Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has dared the Narendra Modi government to arrest him for asking questions on the condemnable vaccine policy in India. In a tweet, the Congress MP from Wayanad wrote, “Arrest me too.”
Gandhi’s tweet came after it emerged that the Delhi Police, which report to Amit Shah-led home ministry, had arrested 17 people for posters critical of the Modi government over its vaccine policy.
The posters in Hindi had asked, “Modi ji, why did you send our children’s vaccines abroad?” These posters had come up on walls in several parts of Delhi.
Arrest me too.
मुझे भी गिरफ़्तार करो। pic.twitter.com/eZWp2NYysZ
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 16, 2021
Gandhi’s sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi too updated her Twitter profile photo with the viral question on the Modi government’s questionable vaccine policy.
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/xVkSuREOF0
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) May 16, 2021
India was largely unaffected by the first wave of the pandemic in comparison with how the virus affected the rest of the world. India also became the largest producer of the vaccines but Modi was seen busy earning international plaudits by exporting vaccines to other countries when he should have rolled them out across India on priority to protect his own citizens.
Former Home Minister P Chidambaram too criticised the Modi government for arresting individuals over the posters. “Celebrate, India is a free country. There is freedom of speech. Except, when you ask a question of the Honourable Prime Minister. That is why the Delhi Police arrested 24 persons for allegedly pasting a poster in Delhi.”
He added, “The poster asked a simple question of the PM: why did you export the vaccines meant for our children? Even before the PM could answer, the loyal Delhi Police answered with ARREST. Celebrate, India is a free country!”
The poster asked a simple question of the PM: why did you export the vaccines meant for our children?
Even before the PM could answer, the loyal Delhi Police answered with ARREST
Celebrate, India is a free country!
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 16, 2021
A report by news agency ANI said that the Delhi Police had also registered 21 cases under the Defacement of Public Property Act & Section 188 in the matter relating to the posters.
