Rahul slams PM over Youth Congress action, says India is not North Korea

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday strongly criticised the police action against his party’s youth wing activists over the “shirtless protest”, drawing a sharp parallel between the Government and the authoritarian regime in North Korea.

“This is India, not North Korea,” Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said in a social media post in Hindi and asserted that peaceful protest is the soul of democracy and not a crime.

He said the world’s largest democracy is being slowly pushed in a direction where dissent is labelled as treason and asking questions is called a conspiracy.

When those in power start seeing themselves as the nation and dissent as the enemy -- that is when democracy dies, Rahul Gandhi said.

“In today’s India, under the rule of a compromised PM, peaceful protest has been turned into the biggest crime. The world’s largest democracy is being slowly pushed in a direction where dissent is labelled as treason and asking questions is called a conspiracy,” the former Congress chief said.

“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,” he said.

Youth tormented by paper leaks raised their voices for their future and were met with blows from batons, he claimed.

“The country’s proud women wrestlers demanded a fair investigation into serious allegations against a powerful BJP leader. Their cries were defamed, their movement crushed, and they were forcibly removed from the streets.

“A peaceful demonstration took place at India Gate in support of a rape victim. The demand for justice was deemed an inconvenience to the system and dispersed,” Rahul Gandhi said.

When the Youth Congress peacefully protested against a US Trade deal harmful to the country, they were branded “anti-national” and arrested, he said.

When ordinary people stood up against poisonous air, even concerns for the environment were dismissed as “politics” and suppressed, Rahul Gandhi said, adding that when farmers protested for their rights, they too were labelled anti-national.

Asking questions is not democracy’s weakness; it is its strength, he said.

“Democracy grows stronger when the Government listens to criticism, responds, and remains accountable. Modi ji, this is India, not North Korea. When those in power start seeing themselves as the nation and dissent as the enemy -- that is when democracy dies,” Gandhi said.