Mumbai: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday launched a direct attack against the Modi government, alleging that freedom of the people was "under systematic and sustained assault" as provocative statements from the ruling establishment were neither random nor accidental but "part of a dangerous design".

Delivering the keynote address at the India Today Conclave 2018 here, the former Congress President said, all that was being done by attempts to rewrite history, falsifying facts and attacking nation builders. "Our society, our freedom all are now under systematic and sustained assault. Make no mistake about it. This is a well sort out project long in the making to refashion the very idea of India," Gandhi said.

"The freedom to think for oneself and differ and degree and to meet or marry according to ones wishes all this and more are under attack. Provocative statements from the ruling establishment are not random or accidental. They are part of a dangerous design," she said and added that vigilante mobs and private armies have been let loose with state patronage.

She said callous remarks were being made about changing the Constitution of the country that "point to a deliberate attempt to subvert the very essence of India".

She asserted that it was not in her nature to be a "voice of gloom and doom but we need to see things the way they are". She spoke about the violence against Dalits and minorities saying there was "shocking insensitivity to atrocities on Dalits".

"Society has been polarised with an eye for winning elections. Religious tensions are being fueled."

Gandhi also took a dig at Modi for his frequent coining of acronyms in the name schemes and government programmes.

"We need to move fast, but fast, F.A.S.T., cannot stand for First Act, Second Think. Acronymising can be contagious," she said to laughter from the audience.

"India is a great country, a wonderful country, let us protect it, cherish it," Gandhi said, ending her speech to a loud applause.

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Paradip (PTI): The Odisha Police on Wednesday beefed up security at port town Paradip after the arrival of a ship with 21 Pakistani crew members on board, officials said.

The ‘MT Siren II’ with a total of 25 crew members reached Paradip port early on Wednesday from South Korea via Singapore, carrying crude oil for Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, they said.

Security arrangements have been tightened by Odisha Marine Police and the CISF after receiving information about the crew members from the Immigration Department, said Marine Police Station inspector in-charge Babita Dehuri.

The Paradip port had been put on high alert in the wake of the military conflict between India and Pakistan.

The ship is anchored at ‘PM berth’, located around 20 km from the shore, and has 11,350 metric tonnes of crude on board, the officials said.

“Orders have also been issued that no crew will be allowed to leave the ship during evacuation of the crude oil,” the police officer said.