Shehzad Poonawalla Criticizes PM Modi for Not Being a 'Dictator'

NEW DELHI: A day after resigning from the party, former BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Saturday released an Instagram video saying he was “disappointed” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a sarcastic jibe at the Congress and its most prominent face, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Poonawalla said that unlike Congress prime ministers, PM Modi, despite being in office for 12 years, was still to become a “dictator." Poonawalla’s remarks came after PM Modi, in his fifth Instagram video since the recent student protests in Delhi, said he had “forgiven” protesters who allegedly abused him and his late mother during the agitation. Several people, mostly youngsters, were booked for allegedly abusing the PM and his mother, after the protests ended with the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister on July 25. “I am completely disappointed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has been 12 years and he has still not learnt how to be a dictator,” Poonawalla said in his Hindi video, adding that instead of becoming a dictator, the prime minister appealed for those who abused him to be forgiven. He urged the prime minister to learn “real dictatorship” from former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother and great-grandfather, respectively. Poonawalla, a former Congress member, also referred to cases filed against students in Congress-ruled Karnataka and Kerala. He further referred to the alleged curbing of free speech during Nehru’s tenure and invoked the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975. “Who got all parliamentarians put in jail? Indira Gandhi. Who ordered police to fire at seers? Indira Gandhi,” Poonawalla remarked. The second incident he referred to appeared to be a reference to the 1966 police firing on protesters outside Parliament during a demonstration demanding a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.

The former BJP spokesperson also referred to several protest movements that he alleged were “crushed” by Congress governments at the Centre and in various states. “We saw during the 2011 Anna Hazare agitation that 1,200-1,300 people were arrested. Anna Hazare himself was arrested. Rajbala lost her life,” he remarked, referring to the anti-corruption movement led by activist Anna Hazare that had put the then Congress-led UPA government under pressure. Rajbala was a woman protester who died following a Delhi Police crackdown at Ramlila Ground during the agitation. “Come on, Modi ji. It has been 12 years and you have still not become a dictator. You have poured water on the hopes of the Left-liberals,” Poonawalla concluded. PM Modi’s Instagram videos have been described as an attempt by the prime minister to reach out to “Gen Z” — the demographic with the largest participation in the recent student protests.