Prayagraj: Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinetra said that the students’ march to Parliament is important for Indian democracy. Speaking to reporters at a hotel in Civil Lines today, she said that thousands of students and youth from across the country reached Delhi with the hope that the government would listen to them, discuss their problems and resolve their just demands. But instead of dialogue, they had to face police force. Students were lathi-charged, women students’ clothes were torn, many students were injured and incidents of intimidation and harassment of girl students came to light.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress MPs, were marching toward the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to present the demands of the protesting students and meet with him. Instead of listening to their concerns, Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the opposition MPs were stopped and detained.

I strongly condemn the attack and detention of Rahul Gandhi and Congress MPs. This is a direct attack on democratic rights and the right to peaceful protest. I strongly condemn the protests against the Modi government and the protesting students.

They are not making any unreasonable demands. Their only demands are that exams be fair and transparent, their futures be secure, paper leak cases be investigated impartially, and the culprits be punished severely. When the government chose repression instead of dialogue, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, personally marched to the Prime Minister’s residence to demand that the Prime Minister meet the students, listen to their concerns, and respond to the youth of the country. Under the “Chhatraon Ki Gun” program, the Congress is conducting dialogues at 125 locations across the country and stands ready to support students in every situation. City Congress President Fuzail Hashmi, Manish Mishra and Kishore Varshney were present in the press conference.