Dipke also demanded that Prime Minister Modi apologise for the police action during the student protest on July 20, alleging that demonstrators were subjected to excessive force.

“PM Modi should apologise to the students who were subjected to a lathicharge on July 20, those who suffered head injuries, pellet gun wounds, and serious injuries such as broken arms and legs. Apologise to them first; only then can you talk about forgiveness,” he said.

He described the police action as unprecedented and argued that an apology should come before any appeal for reconciliation.

“You must apologise before offering forgiveness. The brutality witnessed on July 20 was unprecedented. Such violence against students had never been seen in this country before. Therefore, I believe Narendra Modi should apologise for that first. Only then can he demonstrate how great a person he is and how big his heart is,” Dipke added.

The CJP leader also accused the BJP’s IT cell of fostering an atmosphere of intimidation on social media, particularly against women. He alleged that some accounts engaging in abusive behaviour claimed to be followed by the Prime Minister’s official social media account, which, according to him, gave them a sense of encouragement.

“For years, the BJP’s IT cell has, in my view, hurled abusive messages and rape threats at women. If you look at many of their social media profiles, they often say ‘followed by PM Modi’. In my opinion, that gives them a sense of support from the top to engage in such behaviour,” Dipke alleged.

He further claimed that women were routinely targeted with abusive language and threats online.

“It begins with abusive language. They show no respect for women. They repeatedly direct abusive remarks at women and attempt to intimidate and threaten them. They simply do not want women to progress in any way,” he said.

(With ANI inputs)