Priyanka Gandhi Vadra participates in a protest against the amended citizenship law
Accusing the BJP government of being "bent upon using repression and violence" "to suppress the voice of people" protesting against changes in the citizenship law, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said it was a "black day for democracy".
She accused the government of seeking to harass the poor by replicating the situation of queuing them up in quest of identity proof just as they had to line up before ATMs for their own money after demonetisation in November 2016.
The Congress general secretary, who has been participating in protests by people against the amended citizenship law and the proposed creation of a National Register of Citizens, alleged that police were inciting peaceful protestors all over the country and indulging in violence against them.
"The NRC and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is against the fundamental spirit of the Constitution of India," she said in a statement in Hindi, adding "at no cost will an attack on Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution" be allowed."
"The public is fighting for the Constitution by taking to streets against this attack, but the government is bent on barbaric repression and violence," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi appealed to the protesters to follow "non-violence and truth as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi" to protect the Constitution.
Alleging that the NRC and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is against the poor of the country, she said, "As the BJP government had lined up the poor in (the wake of) demonetisation, it wants them now to stand in line in the name of NRC and citizenship amendment law."
Priyanka Gandhi accused the police of arresting people and keeping them in illegal custody in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country without telling their family members of their whereabouts.
"It is a dark day for democracy. The police have kept many people in illegal custody for days in Lucknow. Their families have no information about their arrest. We are getting shocking news through the media that those arrested are being beaten up badly in police custody," she said.