Rahul Gandhi stopped mid-sentence. Turned around, and held up the hands of a young woman and placed them on the shoulders of the fellow protesters around her. He then nudged others to do the same. Smiling, they all now stood with their hands across each other’s shoulders, presenting a united front. Stepping up to the mic, Rahul Gandhi began again.
The Rahul Gandhi press conference comes amid a political row over police action against demonstrators protesting against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanding his removal, with opposition parties accusing the authorities of suppressing dissent.
“Amit Shah ji, take a good look at this. There is no Hindu here, no Muslim, no one of any specific caste; there is no woman, no man. There is one voice, one protest. It is the voice of India, and you are standing against this voice – the Prime Minister is standing against this voice. I suggest to you: do not stand against this voice. Another protester alleged custodial assault. “I joined the protest on the 4th, and on the morning of the 5th, we were detained. One or two of them were also in plain clothes. One of them was named Bahab Singh Tomar. “An officer, Constable Ankit Kasana, kept beating both of us throughout the journey from Parliament Street to the outskirts of Delhi.
The police personnel told us, ‘Because of you, we are unable to sleep,'” he alleged. Dharmendra and I were pushed into the Parliament Street police station, where 15 to 20 police personnel beat us.
No one can stand against this voice,” Gandhi said. Rahul Gandhi, pointing to the protesters, said “this is India” Pivoting, the congress leader addressed the Delhi police “dil se, pyaar se (with love)”. “I have told all the students to keep a video record and send that evidence to us. When this entire matter concludes, we will utilise all that evidence and ensure that everyone who needs to be punished is punished, from PM Narendra Modi, Gyanesh Kumar, Amit Shah, and even the constable who is raising a hand against our children,” he said. Earlier, during the press conference, Rahul Gandhi introduced a woman protester as “our sherni” and said she had remained fearless despite allegedly being assaulted. They beat us very badly,” he said. When Dharmendra said he was feeling like vomiting, the officer told him to open his bag and vomit into it. ” 20 July ko bhi ek RAF waale ne danda mara tha mere sir pe (On July 20th, too, an RAF officer hit me on the head with a stick,” Ramit said, referencing the alleged Delhi Police violence during the student-led protests that resulted in the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
