Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, December 29

“I would truly appreciate if the Gandhis just retire”, replied filmmaker Anurag Kashyap when an incident surfaced of a 13-year-old boy allegedly beaten brutally by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Kashyap has vocally opposed the new Citizenship Amendment Act.

In a tweet, the director spoke about the issue and shared his point of view. He wrote: “I would truly appreciate if the Gandhis just retire. Privilege politics is not going to cut through with people. People see/hear them and want to vote for Modi. They should be on a permanent vacation. That will actually give us a fighting chance against fascism”.

I would truly appreciate if the Gandhis just retire. Privilege politics is not going to cut through with people . People see/hear them and want to vote for Modi . They should be on a permanent vacation . That will actually give us a fighting chance against fascism . https://t.co/VvCjE4ZLq7 — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) December 28, 2019

Kashyap answered a Twitter user’s statement, who requested Priyanka Gandhi to visit the 13-year-old boy.

The Twitter user, Vivek Tiwari said: “I would truly appreciate if @priyankagandhi goes to meet this 13 yr old boy. Congress must file criminal cases against the perpetrators of this brutality on behalf of the 13 yr old boy. @KapilSibal @ManishTewari @IncNiku @gauravkapoorvns @digvijaya_28.”

According to the Wire, the 13-year-old has yet to venture outside since the police released him on December 22.

I would truly appreciate if @priyankagandhi goes to meet this 13 yr old boy. Congress must file criminal cases against the perpetrators of this brutality on behalf of the 13 yr old boy. @KapilSibal @ManishTewari @IncNiku @gauravkapoorvns @digvijaya_28 https://t.co/EEuIm3BLBv — Vivek Tiwari (@Viv2511) December 28, 2019

When they met him, he was trembling under his quilt while his mother recounted what he had said to her when he returned.

She said that he had told her the police had offered him water, and he had taken it because he was extremely thirsty. When shortly after he had to relieve himself, he was taken outside and brutally beaten.

His older sister, who was sitting in another room, cried out: “They did more than that. He didn’t tell ammi but he told me – two policemen held his arms and held him against a wall and a third one hit him on his back with his lathi. He told me that they shoved his face to the ground with their shoe and pulled his hair, saying that they would pull it out. They had been pulling the beards of the others.”

Asim stopped drinking water then so he would not have to go to the bathroom. Water was the first thing he asked for when he reached home two days after being detained.

His sister is helplessly furious, and the only one in the home who has reached the stage of rage; the rest are all still terrified of what could come next. Asim’s uncle says: “Who do we go to? The police are outside our houses, they know where we live.”