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Upping the ante on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row and Patiala House court violence, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday dubbed them as a “blot” on India’s image and sought President Pranab Mukherjee’s intervention for immediate action to “check the state of lawlessness and subversion of democratic rights”.
“It is not the government’s job to destroy our educational institutions and crush expression of all students. Across the country, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is trying to impose a flawed ideology on the students of this country,” he told reporters.
Leading a delegation of party leaders to the President, the Congress vice president also launched a counter attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party for its “anti-national” dig at him, asserting that “nationalism is in my blood. I have seen my family sacrifice again and again and again for this nation.”
“The country is gripped in a serious crisis…The scenes of utter lawlessness playing out on the premises of the court in the heart of the capital are an affront to the democratic ideals of the country” the delegation said in a memorandum submitted to the President.
Besides the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the delegation included Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarun Kharge, Deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma besides senior leaders Sheila Dixit, Randeep Surjewala Ajay Maken and Manish Tewari.
They told the President that despite a “direct order” from the Supreme Court to ensure adequate security outside Patiala House court, the government has “refused” to prevent attacks on journalists and students. The Supreme Court-appointed panel to assess the situation was itself subjected to abuse and assault.
“Such lawlessness in defiance of a Supreme Court directive on two occasions by the same set of people, some of whom are identified with the ruling dispensation on various fora, cannot be but without the tacit support, encouragement or at best, the indifference of the ruling establishment”, it told the President.
Expressing concern over the incident, the Congress leaders sought President’s “assistance in ensuring that immediate action is taken to check the state of lawlessness and subversion of democratic rights”.
Alleging that across the country, whether in JNU or Hyderabad Central University, in Film and Television Institute of India and other places of learning, students are being “bullied and threatened”, the delegation told the President that “As the patron of Universities, we call upon you to protect their freedom and uphold the values that built our nation”.
Gandhi said if somebody has said anything against the nation, they should be punished according to law.
He also referred to the suicide by Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad and accused the government of “crushing” him.
The Congress vice president expressed concern that people were being beaten inside the court and the police are “just watching.”
“This is sending a very, very bad signal not only in this country but also abroad. It is damaging India’s image and is putting a blot on it”, he said.
Image: Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress members handing over a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee about the current lawlessness in the country and the attack on students. Photograph: PTI