Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday turned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own words on the Emergency back on him, accusing the government of imposing an undeclared emergency on young protesters amid a sweeping security crackdown in Delhi ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) proposed demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
In 2015, PM Modi had written on Twitter (now X): “Personally, the Emergency brings back many memories. As youngsters, we learnt a lot during the anti-Emergency movement.”
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Responding to PM Modi’s June 25, 2015, post about the lessons learnt during the anti-Emergency movement, Tharoor on today wrote on X: “Thanks for teaching today’s youngsters many of the same lessons, Modiji! As I said this morning, our GenZ deserves better than an undeclared EmerGenZ.”
Tharoor’s remarks came amid heightened security across the national capital, where Delhi Police detained more than 500 protesters attempting to reach Jantar Mantar for the proposed CJP demonstration. The protest was called over allegations of voter-list manipulation during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and changes relating to Form 6, which is used for voter registration.
‘WAR-LIKE DEPLOYMENT’ IN DELHI, SAYS THAROOR
Earlier on Saturday, the Congress leader criticised the security arrangements across Delhi, describing the situation as a “war-like deployment” and questioning the scale of restrictions imposed ahead of the proposed demonstration.
Tharoor said he had returned to the national capital after 2 am following a visit to Berlin this week and had rarely seen anything like the situation unfolding in the city.
“Checkpoints every few hundred metres, concrete barriers and spike strips laid across our roads, a ‘war-like’ deployment of 22,000 police and paramilitary across the city, 250 trains cancelled and 45 metro stations closed, and reports of young people being detained from their own homes and the streets in and around Delhi — all to prevent citizens from peacefully raising questions about the integrity of our elections,” he wrote on X.
The former Union minister also criticised the reported suspension of internet services in parts of the capital.
“Most regressive (as well as repressive) is the suspension of the internet in the heart of the national capital,” he said, adding that freedom of movement had been “completely shackled”.
‘ANSWERS, NOT LATHIS; EXPRESSION, NOT REPRESSION’
Tharoor questioned the restrictions around Jantar Mantar, which was designated as a site for citizens to voice dissent in central Delhi. He said even the roads leading to the protest venue had been declared out of bounds.
“Jantar Mantar was designated precisely so that citizens could voice dissent in the centre of Delhi, and today even the roads leading to it have been declared out of bounds,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
He also questioned whether the authorities were deploying comparable resources to protect women in the capital.
“One is entitled to ask where this extraordinary manpower and urgency disappear when women in our capital need protection,” he said.
Pointing out that those detained would eventually have to be released, Tharoor asked what would happen if protesters returned on Monday.
“If the protesters simply return on Monday, will the authorities lock down the national capital all over again?” he asked.
Tharoor argued that a government confident in the fairness of its elections should welcome scrutiny rather than prevent citizens from raising questions.
“A government confident in the fairness of its elections would welcome questions about them, whereas one that turns its capital into a fortress to avoid them only deepens the very suspicions it seeks to suppress,” he said.
“The government should provide answers, not lathis; expression, not repression,” he added.
The Congress leader also said barricades would not restore public confidence in the Election Commission and called on the poll body to answer questions raised by citizens.
“The strength of a democracy is measured by how it treats those who question its working, and by that measure, what we have seen today is utterly shameful and unconscionable,” Tharoor said.
OVER 3000 PROTESTERS DETAINED, 600 WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS HELD
Delhi Police detained more than 3000 protesters on Saturday as they attempted to reach Jantar Mantar for the proposed CJP demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Ahead of the protest, police sources said more than 600 people with criminal records had also been detained across all 15 districts of the national capital as part of preventive measures.
Police personnel were deployed at strategic locations across Delhi, particularly on roads leading to Jantar Mantar and other sensitive areas, to prevent any untoward incident.
The arrangements included heightened surveillance and monitoring of people suspected of attempting to disrupt law and order. Police were also keeping a close watch on possible mobilisation efforts ahead of the demonstration.
Delhi Police denied permission to the CJP to hold the proposed protest at Jantar Mantar, citing security considerations and procedural requirements. Police also said prohibitory orders were in force in the New Delhi area and appealed to people to comply with the restrictions.
The CJP had called the demonstration against the Chief Election Commissioner over allegations of voter-list manipulation during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and changes relating to Form 6, the form used to register new voters.
Tharoor’s invocation of the Emergency has brought the political debate back to Modi’s own remarks about the lessons of that period, as the government faces criticism over its handling of the proposed demonstration in the national capital.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
