The Congress on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “playing the victim card” after he said he had forgiven the youth who abused him during the recent student protests, and demanded that he instead apologise for the alleged police crackdown on protesters and the trauma caused by repeated examination paper leaks.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also dismissed the prime minister’s Instagram outreach as “InstaGram Sabhas”, calling them an act of “supreme self-obsession” that was “fooling no one.”
Congress Responds To PM’s Remarks
In a post on X, Ramesh criticised the prime minister’s remarks made in an Instagram video on Friday night.
“Late last night, in an act of supreme self-obsession, the prime minister said that he forgave our youth. This is an insult to the nation and to our youth, which has suffered under his government and is legitimately demanding an apology from him. The prime minister’s InstaGram Sabhas are fooling no one,” he said.
Ramesh also alleged that PM Modi was portraying himself as a victim. “The self-declared non-biological PM enjoys playing the victim card.”
He further accused the prime minister of using “vile vitriol” against his predecessors and political opponents and claimed that he spreads falsehoods to defame them in public speeches and Parliament.
Congress Seeks PM’s Apology
The Congress leader said the nation expected an apology from the prime minister over the alleged paper leak crisis and the police action against student protesters.
“The entire nation is wanting the PM to apologise for the trauma inflicted on lakhs of youth through his paper leak-ridden NTA and his home ministry-sanctioned brutality on student protestors.”
He also referred to the alleged Ram Temple donation embezzlement controversy and the 2016 demonetisation exercise, saying the prime minister owed the country an apology on those issues as well.
“The entire nation is waiting for the PM to apologise for the ‘Chanda Chori Astha Dhoka’ by the Ram Mandir Trust… The entire nation is still expecting his apology for his Tughlakian notebandi of November 8, 2016, that destroyed crores of livelihoods and shuttered lakhs of MSMEs. The list is endless,” Ramesh said.
What PM Modi Said
In an Instagram video posted on Friday night, PM Modi said it pained him that even his late mother had been subjected to “filthy abuses” during the protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The prime minister lamented that “our daughters” had used such language but urged people to forgive the “misguided children.” He asserted that dragging such misguided children into court would not resolve the problem and hence, he wanted to forgive them.
“Not only was I subjected to abusive language at Jantar Mantar, but even my late mother was abused there. But abuses never solve anything; let’s guide the misguided,” he said.
PM Modi said he understood the anger among the youth but stressed that the time had come to embrace them and guide them on the right path rather than alienate them.
