Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government cannot stop him from raising the voice of students no matter how hard it tries.

Gandhi’s statement came after the management of a college in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj revoked permission for an event where he was scheduled to speak with students about paper leaks and exam irregularities.

“The policy of the Modi government is to suppress the voice of the youth,” the Opposition leader said on social media. “Ask a question and you get a lathi charge, protest and you face cases, and raise your voice and you get pellet guns.”

The “Chhatron Ki Goonj”, or call of the students, programme was scheduled to be held on Saturday at the KP College sports ground. The event is part of a campaign by the Congress to demand accountability from the government about problems in the education system.

The trust that manages the college cited an Allahabad High Court order limiting the ground’s use to sports and educational activities, along with waterlogging caused by recent rains, as reasons for cancelling the event.

Gandhi claimed that since he had decided to visit Prayagraj to interact with the students, the administration had been “trying every possible way” to stop his programme. It is clear that they are afraid of even “chhatron ki goonj”, he said.

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said that Gandhi will travel to Prayagraj on Saturday and meet the students despite the permission for the programme having been revoked.

Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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