Judiciary, media under threat: Rahul’s Pakistan analogy

Against the backdrop of political developments in Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday drew a parallel between the Indian and Pakistani judiciary and said it was under dictatorship in both the countries, in an apparent attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rahul alleged there was an atmosphere of fear in the country and the Constitution was under “severe attack”, with even the institutions such as the judiciary and the press being suppressed and threatened.

“Such a thing was witnessed for the first time in a democratic country. It definitely happens under dictatorships, it happens in Pakistan, it happens in different African countries, (where) a general comes and suppresses the court and the press. But in India, it has happened for the first time in last 70 years,” Rahul said.

He was apparently referring to the unprecedented press conference by four senior judges of the Supreme Court in January this year to express their grievances against the Chief Justice of India. He was addressing the regional convention of the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sangathan in Raipur.

Rahul said the Constitution is under severe attack in the country and alleged that in Karnataka, the MLAs are on one side and the Governor on the other and you know what attempt is being made. “The JD(S) leader has said its MLAs were offered Rs 100 crore,” the Congress president said, apparently referring to H D Kumaraswami who had made the allegation.

“There is fear in the judiciary, there is fear in the press, and even the BJP’s members of Parliament are scared as they cannot speak a single word before the prime minister. In the last 70 years, it was generally seen that the people approached the judiciary for seeking justice,” he said.

He said the people will have to come together to fight against the ideology of the RSS and the BJP to protect the Constitution. “If we want to fight against the ideology of the RSS and the BJP, the representatives and women who are sitting here, are our key strength,” he said, referring to the panchayat members present at the event.