New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) Slamming the police crackdown on protesters in Delhi, the Congress on Saturday accused the government of turning the “mother of democracy” into a “muzzled democracy” and said the “seva teerth” is a fast-crumbling “satta teerth”.
The opposition party claimed that the “PM-HM duo is extremely nervous and rattled” by a peaceful protest and so the government has “officially waged war against its own people”.
The Congress also condemned the detention of several political leaders and protesters, including activists of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) by Delhi Police.
The national capital was turned into a fortress as police launched a sweeping crackdown on protesters, foiling their bid to reach Jantar Mantar.
Several leaders including former chief ministers Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) and Manik Sarkar (Tripura), CPI-M MP John Brittas, party general secretary M A Baby were detained. AAP national convenor was also among those detained.
In a post on X, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Our youth, students, lawyers, journalists, social activists, farm union leaders, YouTubers, content creators, everyone who is questioning this regime are being detained.
“Modi Government has turned the “Mother of Democracy” into a ‘Muzzled Democracy’.”
CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained from inside the aircraft as soon as their flight from Mumbai landed in the national capital.
The CJP leaders had arrived here to lead the protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained from his residence in Gurugram. Rathee, who lives abroad, had come to join the demonstration.
Sources said nearly 1000 protestors were detained across the New Delhi area where police are using drones to monitor movement of people attempting to reach the protest site.
Kharge alleged that the “cowardice” of the BJP-RSS is on full display today.
“Detentions, arrests, jails, lathis and pellets cannot deter the people of India. Since the days of our Freedom struggle, the youth have been at the forefront of shaping the nation’s destiny.
“The Congress Party, along with the united Opposition, will fight this tyrannical regime, tooth and nail,” the Congress chief said.
“We shed our blood to win India’s freedom. We will continue to fight, with every ounce of our strength, to defend our Democracy, our Constitution and the fundamental rights of every Indian,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who is in Chennai, said Kumar will go and so will the Modi government, and then the repair of democracy will begin.
In a post on X, he also tagged a video clip of his speech to INDIA bloc MPs on Friday at the Central Hall of Parliament.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh in a post on X said “Seeing what is happening in the nation’s capital today it is tempting to recall the old saying ‘vinash kale viprit buddhi’ (When a person’s doom has come, judgment becomes self-destructive). But the fact is that this ‘viprit buddhi’ is what has defined the ‘Diabolical Duo’ for years.
“The so-called ‘Seva Tirth’ (PMO) is actually a fast crumbling ‘Satta Tirth’.”
“The PM-HM (Narendra Modi-Amit Shah) duo is extremely nervous and rattled by a peaceful protest by youth deeply concerned with the planned stealing of their Constitutional right to vote guaranteed by Article 326,” he said.
In another post, Ramesh said there is “incontrovertible evidence that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar faithfully executed the orders given to him by the destructive duo when he was appointed. In Dec 2023, a law giving him lifelong immunity was bulldozed through Parliament when 145 Opposition MPs had been suspended”.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal alleged the “Modi-Shah regime has officially waged war against its own people”.
“A completely non-violent protest, a Satyagraha against the illegitimate dictators, is being clamped down upon in the most brutal and oppressive fashion.
“RIP Indian democracy (1947 – 2026),” Venugopal said.
Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said one “can shut stations and cancel trains. But you cannot barricade democracy”.
Hitting out at the Modi government, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor claimed Delhi is witnessing a “war-like deployment” and said “our GenZ deserves better than an undeclared Emer-GenZ”.
He said the government should provide answers, not lathis; expression, not repression.
Tharoor, who was in Berlin this week, said he returned to the national capital after 2 am and has rarely seen anything like what Delhi is witnessing now.
“Checkpoints every few hundred metres, concrete barriers and spike strips laid across our roads, a ‘war-like’ deployment of 22,000 police and paramilitary across the city, 250 trains cancelled and 45 metro stations closed, and reports of young people being detained from their own homes and the streets in and around Delhi — all to prevent citizens from peacefully raising questions about the integrity of our elections,” he said on X.
Party leader P Chidambaram said the “BJP will realize that suppression and denial of fundamental rights is not the way to win or retain power”. PTI SKC/ASK
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