Tushar Gandhi urges Kerala to quash cases filed against student protesters
Noted social activist and great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, has appealed to the Kerala government to undertake an immediate course correction by cancelling all
Noted social activist and great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi, has appealed to the Kerala government to undertake an immediate course correction by cancelling all chargesheets and cases filed by the Kerala Police against students who protested in Kerala in support of the nationwide student protests. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday, Mr. Gandhi said he was surprised to learn that Kerala Police had filed chargesheets and registered cases against students who took part in protests in Kerala in solidarity with the nationwide student movement.
“This does not behoove the progressive State of Kerala, and even more so, a government led by the Congress party. While Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Priyanka Gandhi, MP from Wayanad, have supported the students’ movement and condemned the brutal repression unleashed by the Union government and the Delhi Police, it is disgraceful to hear that students are being prosecuted even in Kerala, where a UDF government headed by a Congress Chief Minister and Home Minister is in power,” he said.
Recalling that the Congress was born out of the spirit of Satyagraha, Mr. Gandhi, who is also the president of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, said people, including himself, expected much better from a Congress-led government. “I hope and pray that both of you will immediately follow the lead of the Congress’s national leadership,” he said in the letter. He further urged the government to quash all FIRs, charge sheets and cases filed against students who protested in support of the nationwide student movement, irrespective of their political affiliations, without delay or shifting responsibility.
“This is my earnest prayer, and I am certain both of you will honour it by taking immediate corrective action and, in future, desist from committing such blunders,” he said.
The BriefWire