New Delhi, October 1 : Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was hit with a lathi and fell to the ground in a pushback by the Uttar Pradesh police after he, his sister Priyanka Gandhi with scores of party workers were stopped from marching on the Delhi-Noida higway to Hathras to meet the family of 19-year-old Dalit woman who was gang-raped and died in a Delhi hospital earlier this week.
The two leaders have been detained. However, the Congress alleges that the Gandhis have been arrested.
The police stopped the Gandhis, citing imposition of Section 144, which prohibits assembly of four or more people.
Pictures from the scene showed Rahul Gandhi being held back by the cops, in one of the shots he is seen taking a tumble while a policeman is holding on to the leader’s kurta to stop him from falling. In the next snap, the Congress leader is on the ground. The party workers and his security men quickly gathered around to help shore him up.
Gandhi said he would peacefully march alone to Hathras as that would not be in violation of Section 144 that prohibits public assembly. He demanded to know under which law he was being stopped.
“I am standing here peacefully. I want to march alone to Hathras. Section 144 talks about public assembly. I will go alone to Hathras. On what basis are you detaining me,” asked Rahul Gandhi in Hindi to the cops present on the scene.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress has called for a statewide protest against the police action on Gandhis.
“The cowardly UP Govt has arrested Shri @RahulGandhi & Smt @PriyankaGandhi for seeking justice & trying to meet the bereaved Hathras victim’s family. I appeal to all PCCs and @INCIndia workers to protest today against the arrest of Rahul ji, Priyanka ji & other party leaders,” tweeted Congress general secretary KC Venugopal.
Earlier in the day, Congress workers milled around the two leaders as Rahul Gandhi, his face mask on, led the march, with Priyanka, who was recently retained as general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, right behind him. Scores of reporters and people were seen clicking pictures of the two leaders as they went about their padyatra under the October sun.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday a fortnight after she was gang-raped at Hathras while she was out to collect fodder with her mother, was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night. (Hindustan Times)
