NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday criticised the government after several people protesting at India Gate against the worsening air quality were detained for assembling without permission and asked why citizens peacefully demanding clean air were being treated like "criminals".
Gandhi called for decisive action on air pollution "right now, instead of attacking citizens asking for clean air".
He made the remarks on X in response to a post by environmentalist Vimlendu Jha, who said that protesters were "taken away" and "shoved in a bus".
Scores of people, including parents and environmental activists, staged a protest at India Gate on Sunday against the worsening air quality in the national capital.
According to police, several protesters were detained for assembling without permission.
Gandhi said, "The right to clean air is a basic human right. The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by our Constitution. Why are citizens who have been peacefully demanding clean air being treated like criminals?"
Air pollution is affecting crores of Indians, harming our children and the future of our nation, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
But the government, which came to power through "vote chori" simply doesn't care, nor is it even attempting to solve this crisis, Gandhi said.
"We need to take decisive action on air pollution right now instead of attacking citizens asking for clean air," he said.
The protesters, many of them mothers accompanied by children, said they had gathered to demand urgent government action to ensure clean air.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Devesh Kumar Mahla, said the detentions were preventive in nature.
"Only Jantar Mantar is designated as a protest site where permission can be sought by following due procedure," he said.