Guwahati (Assam): In a speech, on Monday, Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party criticized the BJP government for suppressing creativity and independent thinking. Speaking to a group of students near the Assam Meghalaya border during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra Gandhi expressed concern about efforts to limit imagination in favor of following the RSS and the countrys leadership.
Standing atop his bus outside the USTM University campus Gandhi revealed that despite being scheduled to address the students at the university he was prevented from doing due to intervention from Assams Chief Ministers office. He emphasized that it was not about his ability to speak but rather about every individuals right to listen to anyone they choose.
Drawing attention to what he perceived as a pattern Gandhi asserted that similar restrictions on freedom of expression were taking place in universities, colleges and schools across India. He accused authorities of instructing students to follow the RSS and the countrys leadership while discouraging them from nurturing their imaginations.
Congress leaders disclosed that Rahul Gandhi had originally planned to interact with hundred students at USTM University on the Assam Meghalaya border. However it is alleged that intervention, by the Union Home Minister resulted in revoking his invitation.
Unfazed by the circumstances it is said that Gandhi spontaneously engaged in a conversation, with one hundred students at a hotel. In this gathering he touched upon matters notably emphasizing what he referred to as "the curbing of voices and personal liberties, under the administration."
—Input from Agencies