Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Wednesday took out a protest march in Itanagar against registration of an FIR in Uttarakhand against leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.Senior party functionaries, frontal organisation members and supporters marched from Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan to V Mart, near the civil secretariat, in solidarity with Gandhi.The FIR was registered after Gandhi criticised an alleged caste-based “purification” ritual conducted by right-wing activists at a rally venue in Uttarakhand.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani, Nainital, on August 8. Two days later, members of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan performed a shuddhikaran havan on the same stage. Congress alleged that the ritual amounted to untouchability and caste discrimination, aimed at humiliating Kharge, a Dalit leader.After Kharge raised the issue in Rajya Sabha, Gandhi demanded legal action and an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Instead, an FIR was registered against him on August 30 over his remarks.APCC vice-president Mina Toko, general secretary Kipa Kaha, spokesperson Johny Yangfo and media department chairman Kon Jirjo Jotham described the FIR as a political vendetta intended to silence the opposition.The APCC demanded immediate and unconditional withdrawal of what it called a “politically motivated” FIR, an impartial and time-bound probe into the ritual, and registration of a case against those who conducted it.“This is not merely a Congress-versus-BJP issue; it is a question of whether the Constitution will prevail over political power,” a senior party leader said during the march.
