NSUI leaders condemn arrest of Youth Cong members, call for justice
Court grants bail, labels pre-trial detention a violation of democratic norms
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and organisations from opposition INDIA bloc parties on Monday condemned the arrest of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) national president Uday Bhanu Chib and eight other members, calling it an attack on democratic rights and youth voices.
Addressing mediapersons, NSUI national president Vinod Jakhar said, “It is shameful the Prime Minister and his ministers’ names are coming up in the Epstein Files. This seriously damages the dignity of the highest office in the country. Arresting Uday Bhanu Chib and other youth leaders for raising their voices is a disgraceful act. We demand that the Prime Minister resign immediately.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, said: “We condemn this arrest and will fight against this injustice. Today, as Gujaratis, we feel ashamed. We demand the Prime Minister’s resignation.”
Samajwadi Party youth leader Fahad highlighted the longstanding history of the Indian National Congress and the Youth Congress. “Whenever injustice or wrongdoing has occurred in the country, these organisations have registered their protest through democratic means. However, the present government has allegedly shut down designated protest sites, including Jantar Mantar, raising concerns about the suppression of democratic rights,” he said.
The India Youth Front said peaceful protest is a constitutional right and affirmed it would continue to extend unwavering support to the Indian Youth Congress in this democratic struggle.
Meanwhile, the eight arrested members were granted bail on Sunday by a Delhi court.
“The protest, at most, constituted symbolic political critique during a public event: T-shirts with leadership imagery, non-inciteful slogans bereft of communal or regional taint, and a transient assembly. No evidence discloses property defacement or delegate panic; exit was orderly via escort,” the court noted.
It was observed pre-trial detention, severed from any imperative necessity and devoid of ongoing investigative demands, could amount to pre-emptive punishment prior to conviction.
“[This would be] a profound aberration fundamentally at odds with the bedrock axioms of criminal jurisprudence, which exalt liberty as the governing norm and incarceration as the narrowly circumscribed exception,” the court added.
