortion system. I said it in my meetings. And it's a system that has been captured. It's a system that has been captured, the soul of the system has been has been captured by the RSS. The soul, sir. Rajnath Singh ji said, "Sir, please." Sir, Sir, Rajnath Singh ji said, Rajnath Singh ji said, that "We are not the UPA. Our ministers never resign." He's right. What has happened here? The resignation of Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, that's a superficial thing because Dharmendra Pradhan never ran the education ministry. Never. The man and the organization that runs the education ministry is called the RSS. And the man who runs it is an OSD sitting in the minister's office. So, what the what the students are really irritated about is that they're not allowed to be students in India. They're not allowed to follow their passion. They're not allowed to say what they want. They're not allowed to ask the questions that they want. They have to buy this nonsensical history that the RSS fantasizes about. They have to buy this structure. Every single university in India, the students should know this. And I'm saying this for them. Every single university in India today has a vice-chancellor from the RSS. Dharmendra Pradhan is a symbol. Your real enemy is the RSS. Keep it in mind. They are the people who are not letting you be students. They are the people who want you to be unboxed. And this is a reaction from the soul of India that is saying under no circumstances are we going to become your unboxed. Under no circumstances are you going to define our future. Under no circumstances are we going to listen. And this is a beautiful expression. The amazing thing to me the amazing fascinating thing to me is that the parents of these children the parents of these children did not have the courage to face the BJP. The parents of these children did not have the courage to face the RSS. And yet these children brave imaginative powerful stood there and faced whatever you could throw at them. I've got some experience about facing the RSS, about facing Mr. Narendra Modi, about facing this group. The game is not about facing them. There's nothing in them. There's nothing in the RSS. The game is about facing your own fear. And that is what the students did. The students overcame their fear. The students challenged the idea that you could destroy them. They challenged the idea that you could destroy their career. They asked the question, "Why are you not allowing us to have jobs?" They asked the question, "Why can we not fall in love with somebody we like?" They asked the question, "Why do you attack different religions?" They asked all these questions, and they asked it in public. You couldn't do nothing about it. And I'm very happy today to see that the so-called home minister of this country does not have the courage to come and sit here. He does not have the courage to come and sit here. Sir, please. I saw the home minister I saw the home minister, sir. Cargate Sir, I saw the cargate, 30 cars. With the home minister sitting inside the car like that, looking. Shaking. What is this, sir? Speaker, sir. Why is the home minister not here today? The home minister is not here today because he He's not here today because he is scared. He is the home minister, sir. The home minister Sir, the home minister is Sir, the home minister Sir, the home minister authorized the shooting of our students, sir. He put He put pellets into the blood of our students. He ordered the students of India to be shot. Because sir Sir Sir, jump. Sir, jump after what he going to bully my result. Speaker, sir the Speaker, sir, the use of force The use of force can only be authorized by the home minister. It cannot be the home minister. It cannot be authorized either the home minister or the prime minister. >> He's not giving me mic. Don't give me mic, sir. Mic to me. Mic to me, sir. >> Mic to challu here. Wow. I'm on you. >> I want to talk, sir. >> I want to talk, sir. I want to talk, sir. I want to talk, sir. I want to talk, sir. >> I want to talk, sir. >> No.