Kashmiri journalist assaulted at Congress’ ‘Jan Aakrosh’ rally.

Rahul Gandhi’s biography, if ever written, could easily borrow the title from Shakespeare’s ‘The Comedy of Errors’. His numerous hiccups during rally, when facing the media or even when meeting people from his constituency never ceases to entertain. He must be recognised on the global level for his contribution to the comedy scene in modern day India. His position as the leader of the opposition, however, is a worrisome thing. A man of his ‘intellect’ should really not be allowed to lead the Congress Party. The people of India, the common people have realised this much sooner than the Congress’s defunct think tank. This apathy towards Rahul Gandhi is being shown by the Indian public at the many rally and interaction sessions presided by Rahul. The most recent one being the Jan Aakrosh Rally held in New Delhi on Sunday, 29^th of April. The meager turnout of the people, the empty seats at the rally ground was neglected by the ‘unbiased’ national media who chose to focus at Rahul Gandhi’s face on the podium instead. A reporter from J&K 24*7 News decided to do the unthinkable. He started reporting live from the rally, choosing to use the empty chairs as the background instead of Rahul Gandhi.

This was a bit too much for the handful of Congress Party workers who were present at the rally. They tried to stop Tabish Kamal, the J&K 24*7 reporter from showing the absence of Jan (people) from the Jan Aakrosh rally. It is noteworthy that other than the legend Rahul Gandhi himself, Sonia Gandhi and ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were also present at the rally. The number of people attending the rally meanwhile was miniscule, even all the Congress workers from New Delhi and nearby regions were unavailable at the rally ground. The rally, when promoted, was to be a huge gathering of two lakh people apart from the Congress leaders and workers. The people of Delhi meanwhile decided to spend their Sunday on much needed rest and enjoyment over the suffering being meted out from Rahul Gandhi’s speech from the podium at the Jan Aakrosh rally. This is definitely not the first time that one of the Congress President’s rallies have failed to attract crowds but what hurt the Congress leaders and workers the most was Tabish Kamal’s reporting.

The Congress workers did not want any media houses to display the reality of the rally. The workers gheraoed the reporter while he was reporting live in attempt to hide the empty chairs and stands which Rahul Gandhi was so bravely addressing from the podium. In a desperate attempt they even resorted to hooting and chanting slogans in order to stop Tabish Kamal from reporting about the ground reality. A Congress leader/worker became aggressive and threatened Tabish Kamal who was also hit with a bottle by the workers. The desperate Congress workers also tried to shield the rally grounds from the camera lenses by waving a flag in front of the camera.

Tabish Kamal when reportedly contacted by the Republic TV team had this to say about the incidents which took place at the Jan Aakrosh rally, “When Rahul Gandhi started giving the speech I went to see how many people have come. Until yesterday the Congress Party was claiming that millions of people would join this rally and so I went for the confirmation. I started with my walk through mentioning the facts about the Congress when Congress workers attacked me. One of the workers hit me with a bottle and they started threatening me by saying ‘you cannot report in such a way’. I demand an apology to media for such behaviour from Congress.”

The desperation of the Congress workers at the Jan Aakrosh rally to hide the shortcomings of Rahul Gandhi shows the ground reality of Congress today. The workers as well the leaders know and understand that Congress voter base, just like it’s think tank, is defunct. They have to resort to such cheap activities in order to save face at the rally which is presided over by their President Rahul Gandhi. The attack on media personnel cannot be justified and the Congress should apologise for this incident. It should also stop organising these rallies or stop calling them Jan Aakrosh , the name “Rahul Gandhi and Congress Aakrosh Rally” would be more apt considering they are the only ones present in these so called public rallies.