SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) held a demonstration showing solidarity with the students of JNU in front of the Congress Bhawan, Tura on Saturday.
The demonstration was marked by holding placards and shouting slogans against the suppression of the voice of dissent. The demonstration was led by MPYC president Richard Marak and Tura Loksabha Youth Congress (LYC) President Allan Sylvester R Marak.
Also present were Tura LYC Secretaries, including the elected MDC Stevie Marak, Donbosh N Sangma, General Secretary, DCC West Garo Hills. The Chairman of Tura Municipal Board was also present to lend his voice to the demonstration.
MPYC in a statement issued here on Sunday said that India is witnessing a systematic effort by Modi Government to suppress the voice of students across the country, which goes against the basic tenet of our Democracy, the freedom of expression.
“After FTII in Pune and HCU in Hyderabad, the BJP has now turned its gaze towards JNU, in its attempt to break institutions of higher education in India and abuse the freedom enshrined in the Constitution,” MPYC said.
The MPYC further added that the JNU students were falsely charged with sedition based on spurious evidence, fake tweets and doctored videos.
The HRD Minister Smriti Irani, whose hands are still tainted with the death of Rohit Vemula, along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, has created an atmosphere of hate, violence and division on our university campuses, the MPYC alleged.
According to the MPYC, the fact of the matter is that the BJP is scared. “They fear that as more and more people raise their voices, more questions will be asked of the divisive ideology of BJP. Our universities are places where there is a free flow of ideas, where politics and society is eagerly debated and an informed citizenry is produced.”
” However, a free thinking individual is antithetical to the BJP. They want universities to produce drones who will listen to the diktats from Nagpur”, MPYC said.
MPYC further asserted, “Our message to the BJP and Narendra Modi is clear: We are not going to be bullied by you. Nor will we let you push anyone around. The BJP has driven the economy to the ground and are now trying to distract people’s attention by indulging in theatrics on nationalism. But, India is not going to be fooled, Modi ji. The British policy of divide and rule will not work today”.