Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today met with members of civil society including Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, who had a running feud with the NDA government dispensation and expressed solidarity with their struggle.
"Rahul Gandhi expressed full solidarity with the people's struggle to safeguard hard-won Constitutional freedoms. "A wide cross-section of Civil Society Leaders met Rahul Gandhi on the issue of BJP Govt's continuing attack on Freedom of Speech & Dissent," the twitter handle of Rahul's office said after the meeting.
Ms Pillai, a Greenpeace senior campaigner was "offloaded" at Delhi airport on January 11 from a flight to London where she was scheduled to make a presentation before British MPs regarding alleged human rights violations at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh.
The incident had happened a few months after the blocking of funds to Greenpeace by the Home Ministry. The issue had led to a huge controversy.
A joint press release by the members of the civil society said that they met Mr Gandhi and expressed concern about "attack" by the government on their freedom and autonomy and right to dissent.
Besides Ms Pillai, RTI activist Nikhil Dey from MKSS, Ravi Nair, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, Tapan Bose, South Asia Forum For Human Rights, M J Vijayan, General Secretary, Programme for Social Action (PSA), Rajendra Ravi, National Alliance of People's Movements and Jarjum Ete, President of All India Union of Forest Working People(AIUFWP) met the Congress Vice President.
In the interactive session, Mr Gandhi assured the members of civil society that the Congress Party would be in the vanguard of defending and enhancing all the fundamental fights and directive principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. "He said that he shared the concerns raised by the delegation on democracy and dissent being curbed," the release said.
Their meeting with Mr Gandhi is the first in a series of meetings with all political parties "not in alliance with the BJP-led NDA" and seeks to explore commonalities of how civil society across India can encourage a broad anti-authoritarian, pro-poor, pro-environment platform, the activists said.
"Rahul Gandhi expressed full solidarity with the people's struggle to safeguard hard-won Constitutional freedoms. "A wide cross-section of Civil Society Leaders met Rahul Gandhi on the issue of BJP Govt's continuing attack on Freedom of Speech & Dissent," the twitter handle of Rahul's office said after the meeting.
Ms Pillai, a Greenpeace senior campaigner was "offloaded" at Delhi airport on January 11 from a flight to London where she was scheduled to make a presentation before British MPs regarding alleged human rights violations at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh.
A joint press release by the members of the civil society said that they met Mr Gandhi and expressed concern about "attack" by the government on their freedom and autonomy and right to dissent.
Advertisement
In the interactive session, Mr Gandhi assured the members of civil society that the Congress Party would be in the vanguard of defending and enhancing all the fundamental fights and directive principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. "He said that he shared the concerns raised by the delegation on democracy and dissent being curbed," the release said.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
'Hooda And Company' Spreading Lies About Agniveer Scheme: Amit Shah In Haryana 'Discipline Your Leaders': Mallikarjun Kharge To PM On "Violent" Remarks Against Rahul Gandhi "He's Boss Even After Congress Lost Thrice": Kiren Rijiju Jabs Rahul Gandhi AAP Asks Its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal To Quit Over Atishi Remarks "Your Duty...": Chief Justice On Bengal's 'No Night Shift For Women' Note Man From Bihar's Jamui Lands Rs 2 Crore Package At Google's London Office IIT Kanpur Launches Project For UP Digital Health Stack New Kia Carnival MPV Gets Over 1,800 Pre-Orders Before Launch IISc Bangalore PhD Admission 2024: Application To Begin From October 1 Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.