NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid the row over the arrest of Youth Congress members following the controversial ‘shirtless’ protest at the India AI Impact Summit, accusing the Centre of suppressing peaceful dissent.“The world’s largest democracy is being slowly pushed in a direction where dissent is branded as treason and asking questions is called a conspiracy. Think about it – no matter the issue, if you raise your voice against those in power through constitutional means, then batons, lawsuits, and jail are almost a certainty,” Rahul said in a post.“”Peaceful protest is not a crime – it is the soul of democracy. Asking questions is not democracy’s weakness, it is its strength,” he added.Referring to the arrest of Youth Congress workers, Gandhi said those protesting against the government were being branded anti-national and jailed.“When the Youth Congress peacefully protested against a US Trade deal harmful to the country, they were branded ‘anti-national’ and arrested,” he said.The remarks came after Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Uday Bhanu Chib and several party workers were arrested in connection with the “shirtless” protest held at Bharat Mandapam during the AI summit in New Delhi.During the protest, a group of Youth Congress workers entered the venue wearing T-shirts concealed under winter clothing and later removed their shirts while raising slogans against the Prime Minister.Police described Chib as the alleged “mastermind” behind the demonstration and took him into custody, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to eight.Backing the arrested workers earlier, Gandhi had described them as “Babbar Sher comrades” and expressed solidarity with the youth wing.“I am proud of my Babbar Sher colleagues in the Youth Congress, who have fearlessly raised their voices in the interest of the country against the ‘COMPROMISED PM’,” he had said.He added that peaceful protest was a democratic right and that raising questions against the government should not be treated as a crime.The arrests triggered a political controversy, with the Congress calling the police action politically motivated while the BJP accused the party of attempting to embarrass the country during an international event.
