Amritsar, August 16 (K.L. Jit Walia, Harpinder Soni) — The Amritsar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) staged a protest against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders over what it described as an alleged disrespect to the national song “Vande Mataram” during the Independence Day celebrations.
Under the leadership of BJYM District President and Councillor Gaurav Gill, party workers took out a protest march from Hall Gate to Congress Bhawan. Outside Congress Bhawan, the protesters sang “Vande Mataram” and raised slogans against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. At the conclusion of the protest, effigies of the three leaders were burnt outside Congress Bhawan.
BJP District President Salil Kapoor, District General Secretary Manish Sharma, BJYM Punjab Vice President Prateek Kapoor and BJYM Punjab Executive Member and Tarn Taran in-charge Karan Kapila were specially present.
Speaking to the media, Salil Kapoor alleged that during the Independence Day programme in Delhi, when the country was singing “Vande Mataram”, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi showed alleged disrespect to the national song. He said that patriotic citizens could not accept such conduct and accused the Congress of having an “anti-national and anti-Constitution” mindset.
Gaurav Gill said that “Vande Mataram” is not merely a song but a symbol of national sentiment and self-respect for millions of Indians. He demanded that the Congress leadership apologise to the people of the country over the alleged incident.
Manish Sharma, Prateek Kapoor, Karan Kapila and other BJYM leaders said that disrespect towards national symbols such as the national song and the national flag would not be tolerated. They warned that if the Congress did not change its approach and apologise, the protest movement would be intensified.
Hundreds of BJYM workers, including Karan Berri, Akshay Varmani, Nilesh Saini, Bhavesh, Prabhat Malhotra, Harsh Chaudh, Danish Kapoor, Vishal Sharma, Rajat Bawa, Shubham Sharma, Sainsh Suri and Shiva Bodhraj, were present.
KL JIT WALIA
