Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday criticised the government for detaining Ankita Bhandari’s parents and protesters at Jantar Mantar. He said, "A protester is not an offender. A grieving parent is not a threat." Tharoor argued that the power to detain should not be used to silence those demanding justice.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday criticised the government over the detention of protesters at Jantar Mantar and the detention of Ankita Bhandari's parents at 4 am in the national capital, questioning whether the government was using detention to silence those demanding accountability. In a strongly worded post on X, Tharoor said young citizens protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar, while waving the national Tricolour, had been placed in judicial custody. He also cited the detention of Ankita Bhandari's grieving parents at India Gate, along with Congress workers who had joined them in solidarity. "A protester is not an offender. A grieving parent is not a threat," Tharoor said, questioning what threat peaceful demonstrators posed to public order and what purpose was served by subjecting bereaved parents to such indignity. Invoking the constitutional right to protest, the Congress leader said citizens did not need the government's approval to raise questions or demand justice. "The Constitution does not guarantee citizens the right to protest only when their questions are convenient to those in power," he said. Tharoor added that the power to detain should not be treated as the power to silence dissent, asserting that demands for justice would not end at the gates of a police station. What happened with Ankita Bhandari's parents? Parent's of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022 were detained along with others while protesting against the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam's appointment as Sikkim governor at India Gate at 4 am. While being detained, her father issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Centre to cancel Gautam's appointment. Opposition leaders along with Rahul Gandhi launched a attack on Centre for detaining already bereaved parents. The govt is also under fire over detention and then sending CJP activists Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das to judicial custody for allegedly 'sneaking' into Jantar Mantar. The CJP has launched an attack and series of protests against the government over alleged irregularities over SIR and CEC Gyanesh Kumar.