Guwahati: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a large crowd of students outside the USTM University campus in Guwahati on Tuesday.
His originally scheduled interaction with students within the university was allegedly cancelled after intervention from the Assam chief minister office and union home ministry.
Addressing the gathering from atop his bus, Gandhi said he was supposed to address the students in the university, but the Assam CM office called university authorities that he (Gandhi) must not be allowed to address university students.
“Rahul Gandhi comes or doesn’t come, but what is important is that you are allowed to listen to anybody that you want to listen to,” Gandhi said.
He emphasized the need for students to be encouraged to form their own opinions and engage in open dialogue, rather than blindly accepting any single ideology.
“This is not just an issue in Assam. This is happening in universities and colleges across India. Students are being told to suppress their own imaginations and blindly follow established narratives,” Gandhi stated.
Gandhi’s comments resonated with many students who gathered outside the university despite the cancelled event.
Several expressed concerns about the perceived decline in academic freedom and the potential suppression of critical thinking in educational institutions.
Gandhi was supposed to hold an interaction with several hundred students at USTM university at Khanapara, Guwahati along Assam-Meghalaya border, however, after the Union Home Minister’s alleged intervention his invitation was revoked.