Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in a television interview, said that the Government of India, under Prime Minister Modi, is willing to talk to the protesters in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh. However, he said, the talks should be in a “structured form”.
Prasad was speaking at a discussion held by India TV, where an audience member asked him why the government has not reached out to protesters at Shaheen Bagh yet.
“It’s a good thing if you’re protesting. You can protest for 10, 15, 20, 25 days. But what we hear people from your group saying is that until CAA is rolled back, there will be no dialogue. If you want the government to talk to you, then there must be a “structured request” from your side that everybody is ready to talk.”Ravi Shankar Prasad at a discussion on India TV
“It shouldn’t be the case that someone goes to talk to them and they misbehave with that person”, added Prasad.
“If they say that you must come to Shaheen Bagh and talk, then how is that possible?” he further said.
Prasad’s comments come at a time when many leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been criticised for making distasteful and incendiary comments towards the anti-CAA protestors across the country, including those who have been camping in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh for days.
BJP MP and MoS Finance, Anurag Thakur, was banned from campaigning in Delhi for the state elections after he said at a rally that “traitors of the country” must be “shot down”.
Thakur’s comments received even more backlash after a gun-wielding teenager opened fire at student protestors outside Delhi’ Jamia Milia Islamia University on Thursday, 30 January.
(With inputs from India TV)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)