New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders believed that “anti-social elements” were behind the reported assault on police personnel during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led Parliament march on July 20, the Opposition questioned the delay in identifying the accused of the violent protest that left several agitators and policemen injured.
While maintaining that the matter should be dealt “sensitively”, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “We respect the youth, but if criminals, including those facing allegations of serious crimes like murder and rape, are involved in attacking police personnel, then it raises serious questions.”
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari echoed, saying: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said that whatever FIRs or cases were registered against students will be withdrawn. But undesirable elements who attacked police personnel cannot be considered students. Those who carried out such attacks appear to be professional criminals. They should be identified and strict action should be taken against them.”
BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat asserted that such attacks on police personnel “cannot be carried out by students” who were protesting over exam paper leaks.
“However, some anti-social elements, under the garb of students, committed such acts,” she added.
BJP MP and former Director General of Police in Uttar Pradesh Brij Lal expressed his support for the police force.
“I wore the uniform for 37-and-a-half years alongside these personnel. I led them on the frontlines. Our security personnel make sacrifices for the country and for society,” he told IANS.
Criticising Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s take on “brutality against protesters”, the BJP leader said: “Rahul Gandhi ji has nothing else to say so they have made a big issue out of pellet guns. It is a non-lethal weapon used to disperse the crowd.”
BJP leader Rohan Gupta sought answers for the families of the injured policemen while maintaining “if anyone has acted wrongly against students, accountability should be also be sought for that as well”.
However, Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad questioned the delayed police action against “criminals” involved in the protest.
“Action should be taken against the anti-social elements who attacked Delhi Police personnel or assaulted members of the press. But the police should also explain why, after 10 days, they are identifying and mapping those involved…If they knew that some of them were rapists, some were dacoits, and some were murderers, then why were they not arrested? The police must also be held accountable,” he told reporters outside the Parliament House.
Indian Youth Congress President Uday Bhanu Chib alleged a conspiracy behind the violent protest.
“On the day of the Parliament march, a truck loaded with stones was parked outside the offices of the NSUI and the Youth Congress, near Parliament. The Delhi Police cannot be so incompetent that they were unaware of it. This appears to have been a planned move…maybe they wanted the agitators to use those stones in order to justify the crackdown,” he told IANS.
Meanwhile, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged that goons “linked to the BJP” carried out stone-pelting on the police.
“The stone-pelting on the police was carried out by “BJP goons”, and I have been saying this since the very first day. However, the blame is being put on us. The people who have been associated with us for the past one month carried out the protest in a completely peaceful manner,” he told reporters at his hometown in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
–IANS
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