“Instead, it chose to vilify it and made it a divisive issue in the Delhi elections. BJP leaders, including Minister of State for Finance and the Home Minister used abusive rhetoric and violent imagery to attack what was essentially a Gandhian ‘satyagraha’. Other Delhi BJP leaders publicly threatened to attack the protestors. The ruling party created the conditions in which violence broke out in northeast Delhi. These riots in February would never hve occurred had the government wished to prevent them,” the opposition leader alleged.
Continuing her attack on the Modi government, Sonia Gandhi said that in the months to follow, the Centre carried its vendetta to extreme lengths, claiming that the protests were a conspiracy against the Indian State. “The result has been blatantly biased investigations with around 700 FIRs filed, hundreds questioned, and dozens detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
“The BJP may have differences with dissenters and civil society activists. Indeed, the same activists have often protested against the Congress governments as well. But to paint them as anti-national conspirators promoting communal violence is prejudicial and extremely dangerous for democracy.”
The Congress leader said that it is nothing less than shocking that eminent economists, academics, social campaigners and even very senior political leaders that includes a former Union Minister have been maliciously targeted through so-called disclosure statements in Delhi Police investigations. “This only shows that the BJP is determined to pursue its authoritarian strategy regardless of the consequences.”
She also mentioned the Hathras crime and said that the Uttar Pradesh government’s “vile response to the Hathras protests against the rape of a Dalit girl, the unlawful cremation and the intimidation of her family crying out for justice” is in keeping with this intolerant and undemocratic mindset. “It also happens to be in total contrast to how the UPA government handled the Nirbhaya case.”
“This nation will thrive only when democracy — as envisioned by our Constitution and the Independence movement — is followed in its letter and spirit,” she wrote.
