Student groups clash at COEP hostel over Rahul Gandhi’s Pune interaction
Pune: In a late-night development, two student groups clashed at the College of Engineering Pune Technological University hostel, prompting police to reach the spot and control the situation. NSUI representatives alleged that girl students were threatened, confined and beaten by members of the ABVP for supporting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming interaction with students, ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’, scheduled to be held in the city on Saturday. ABVP members, however, alleged that NSUI representatives were forcing students to attend Rahul’s programme and had assaulted girl students. Speaking to the media at the spot, Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar said, “Two girl students were threatened and beaten by ABVP for supporting Rahul Gandhi’s programme. They are trying to stifle freedom of expression. We want action against those responsible. Even the police beat up the assembled students. If the police do not take action against the guilty, we will stage a sit-in protest,” Wadettiwar said. As night progressed, students and representatives from both organisations started arriving in large numbers while the police tried to disperse the crowd. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Omar Abdullah backs Rahul Gandhi, says LoP’s job is to make govt accountable
SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah Friday backed Rahul Gandhi, saying it is the job of the leader of the opposition (LoP) to question the govt and hold it accountable. He said, “If the opposition leader does not question the opposition, then what is the use of him?” Speaking to reporters, he said questions are not raised when the leader of the opposition in Jammu & Kashmir, Sunil Sharma (BJP), “asks useless questions again and again. But when he does it, you enjoy it. When Gandhi does it, you ask why he is doing this.” He said the opposition should not be judged on different scales. “Gandhi is doing what the country expects from him. The job of the opposition leader is to seek answers from the govt and make the govt accountable. Gandhi is doing the same,” he said, adding, “I would like him to continue doing so.” Omar’s remarks came after Gandhi sat on an over-six-hour protest at the Parliament Street police station in Delhi, seeking registration of an FIR on a complaint from a young man who had allegedly suffered pellet injuries during the July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Pellet injuries: FIR filed after Rahul Gandhi sits on dharna
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police registered a case after leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi staged a five-hour dharna outside Parliament Street police station Friday, demanding an FIR in connection with pellet injuries suffered by 19-year-old Sahil Lochab during the July 20 Jantar Mantar protest, reports Abhay. Gandhi reached the police station with Lochab, his mother and their lawyer around 11.30am. He was later joined by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party functionaries, and met the DCP and other senior officers. Displaying Lochab’s medical reports, Gandhi said more than 200 pellets had entered the student’s body, including three that struck his eye and put his vision at risk. Some pellets, he added, were lodged near Lochab’s heart and could not be removed by doctors. He also displayed a pellet recovered from the student’s body during treatment. “Brutality against a peaceful protest is a serious crime. An offence has been committed and we are demanding registration of an FIR,” Gandhi said, alleging Delhi Police told them they had received instructions “from above” not to register the case. The charge was denied by police. After over five hours, Lochab’s complaint was filed and an FIR registered against unknown persons under sections 118(1) and 125 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means and acts endangering life or personal safety. Gandhi termed it “a first step towards justice”. Thanking him, Lochab said: “When he called to ask about my health, I mentioned that my FIR wasn’t being registered. He immediately said, ‘Let’s meet tomorrow; I will go and get your FIR filed.’ It took eight hours to get the FIR registered, and perhaps it wouldn’t have been registered at all if the LOP hadn’t supported me.” According to Lochab, he submitted a seven-page complaint to police on Aug 14 seeking registration of an FIR, but no action was taken. In his complaint, Lochab, a Najafgarh resident, said he had joined the July 20 Sansad Chalo march against the alleged NEET paper leak. He alleged that when the lathicharge and teargas firing began, he ran with the crowd towards Connaught Place, but as he approached Palika Bazaar and Connaught Place carrying the tricolour, he was hit multiple times by metal pellets fired by a person in a blue uniform carrying a large gun. Lochab stated that he suffered injuries to his right eye, face, arm and chest, and lost vision in his right eye. He was taken to Lady Hardinge Hospital and later referred to Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS. His first eye surgery was performed on July 22. He said his MLC recorded that the eye injury was caused by a pellet and that the chances of recovery were less than 1%. An AIIMS CT scan showed more than 200 pellets lodged in his body, including in his eye, neck, chest, jaw and arm, Lochab stated, adding some pellets near the eye nerve could not be removed. He underwent a second eye surgery on Aug 1, but his vision had not returned, he added. Lochab also said the injuries had disrupted his studies and ended his hopes of joining Delhi Police. In his complaint, he sought preservation of CCTV and drone footage, forensic examination of the pellets removed from his body and registration of an FIR. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘RSS believes it knows the truth for everyone’: Rahul Gandhi attacks Sangh over ideology
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha leader of opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi Thursday accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of trying to impose its idea of truth on people across India, arguing that every individual must have the freedom to find and define their own truth. Speaking at the “Hara Bhara Swaraj: A Tribute to Rajiv Gandhi’s Vision” programme in New Delhi, the Gandhi Scion described the ideological contest in India as a deeper struggle over how people understand themselves, freedom and their place in society. The Congress leader also drew a distinction between the RSS’s worldview and Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of ‘Swaraj’, saying no organisation or individual could claim to know what is true for another person. “What Gandhiji was saying was that every living being is a unique entity with their own path towards the truth. I cannot tell you what your truth is. Today, the ideological battle in India is precisely that. It is not fundamentally about environment, politics, or free media–those are symptoms. The real fight is that a small group of people have decided, because they control the system, that they know the truth of everyone in this country. That is my problem with the RSS: the RSS has decided that they know the truth of 1.5 billion people. And I say, no. Only 1.5 billion people can know their own truth,” Rahul Gandhi asserted. He said even he could not claim to understand another person’s truth because people’s experiences, families and circumstances are different. “And I say, no. Only 1.5 billion people can know their own truth. Even I cannot do that. If I begin to believe that I know your truth, I would be a madman. Because I am not you. I haven’t faced what you’ve faced; I haven’t seen what you’ve seen; I haven’t dealt with what you’ve dealt with. I don’t have the same parents, the same friends, or the same life. So how can I say that I know your truth?” he added. ‘My Experiments with Truth’ reflects individual journeys Rahul Gandhi then referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, ‘My Experiments with Truth’, saying its title itself reflected the idea that truth is something each person explores through their own life. “Please notice, Gandhiji’s book was not called ‘The Truth’ or ‘My Understanding of the Truth’. It was titled ‘My Experiments with Truth’. I have experiments with my truth; you have experiments with your truth.” Rahul targets BJP-RSS over ‘exclusion’ The Congress leader also criticised the BJP and RSS over what he described as the exclusion of sections of Indian society. He said people from different religious and social communities must feel that they have an equal place in the country. “Imagine what the BJP and RSS have done. Imagine if I walked into this room and told 15-17 per cent of you–Muslims, Christians, Sikhs–‘You do not exist, and if you speak up, see what happens to you.’ Then telling 10 per cent Adivasis, ‘We will take your land whenever we want, and if you resist, we will shoot you,’ and Dalits, ‘You are complaining for nothing; everything is fine with the caste system.’ That is what is being done to our motherland. Every single person in this country–regardless of religion, community, or gender–must feel: ‘I belong here. I can walk freely in this country. I am loved, respected, and appreciated here, and my search for truth matters to the nation,’” he said. ‘Gandhi’s Swaraj is more than freedom’ Rahul Gandhi also explained why he believes ‘Swaraj’ should not simply be understood as the same thing as freedom or liberty in the Western sense. He used US President Donald Trump and Mahatma Gandhi to illustrate the difference, arguing that being legally free does not necessarily mean having control over one’s own actions and desires. “‘Swaraj’ is often confused with the Western word ‘freedom.’ People think that Swaraj means freedom; that it means liberty or independence. No–Swaraj means rule over oneself (Swa par raj / self-governance). If you go to America and ask, ‘Is Trump a free man?’, everyone will say, ‘Absolutely.’ But if you ask, ‘Does Trump rule over himself?’, the clear answer is, ‘No, he does not.’ Whereas Gandhiji in a prison 80 years ago would say, ‘I am not free, but I rule over myself. It is Swaraj,’” he explained. The Congress leader said this understanding of Swaraj makes it a personal responsibility rather than something that can simply be granted by a government or another person. “Swaraj is an Indian concept, and it carries deep responsibility. It is a way of thinking, and it is an individual project. I cannot give you Swaraj. Whatever I do… in a Western sense, I can grant you freedom by saying, ‘You are not in prison; I have given you freedom.’ But I cannot give you Swaraj. Because Swaraj is your personal relationship with the universe. Swaraj is an individual path. And Gandhiji’s conception of Swaraj was that every single person in this country should walk on this path.” His remarks placed the idea of individual self-rule at the centre of his criticism of the RSS, while presenting Gandhi’s philosophy of Swaraj as one based on personal responsibility and the freedom of each individual to pursue their own understanding of truth. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Control disguised as concern’: Women share their experiences after Rahul Gandhi’s Instagram appeal
NEW DELHI: Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has asked women across the country to share what being an Indian woman means to them, seeking responses on their experiences, struggles, dreams and the challenges they face. In an Instagram video, Gandhi posed the question: “What does it mean to be an Indian woman?” “I want to know how you feel. Not society’s voice, not your family’s, but what does your own voice say?” he said, asking women to share their struggles, obstacles, perspectives and dreams. He also shared some of the responses he received, many of which highlighted experiences of control, patriarchy, discrimination and social expectations. Rahul Gandhi’s Instagram story ‘Constantly facing control disguised as concern’ One woman said she was “constantly facing control disguised as concern”, while another spoke about how paper leaks, unaffordable colleges and academic difficulties could push women towards early marriage. Another response said: “Patriarchy killing dreams, moral policing and being threatened for expressing.” Several women spoke about being unheard, overworked and misunderstood. One response read: “Unheard, compromising, misunderstood, made fun of, abused, weak, overworked but called devi.” Another said women “don’t get to choose how we want to spend our life.” Fear, struggle and sacrifice also emerged as recurring themes, with one woman describing herself as “somebody’s daughter, somebody’s wife” and saying women are marginalised. ‘From childhood, told you have to go to another home’ Some responses focused on the expectations placed on women from childhood. “Bachpan se yaad dilana ki tumhe kisi aur ke ghar jana hi hoga aur usi hisab se hume palna,” one woman wrote. Another spoke about restrictions on clothing, saying women are told they cannot wear certain clothes because “the men might lose control.” Other responses raised concerns over healthcare and governance, with one woman saying she felt “oppressed by the govt, & society” and that women were provided poor medical facilities. Gandhi says exercise helped him understand women’s experiences Gandhi said the idea came while his team was preparing material for his upcoming ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, which is aimed at women. He said he asked women in his team to share their thoughts on being an Indian woman, including how society treated them, as well as the positive and negative experiences they had. The exercise, he said, helped him understand their experiences to some extent. “My team decided, why not open this up to everyone and make it accessible?” Gandhi said, inviting women attending the programme as well as those watching it to share their own experiences. Rahul Gandhi’s Pune event Gandhi is scheduled to participate in the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme in Pune. The event received permission from the Maharashtra government subject to 30 conditions. The programme is being positioned as a platform for women to share their experiences and perspectives, with Gandhi now seeking responses from a wider audience ahead of the event. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
No change in Punjab Congress leadership, says Baghel
Chandigarh: Amid sustained pressure from a section of Punjab Congress leaders seeking a change in the state leadership, AICC general secretary in charge of Punjab Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday once again ruled out any change in the existing organisational structure, saying the focus was on expanding the committees already announced and bringing more leaders into the party’s election preparations. “There will be no changes now. Only expansion will take place,” Baghel said, making it clear that the existing committees would be enlarged by adding more members and new committees could also be constituted as part of the party’s organisational preparations. The development comes against the backdrop of an increasingly bitter power struggle within Punjab Congress, particularly between a group of senior leaders associated with former chief minister and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi and the camp led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. The differences became more pronounced after Congress, on July 1, retained Warring as the PPCC president while announcing several election-related committees. The camp of leaders backing Channi, including senior figures such as Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Rana Gurjeet Singh and Bharat Bhushan Ashu, has since expressed dissatisfaction with the organisational arrangements and pressed the party high command to address their concerns. They have been seeking the removal of Warring and a greater role for Channi. Baghel, however, dismissed the suggestion that senior Punjab leaders meeting the party high command were doing so merely to lodge complaints. Meanwhile, Congress is working on a proposal for a programme involving senior party leader Rahul Gandhi in Punjab, with the plan awaiting his approval. Baghel said a proposal had been submitted to Rahul Gandhi and that the party was waiting for his approval. As part of the tentative plan, Rahul Gandhi may begin a bus journey from Amritsar after paying obeisance at Golden Temple. He is expected to travel with senior Punjab Congress leaders in an apparent effort to bring them onto a common platform. According to party sources, the proposed first phase of the journey could cover the stretch from Amritsar to Hussainiwala, a distance of around 135 kilometres, and pass through approximately 25 to 30 Assembly constituencies. If finalised, the programme could provide Congress an opportunity to publicly project unity among its senior leaders at a time when factionalism has emerged as one of the party’s biggest challenges in Punjab. Congress leadership has held several rounds of meetings in recent weeks in an effort to ease tensions within the state unit and resolve differences among senior leaders. Party assessments have also underlined the need to contain infighting, which has repeatedly hurt Congress in Punjab. The internal rift became particularly visible during ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ campaign, when Baghel and Warring travelled across different parts of the state. Supporters of rival factions raised slogans at some programmes, while protests against Baghel were also witnessed. At some meetings, tensions between supporters of different groups reportedly escalated into scuffles. The infighting later spilled into a poster war, with posters portraying Baghel as General Dyer appearing at some places, while separate posters targeting Warring also surfaced. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Rahul Gandhi asks Congress to monitor party netas’ social media stands
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have asked the party to monitor social media of functionaries if they are amplifying the party line on social justice issues. The direction came after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at CWC meeting Wednesday said that many netas don’t push the party’s stand in public. Kharge also lamented that he did not get enough support from the party when “RSS-BJP” workers did a “purification” of the rally venue in Haldwani where he had addressed a gathering – an act of caste discrimination. Interestingly, sources said, there was a difference of opinion between Rahul and Congress MP Manish Tewari at CWC meeting over the history and trajectory of students’ movements in the country. Tewari, sources said, argued that the big four students’ movements in the past including anti-Mandal Commission protests had been organic and not led by the students’ wings of the political parties. Rahul apparently argued that students were with the Congress till very late. A day later, apparently reflecting his pique over the exchange and an oblique warning to the leadership, Tewari tweeted a quote from Churchill, “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things. If it is heeded in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed, a fatal distemper may develop.” On the Haldwani issue, sources said, when some leaders said that party functionaries had organised demonstrations and participated in them, Kharge took a dig that “those who write well and look good” did not raise the issue strongly and urged them to pitch in in future. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Voice sample is not required’: Rahul Gandhi’s counsel opposes plea in Savarkar defamation case
NEW DELHI: The defence counsel for leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday opposed a plea seeking his voice sample in the defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar, grandson of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in a Pune court. Congress MP’s lawyer Milind D Pawar argued that the case had not yet reached the stage where the defence would examine whether the alleged speech was actually made with a defamatory intention, and therefore a voice sample was not required at this stage. Speaking to news agency ANI, Pawar said the special MP/MLA court in Pune has directed the defence to file its formal response to the application by September 1. According to Pawar, the application was moved after Rahul’s appearance in Pune on August 22, with the complainant seeking to have his voice sampled. “A deformation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar against Rahul Gandhi. On 31st of December 2025, the chief examination of Satyaki Savarkar has been completed and thereafter on behalf of Rahul Gandhi, cross examination is going on,” Pawar said. He added, “Yesterday the complainant has filed an application that Rahul Gandhi came in Pune on 22nd of August, 2026 and therefore, he may kindly be called for voice sample.” Pawar said the court accepted his argument that the voice sample was premature. “Still we are not come on that defence that whether we have really given that speech where our intention is defamation that defence is not yet to be came before the court and therefore at this stage voice sample is not required,” he said. Satyaki Savarkar’s deposition brings Godse-RSS links into focus The voice sample plea came amid further cross-examination of Satyaki Savarkar, during which he made statements about the relationship between the Savarkar and Godse families and the latter family’s links with the RSS. According to the deposition cited by ANI, Satyaki said, “It is true to say that my grandfathers Gopal Godse and Nathuram Godse were active members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.” Satyaki identified Gopal Godse as his maternal grandfather and Sindhu Godse as his maternal grandmother. His mother was Himani Savarkar. He also acknowledged that the Savarkar and Godse families were related, although he said he did not have complete information about their historical relationship or whether relevant records were available in government archives. Satyaki said his mother died in Pune in 2015 and Gopal Godse died there in 2007. He also said that both his mother and grandfather worked for the Hindu Mahasabha until their deaths. The cross-examination also touched upon the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 and the historical roles of the people involved. Some questions concerning the RSS and Digambar Badge were objected to by the complainant’s lawyer, Sangram Kolhatkar. The court recorded that the objections would be dealt with at the time of the final decision. Case stems from Rahul’s 2023 London remarks Satyaki Savarkar, a grandson of one of V D Savarkar’s brothers, filed the defamation case against Rahul over remarks the Congress leader allegedly made about Savarkar during an Overseas Congress event in London on March 5, 2023. Satyaki subsequently approached a magistrate court in Pune in April 2023, alleging that former Congress president’s remarks were false and defamatory and had damaged the reputation of Savarkar and caused distress to his family and supporters. The case is currently at the stage of cross-examination of the complainant. Pawar said the chief examination of Satyaki had been completed on December 31, 2025, while his cross-examination by Rahul’s legal team is continuing. The proceedings were deferred to September 1, when the defence is expected to respond formally to the voice sample application. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Congress Working Committee discusses Vande Mataram, firm on singing just 2 stanzas
NEW DELHI: The Congress Working Committee Wednesday directed the party’s chief ministers to come up with a concrete plan to revamp education and examination systems in their states, which the party can showcase across the country – in an imaginative bid to tap into the restive youth sentiment. Congress also decided to hold nationwide protests at the village level to highlight the Ram temple “Chanda Chori” under BJP govt.CWC demanded that Lok Sabha be frozen at the present 543 MPs for the next 25 years and women’s quota be implemented from the 2029 national elections. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is learnt to have said that the party should declare Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate for the 2029 polls. He also warned against allowing outfits like Cockroach Janta Party to spread on Congress turfs. The party has also decided to expand its “Chhatron ki Goonj” students’ conventions led by Rahul to 800 towns and cities. Sources said Rahul directed the CMs to revamp the education system, arguing that the party should be able to hold them up as examples in the country. The CMs have been asked to submit a plan, based on inputs from experts and students’ bodies, within a month. The CWC meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Sachin Pilot, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, CMs DK Shivakumar, Revanth Reddy, Sukhwinder Sukhu and VD Satheesan, among others. Rahul expressed an optimistic picture of the future, saying PM Modi has lost his sheen and the mood of the country is changing. He referred to the PM’s Independence Day speech to claim that he has lost confidence. The meeting also witnessed a discussion on the raging controversy around Vande Mataram. Kharge detailed the issue by reading the 1937 CWC resolution to argue that Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose had approved Vande Mataram on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore. Venugopal told reporters that Congress will sing only two stanzas, as approved by the Constituent Assembly and the 1937 resolution. CWC also expressed concern over reports of Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh and over the E-20 ethanol policy. It called Modi govt’s foreign policy a “surrender policy”, be it with the US or China. On Ram temple “Chanda Chori”, Congress demanded an SC-monitored probe while stating the PM cannot call it a state subject after having appropriated every step leading to the temple’s construction, including the announcement of the Ram Temple Trust. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘PM Modi’s political rule in final phase, successor search under way’: Rahul Gandhi at CWC meet
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Wednesday, reportedly said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political rule is in its “final phase” and that a search for his successor is already underway. “Narendra Modi ka siyasi ant ho chuka hai. Inka waqt khatam ho gaya hai. Modi ka shasan aakhiri daur mein hai. Inke uttaradhikari ki talash chal rahi hai (Narendra Modi’s political end has come. His time is over. Modi’s rule is in its final phase. A search for his successor is underway),” sources quoted the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as saying. Rahul Gandhi also described the government as being “completely on the back foot” and urged Congress leaders to adopt a more aggressive approach in taking on the government. The remarks were made during the CWC meeting at the Congress headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in Delhi, where senior party leaders discussed the political situation in the country and the party’s strategy on key issues. Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who also addressed the meeting, alleged that the Centre had “devastated the future of the youth” over the past 12 years. He claimed that 94,000 schools had shut down in recent years and called for a clear, comprehensive and time-bound “Education-to-Employment Roadmap” for young people. Kharge also questioned the money, gold and other donations received by the Ram Mandir trust. He said people had the right to know how the donations were being accounted for and used, and called for any financial wrongdoing to be properly investigated and those responsible to be held accountable. The CWC meeting was attended by Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among other senior party leaders. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights