Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Monday lambasted Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying 'mocking' the Shaheen Bagh protest, which 'represents the essence of Mahatma Gandhi,' amounts to 'mocking ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha (non-violent resistance)'.

He also criticised the central government and said that the real 'tukde tukde gang' is the ruling party which is determined to divide the country on religious lines.

Earlier in the day, Prasad had said that the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital is offering a platform to the 'tukde tukde gang' under the garb of opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The BJP leader had also alleged that the protest was emerging as 'a textbook case of a few hundred people trying to suppress the silent majority'.

'Now, the Law Minister calls the protesters at Shaheen Bagh as part of the tukde tukde gang. The real tukde tukde gang is the ruling party that is determined to divide India on religious lines,' Chidambaram said in a tweet.

'Only those who despise Gandhiji would abuse the protesters at Shaheen Bagh. Shaheen Bagh represents the essence of Mahatma Gandhi. Mocking the protest at Shaheen Bagh amounts to mocking Ahimsa and Satyagraha,' he said on Twitter.