New Delhi | The Congress on Saturday said that Narendra Modi is playing the victim card by saying he has forgiven the youth who abused him, and demanded an apology from the prime minister for the "brutality" unleashed on student protesters and the trauma they suffered due to paper leaks.

The opposition party also claimed that the prime minister's "InstaGram sabhas", which it termed an act of "supreme self-obsession", are fooling no one.

"Late last night, in an act of supreme self-obsession, the prime minister said that he forgave our youth. This is an insult to the nation and to our youth, which has suffered under his government and is legitimately demanding an apology from him. The prime minister's InstaGram Sabhas are fooling no one," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

In an Instagram video posted on Friday night, Modi said it pained him that even his late mother was subjected to "filthy abuses" at the Jantar Mantar and lamented that "our daughters" had used such language, even as he called for forgiving the "misguided children".

The prime minister said he could understand the anguish prevailing in society, but stressed that this was the time to embrace the youth and guide them on the right path.

In his post, Ramesh said, "The self-declared non-biological PM enjoys playing the victim card." The Congress leader also said that Modi uses "vile vitriol" against his predecessors and political opponents.

"He very frequently peddles lies to defame them, not just in his public speeches but in Parliament itself. He unleashes an army of foul-mouthed abusers both in Parliament and outside and gives them full protection.

"The entire nation is wanting the PM to apologise for the trauma inflicted on lakhs of youth through his paper leak-ridden NTA and his home ministry-sanctioned brutality on student protestors.

"The entire nation is waiting for the PM to apologise for the 'Chanda Chori Astha Dhoka' by the Ram Mandir Trust, an establishment which he had grandly announced in the Lok Sabha on February 5, 2020. The entire nation is still expecting his apology for his Tughlakian notebandi of November 8, 2016, that destroyed crores of livelihoods and shuttered lakhs of MSMEs. The list is endless," the Congress leader said.