Video summary
Rahul Gandhi addresses the severe harassment faced by students and protesters in Delhi, describing a day on July 20th where peaceful demonstrations were met with extreme violence from law enforcement. He recounts graphic details of police brutality, including lathi charges that he claims had "permission to commit murder," noting that officers hid their identities behind masks and handkerchiefs while beating citizens. Specific victims share harrowing testimonies, such as a student who was struck seven times with sticks containing nails, suffered a severe ear injury requiring surgery, and was detained in a van for six hours alongside children who were taken to unknown police stations without their families knowing their whereabouts.
The narrative highlights the psychological and physical abuse inflicted upon the protesters, including instances of sexual harassment where grown men cornered young girls and forced them to apologize on camera under threat. Gandhi questions the logic of the Prime Minister accepting these coerced apologies, calling it a "big joke" since no actual wrongdoing occurred by the students who were merely raising their voices for issues like education in Uttar Pradesh and social justice. He emphasizes that the police actions were not just law enforcement but acts of dictatorship, where officers allegedly enjoyed inflicting pain and failed to protect the very citizens they are sworn to serve, leaving victims feeling unsafe within their own country.
Gandhi redefines true nationalism and citizenship by contrasting it with silence in the face of injustice. He argues that real patriotism involves standing up when a fellow citizen is being beaten, killed, or destroyed, rather than remaining indifferent while others suffer. The transcript concludes with a powerful message of pride for the youth who dared to protest despite the overwhelming odds and brutality they faced. By exposing these violations of rights and the suppression of legitimate grievances, the protesters are portrayed not as traitors but as the essential guardians of democracy who refuse to accept a system where the law is used as a weapon against its own people.
Read the full video transcript
Are you guys being harassed?
Sir, I have been hit with seven sticks here.
He said you all are traitors. The
police were saying. The
police have batons. The lathi charge was so dangerous
that they had permission to commit murder.
Normal picture of me single fixed will
blur so much. And he says,
look, its leaks have come.
All of us have become antinational. They are
saying that he looks like a terrorist. Make him
apologize by threatening him. And then the PM is
saying thank you for the apology.
I want to forgive them. Who
is he to be thanking for the apology?
That day we saw every form of
dictatorship. Now the one who
should protect me is beating me. Are
you guys being harassed? It is happening. I get
10-12 abuses a day. That's all.
10-12
10-12 No sir, I am coming every day.
Well, I gave a birthday. Threats that will
just rip through the middle. Thackeray will not come to offer
flowers. Will rip.
And All of Us Have Become Anti-
Nationals.
Mom is getting abused, I am getting abused.
Why are you bringing mom, friend?
I had to be banned
from the comment section for 24 hours.
And most of the accounts are fake. ITC.
People are alleging that they received my
leaks in their DMs and they are making
videos about it. Normal picture of me
city or here. They will pixelated. They will
blur it so much and they are saying, look,
its leaks have come. She
creates exclusive content on Instagram. Instagram has its own
guidelines. We can't, we are not above that.
Yes, I saw one or two people who were saying
that he looks like a terrorist. [laughter]
Looks like a terrorist.
How does that terrorist look? I don't know
sir. When I read it, I also
thought how are you saying this?
Why are you guys protesting? Like
what is the actual reason?
Because if everyone raises their own voice for their own issue
or I raise my voice only
when something makes a difference to me, then I am
not in control at all. No one will
listen to me alone. Which is why it's
common for people in general to stand up to something that is
going wrong.
So That All of Us Are Just Raising Our
Voices Collectively. [Music]
Sir, I have completed my graduation and my
sister was always preparing for NEET.
This year [the music] also happened to be leaked, so that's
why we took part in this protest.
Sir, if we do not
raise our voice, then this government is facing a very
bad situation, not just you but all of us,
sir. And
literally, the education system in Uttar Pradesh has become so bad that the
only issues there are about temples, mosques
[music]. The issues that should be there,
what are you doing about education, how are you behaving with the people,
all those things have been removed, sir. The
situation there is so bad, so the just reason I am here is that
I joined this protest
and I was there since 16th of July and
those people lathi charged me badly on 20th of July.
Literally sir was
not looking where it was hitting.
He enjoyed it deep inside. Sir, I have been hit with seven
sticks here. I was also telling
you to hit me on the back. He was not listening at all.
He said you all are traitors. The
police were saying. Yes
sir. They kept me in their
vanity van with us for 6 hours. There were many children
who had sticks with nails in them.
Literally Sir Mara and was so badly
injured. And when I read about it that
day, i.e. on the 20th, within half an hour of
that incident, everyone at my home came to know
that it was only
except me that jammers were installed to show me something,
videos, we did
not have anything and literally all the
officers who were in front of me, abused me and
charged me, that is, all the officers who were there,
RF,
abused me so much
and Modi ji used to say that they abused me
and the officers who were there, in a
way, it seemed to me that all these
officers are favourable to the Bharatiya
Janata Party because apart from that they would
not have taken such a big step because they had to support them somewhere or the other, that is why
they did such a dangerous lathi charge that
they had permission to murder, what
kind of permissions were they, we do not know
because heads were broken even at the places where
we were present and at other places they are saying that
they pelted stones, so
we [sangeet] had already shown the videos, that is to
show the videos I had shown it,
two days before the 20th, two-three days ago, I had shown the video in
which the carts loaded with stones had
come [sangeet], those carts were planted,
we had already uploaded all that data,
then why did they not take action
and how is all this that the
officers who hit me, they did not have
name tax, otherwise they would
not have removed it, they said that
Delhi Police, even the Delhi Police did
not have name tax on their uniform and
they had covered their face completely with
handkerchiefs, with masks and the
officers who were speaking in civil dresses, they were
not officers, they had come wearing chappals and
after that they wore Delhi Police helmets
and were hitting everyone, they were hitting on the face, they were
hitting the portion above the head, the
plate gun hit me near the park, I
saw it with my own eyes, yes, I was
firing
and as soon as I turned like this
and he hit me from behind [sangeet] straight
and where did it hit, it hit exactly in the ear, it hit
exactly in the ear and the ear got cut and
hung like this, so When the bleeding became excessive,
you took it to the hospital and
they said pet gun or
what?
He said it was a pet gun, the gun is already fitted.
It was written and there I was rushed to
Phaldi for two hours of surgery. Three doctors did it
together. After the surgery, I was
immediately discharged from the hospital
within 15 minutes. Whereas I needed complete rest. Is
n't it yours?
Sir, I did not feel much pain. It hit the leg
and five or six other places. It was a stick. Got hit with a
stick. Sir, if I tell you the whole story of
that day, when we reached
there [music], they had
made a very narrow passage there. Later on that
day, when they were
lathi charging, there was such a stampede like
situation that people were
even climbing over each other because the
way the police were doing it, people were scared.
This forces us to think that yes,
what rights is democracy
providing us at this time? Do we
even have any rights? He used to
behave like an animal towards us.
Because you were not doing any violence.
You weren't hitting anyone. You were just doing your
own thing, peaceful protest.
Normal slogans were being raised. Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai
Bhim Sir. We did not do anything that would have forced
them to resort to lathi charge.
Meaning, it seemed as if Sir, we really
cannot even talk about our rights.
I was there on the 21st as well, In Bombay
When I Stop the Bus. So I was here on 21
age well. When I was going, I saw that the
children in the van had already been taken to different police
stations and they did not even know
where they were taking them. I spoke to a miner and
he has put it on hold until after 6:30.
His phone was conscious.
They don't even know where he is and
all these things mean that it is okay and you are doing your duty.
You feel like you are doing
preventive detention.
Preventative would be when you feel there
is a threat. But these children have the
Constitution of India and the flag of India in their hands.
So how do you see this as a threat
? They are raising slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. The
police consider themselves the law.
But that is not the law. He is the guardian of the law.
When all this happened on the 20th,
I first realized what right they had to do
this to us. So
I cheated the hell out of our rights.
[Music] So I looked it up and I was like what the what
? And after that I saw that
brother, he is committing a very serious violation.
So then I read that there were lawyers who were
providing online legal aid. So I kept their numbers
on speed dial and saved them because I
knew they could do anything. Then we will
also show them that by knowing our rights we can do
anything. Meaning
it is not directly affected by the law. Their
paper was not leaked. Someone else's paper has been leaked.
But she is saying that he is my brother. He
is a countryman. If injustice has been done to him then
I will also stand up. There are many
people who see injustice in front of them. Someone is being
killed, beaten, threatened
, abused. But he quietly does
his work. So I
consider this as nationhood. I consider this citizenship.
I don't consider that citizenship.
I don't consider that as nationhood. You are a
citizen. In front of you, some other citizen is being
beaten, killed,
destroyed. And you are saying
that no brother, I have nothing to do with this.
To me that is not nationalism.
To be nationalism is believing that you are
part of that other people, which I
found a bit strange, it felt strange that you people are
protesting and they are threatening you to apologize.
And then the PM is saying thank
you for the apology. Who
is he to be thanking for the apology?
That's the biggest joke because no one asked for it.
Sir I am really sorry for that
Ruchika was forced to do that. Ruchika was
forced to do that and release the video of it.
For lack of a better word, I would say I witnessed brutality that day. The
way they abused me that day, the
way they tried to
jab their son in again into my butt, that is
pure sexual assault. And an officer is doing this
and then when I am telling it back to him. Yes.
Because when I turn around and
tell him, he is smoking at me. Age if it's
funny.
Right.
Ideally they are suppos to protect me. If this is how they are
treating me, this is how they are
abusing me, if this is how they are
being the shade out of me, who am I supposed to go to
for my protection? Like, where are
we going then, girls? Just tell us this much.
And then you are talking about cultural hobbies, these
daughters are like this, these daughters of the country, but these
daughters of the country are raising their voice. Don't you find it crazy.
This apology is being
given to you and then you accept the
apology. Is like.
That I literally [laughs]
we people of the country are saying why are they forgiving this.
Languages like these did
this. Sir, let us literally say
what happened to him? You are saying friends and
that too with a completely strange look from the front.
Friends, I forgive you. Hey
sir, what mistake did we make?
But we have not even apologized. I haven't apologized, I haven't
even asked for it [laughs]. We have
n't apologized, sir.
So it's a drama, right?
Most of you have not done sorry ask for
forgiveness. Three Girls Have Been Forced to Do
Sorry. And then the Prime Minister has
accepted this apology.
Despite that you are harassing girls,
despite that. But they are running it on prime time channel.
And a 15 year old girl was harassed by
big men, grown men on the panel are
cornering girls. I was just coming
from Sansad Marg. I could feel it. I would feel the
emotional pain in my chest that day
we saw so many bad things. That day we
saw every form of dictatorship.
That day I came to know that I am
not safe in this country at all
because the one who should protect me is the one who is
beating me.
These are exactly the type of youngsters that this country needs. There are thousands
and thousands of them and I am extremely
proud of what they have done.