Chandigarh, Aug 23 (PTI) Congress leaders on Sunday hit out at the BJP government in Haryana over the arrest and registration of cases against some party workers “peacefully protesting with black flags” in Gurugram over certain issues.
Police had arrested eight Congress workers on Friday on charges of disrupting VIP security arrangements and obstructing government duty, after they waved black flags when Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini’s convoy was passing through an area in Gurugram on Friday.
The protest was staged when Saini was on his way to a “Chaupal” event with the GenH Startup Summit 2026 at the Gurugram University, after attending a meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievance Redressal Committee.
“In Gurugram, Congress workers peacefully protesting with black flags against Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini over local and student-related issues were subjected to FIRs and arrests. This is yet another blatant example of the BJP government’s authoritarianism and its assault on democratic rights,” the Congress’s Haryana affairs in-charge, Sanjay Dutt, said in a post on X on Sunday.
“Peacefully protesting against the government’s anti-people policies is a democratic and constitutionally guaranteed right of citizens and the Opposition. Instead of addressing its failures and the genuine concerns of the people, the BJP government is using the police to suppress dissent,” he alleged.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also condemned the arrest and registration of cases against the Congress workers.
“This is a brutal assault on democracy and democratic right to protest by Nayab Saini govt. On one hand, they assault Gen Z everyday through paper leaks, job scams, unaffordable education and non filling of govt jobs and on the other hand, they brutalise Congress leaders and workers for standing with our youth.
“People will not pardon the BJP Govt,” Surjewala said in a post on X.
Dutt said instead of listening to youngsters and addressing their concerns, “the government has chosen the path of FIRs, arrests and police repression”.
“Reports of alleged third-degree torture of arrested youth and harassment of their family members are extremely serious and disturbing. These allegations must be impartially investigated, and strict action must be taken against those found responsible,” he said in his post on X.
In another post addressed to Saini, Dutt claimed that just before the chief minister’s visit to Rewari to attend an event on Sunday, Rewari Rural District Congress president Subhash Chawri “was illegally detained by the police at his Congress office”.
“He was leaving the office after addressing a press conference condemning the arrest of Congress leaders and workers who were peacefully demonstrating during your visit to Gurugram.
“Will Congress District Presidents and workers in every district you visit in Haryana now be similarly detained by the police in such an illegal and undemocratic manner?” Dutt asked.
“Do you now need to misuse the police to curtail the freedom of others wherever you travel across Haryana? Your authoritarian conduct makes it clear that, out of fear and panic over growing public anger, you are resorting to police repression to silence democratic voices,” the Congress leader said.
Referring to the Gurugram incident, Dutt, in a separate post on X, demanded that the Saini government must immediately release all the arrested Congress workers, withdraw the FIRs against them “and stop harassing their family members”.
“The questions raised by our youth cannot be answered with police batons. They must be addressed through dialogue, sensitivity and solutions. The BJP government must remember — neither can our voice be silenced through repression, FIRs and arrests, nor can the people’s questions be suppressed in this manner. If the government continues to suppress democratic rights, it will have to pay a heavy political price,” he said.
Dutt asserted that the Congress stands firmly with its workers.
“We will continue to fight with full strength for the dignity, rights and bright future of Haryana’s youth,” he said. PTI SUN RC
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