Rahul Gandhi: Entire Delhi shut down; police, BJP’s ‘goondas’ beat up students: Rahul Gandhi at Chhatron Ki Goonj | India News
NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of silencing dissent, alleging that the internet was shut down in Delhi and students were beaten up during protests in the national capital.“They are silencing voices as you saw in Delhi. The entire city was shutdown, internet was shutdown. Police was beating students. BJP released their own ‘goodas’ who were beating and thrashing students,” Rahul said while addressing students at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Chennai.Slamming the Prime Minister over the alleged police action on student protesters Rahul said, “Modi is destroying India’s democracy”.The Congress leader’s remarks came as protests rocked Delhi over demands for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Protesters were prevented from reaching Jantar Mantar, the designated venue, amid heavy security deployment, with groups attempting to assemble at different locations across the city.Delhi Police had deployed around 25,000 personnel, including police and paramilitary forces, ahead of the demonstration. Restrictions were also imposed at several metro stations, while protesters were detained as they attempted to regroup and raise slogans.Rahul, meanwhile, linked the importance of dissent and questioning to the role of students in a democracy, arguing that curiosity was essential for progress and innovation.“We said that curiosity comes from your culture, your history, and your land. It is the basis with which you ask questions. Curiosity is also the foundation of your progress. Anything that you ever do, any business that has built, any country that has built, any innovation, any art, dance or music. Anything that you do well will always begin as a question that you ask. So, questioning is the foundation of curiosity, questioning is also the foundation of progress,” he said.He further said that curiosity gave students the ability to question authority, imagine the future and make choices. Rahul also argued that the Constitution protected citizens’ right to question those in power, while voting provided them a means to seek answers. Opposition leaders slam Delhi crackdownOpposition leaders criticised the Delhi Police crackdown on protesters, accusing the BJP-led government of suppressing dissent and curbing democratic rights. Several leaders compared the restrictions to those imposed in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. ‘If this isn’t dictatorship, then what is?’: Aaditya ThackerayShiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray accused the BJP of detaining citizens out of fear, questioning whether its actions amounted to dictatorship.“This isn’t just about detention; the BJP is in a state of tension, which is why everyone is facing detention. It is the fear within the BJP that has led to the detention of Indian citizens. If this isn’t dictatorship, then what is?” ‘Why is it so afraid of the common man’s protest?’: Abhishek BanerjeeTMC MP Abhishek Banerjee alleged that around 2,500 people were detained across Delhi, including party workers, supporters and bystanders, and said even peaceful protests were being prevented.“This surpasses even the era of Hitler. If this government was elected by the people, why is it so afraid of the common man’s protest?” ‘The Kashmir model has been exported to Delhi’: Omar AbdullahJammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah compared the restrictions in Delhi to the situation in Kashmir after Article 370 was abrogated.“The Kashmir model has been exported to Delhi. Welcome to the New Delhi, modelled on the New Jammu and Kashmir,” he posted on X. ‘This is how enforced silence is passed off as consent’: Mehbooba MuftiPDP president Mehbooba Mufti accused the BJP of presenting restrictions on protests as public consent, drawing parallels with the lockdown in Kashmir in 2019.“This is how enforced silence is passed off as consent,” she said.
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‘It seems that the government is in danger’: Kapil SibalSenior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal questioned the legality of detaining people travelling to Delhi to join the demonstration.“If a person or a community wants to protest peacefully, then who is in danger? The society is not in danger. It seems that the government is in danger,” he said. ‘It does not want to listen to their concerns’: Manoj JarangeMaratha quota activist Manoj Jarange accused the government of using force to suppress dissent and weaken the protest movement.“The protests were organised to raise issues affecting students and the poor. If the government is unwilling to allow people to protest for their problems, it shows that it does not want to listen to their concerns,” he said.
