Chennai: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, interacted with students at the sixth edition of the Congress’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ (Voice of the Students / Maanavargalin Kural) programme at Island Grounds here on Saturday, stressing that curiosity and the courage to question form the core of student life, while launching a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government over alleged assaults on Tamil language, culture, education and democracy.
Addressing the gathering, Gandhi said it was always an honour to visit Tamil Nadu, a land from which he invariably returned having learned something. He described the heart of being a student as curiosity — the thirst for knowledge and the power to ask questions, explore, and imagine the future of oneself, family, state and country. Drawing on the state’s intellectual tradition, he quoted Periyar: “Do not follow anything just because someone else has said it. Analyse and inquire into everything,” and Thiruvalluvar’s observation that the deeper one digs a well in sand, the more water springs up — just as learning yields greater knowledge. He argued that curiosity rests on the foundation of one’s language, culture, history, traditions and land, without which questions cannot be asked and a strong future cannot be built.
Several students shared their experiences. Deepriya, a law student from Periyar’s birthplace of Erode, narrated how reading Periyar’s works and connecting them with rationalist ideas, including those of Stephen Hawking, led him to view atheism not merely as disbelief but as a tool against caste oppression and women’s subjugation. He urged students not to reduce Periyar to an atheist but to recognise his advocacy of social justice. Rasiya Bano, representing the Vyasai Thozhargal organisation and the Ambedkar Rational Centre in North Chennai’s Vyasarpadi, spoke of stereotypes portraying residents as illiterate or rowdy, the discrimination faced by the community, and how education, inspired by Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s call to “Educate, Agitate, and Organize,” was being used to challenge caste and class prejudice, patriarchy and religious restrictions. She noted that even schoolchildren at the centre were filing RTIs and said they aimed to rewrite the narrative about North Chennai.
Maniratanam, elder brother of Anita, the Dalit student from Trichy who died by suicide after failing to secure a medical seat despite high board marks following the introduction of NEET, detailed the unfamiliar syllabus, protests, and what he called the Union government’s broken promise of exemption. He presented a “Ban NEET” poster, arguing the exam forces a uniform test on diverse state systems, privileges coaching and money over school education, and wastes students’ years. Gandhi signed the poster and said he agreed completely. Rural student Dineshwar from Puliyur near Virudhachalam highlighted struggles with the New Education Policy’s three-language formula and privatisation, expressing concern for students from similar backgrounds. Gandhi assured him the issues would be addressed.
Gandhi then accused the Centre of a full-scale attack on Tamil culture, language and history. He cited the withholding of ₹3,300 crore from Tamil Nadu under the New Education Policy, an 87 per cent fall in Tamil-medium students’ share of MBBS seats due to NEET, 70 per cent of state universities lacking Vice-Chancellors allegedly because the Governor preferred RSS nominees, and delimitation designed to reduce Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary voice. He charged that Modi and Amit Shah were using fear, hatred and division, including open advocacy of Hindi imposition, and that attacks on language and culture were attacks on India, Tamil Nadu and democracy. Referring to “Vote Chori” and events in Delhi where he said the city and internet were shut down and students beaten by police and BJP-linked groups, he declared that the Opposition had surrounded Modi, Shah, Ajit Doval and Mohan Bhagwat, and that those responsible for undermining democracy and the Constitution would be brought to justice. He told protesting students across the country they had nothing to fear and that Modi’s “drama” of the last 15 years was ending.
In closing, Gandhi urged students to protect their future by remaining curious and continuing to ask questions, thanking them for the welcome in Chennai. The interaction formed part of the Congress’s nationwide youth outreach series, following earlier editions in other states, and came after Gandhi’s meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.