Aizawl: Union Home Minister Amit Shah was shown black flags by Congress party workers during his visit to Mizoram to inaugurate development projects on Saturday.
Shah was on a day-long visit to the state during which he inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of various development projects worth Rs. 2,414 crore, including the new Assam Rifles headquarters complex and Laldenga Cultural Centre.
Extending solidarity to their leader Rahul Gandhi, who was recently convicted by a Surat district court on a defamation case, leaders of the state PCC and frontal organisations held peaceful demonstration as Shah entered Lammual or Assam Rifles ground in Aizawl to address a public meeting.
The protesters carried placards and waved black flags blaming the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly suppressing freedom of speech and destroying the democratic norms.
They shouted slogans demanding justice for Rahul Gandhi.
The protesters alleged that the BJP was targetting Gandhi as he raised questions about the Modi government’s link to business tycoon like Adani and others.
They also backed Mr. Gandhi and said he was not targetting any particular community when he said “Why do all these thieves have the name Modi?” during his speech comparing Narendra Modi with economic offenders such as Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
“Framing of Gandhi, who always stands for the backward classes, as targetting the OBC was nothing but to mislead the people,” Congress also said in a statement.
It also alleged that the BJP feared its wrongdoings being made public and hence was trying to divert public attention.
The party further questioned the basis of the charge against Mr. Gandi citing that defamation is only actionable against individuals and not a generic class of people.
On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Surat district court and sentenced to two years imprisonment in the defamation case over his ‘Modi surname’ remark made during an election rally in Karnataka in 2019.
After being convicted, the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad was disqualified from Parliament.
The Congress leader was given bail and the sentence was suspended for 30 days during which Gandhi is likely to appeal to a higher court.