What is ‘abhaya mudra’ that Rahul Gandhi referred to in his Parliament speech?

In his first speech in the Lok Sabha as the Leader of Opposition (LoP), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday ruffled many feathers by bringing up religion.

Among the many things he spoke of was ‘abhaya mudra’ or the motif of an open palm that he said was a common thread in all religions, depicted in portrayals of Lord Shiva, Jesus Christ, and Guru Nanak, and found as well in Jainism, and Buddhism.

Rahul in the Lok Sabha also drew a parallel between the ‘abhaya mudra’ motif and the palm symbol of the Congress.

While Rahul’s comments and associated theatrics in the House irked many, it should be noted that this isn’t the first time that the Congress leader has made this comparison.

According to a report by Indian Express, Rahul had made a similar comparison in January 2017, when, during a ‘Jan Vedna Sammelan’, he had spoken about finding the Congress’ palm symbol in depictions of deities/prophets across religious, namely, in images of Lord Shiva, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Mahavira, and Hazrat Ali.

Incidentally, Rahul’s remarks back then had invited ridicule, especially after the Congress leader said that he had Googled the meaning of his party’s symbol.

“I was looking up the meaning of the Congress hand symbol. I saw the Congress party’s symbol in Shiv ji’s portrait. Then, I saw other photos. I saw Guru Nanak ji’s photo, there was the Congress’s sign. I saw Mahaveer ji, Buddha, Bhadrakaal… all had the Congress symbol… The symbol denotes that we should not get scared, be deterred by present circumstances,” Rahul had said as per IE, and had gone on to cite multiple Congress government policies that he said were reflective of what the symbol stood for.

Rahul continued to bring up this comparison between the ‘abhaya mudra’ and the Congress symbol between September 2022 and January 2023, when he tried to posit an alternate Hindu identity as an oppositional idea to the Hindutva politics espoused by the Narendra Modi-led BJP.