New Delhi : Sam Pitroda, the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, has defended young protesters facing criticism over abusive slogans and remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Cockroch Janta Party (CJP)-led recent protest in Delhi. You have to see it from the perspective of the student. Of course, the Prime Minister’s perspective is a privilege. I’m not undermining that. I don’t want to insult the Prime Minister because he’s the Prime Minister of the country.
He added, “Galigula (verbal abuse) is okay, these are our children. Now there may be some galigula here and there. I don’t like it, but it’s okay. These are our children.” Citing a metaphor from one of his articles, the US-based technocrat leader said that young people may “throw some mud”, but what matters is listening to them. “I wrote an article in the newspaper about the monsoon season in India. This is an Indian monsoon where it’s pouring heavily, and it’s going to carry with it some mud, which is the metaphor.
The alleged abusive language used by protesters during the Delhi agitation, as well as in online posts around the same time, primarily targeting the Prime Minister, drew criticism from several quarters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself addressed the issue, saying he forgave the students who had used abusive language. On PM Modi’s use of the term “dimagi naxal”, Pitroda rejected the characterisation of people who advocate for disadvantaged communities as Naxalites or communists.
“You are more human. I put humanity way above everything else. We all came from the same place,” Pitroda added. The Prime Minister used the term “dimagi Naxal” in his Independence Day address to refer to those he accused of perpetuating Naxal ideology even as armed Naxalism declines. He said that while armed Naxals had been pushed out of the jungles, “dimagi Naxals” continued to pose an ideological threat by seeking to create unrest and violence.
Sam Pitroda futher alleged that Indian democratic institutions had been weakened by what he described as excessive centralisation of power in the Prime Minister’s Office. “The situation in India is such that democracy is under attack. Democracy has been on attack for the last many, many years, ever since the BJP came to power,” he said. “Now it’s an issue of perception. My perception is that we have weakened our institutions by centralising too much of our power in the Prime Minister’s office,” he added.
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