After entering the Congress building in Bilaspur, the police dragged the female Congressmen out. The state minister had to be admitted to the hospital for grave injuries.
BILASPUR: Congress workers gheraod BJP’s Union Minister Amar Agarwal’s bungalow in Bilaspur on Wednesday. When the workers returned to the Congress building after their demonstration, a heavy police force arrived in no time to arrest him. The police team was led by ASP Neeraj Chandrakar. It is said that the police started beating the protests with sticks without warning.
The matter
BJP’s Union Minister Amar Agarwal allegedly called the Congress party garbage in a speech. To protest, Congress members announced a protest outside the minister’s bungalow. Security measures were in place and force had been deployed at the bungalow since morning. The protestors gathered, threw garbage in the bungalow and left. Having ruled Chattisgarh for 15 years, the BJP government is known to not like protests. It is said that the minister’s ego was hurt and he appointed his loyal police force to beat the protesters in big numbers.
The police doesn’t protect
During the incident, the police were beating protestors as if they were a mafia gang out on a hunt. When media personnel wanted the police’s version of the story, ASP Neeraj Chandrakar called them members of Congress and said with pride “Publish whatever you want to. Nobody can do anything to me.”
Chattisgarh congress chief Atal Shrivastav was hit on the head by the police and had to be hospitalised after he fell on the ground and was kicked and beaten with sticks. State President Bhupesh Baghel condemned the incident by holding a press conference in the capital Raipur.
Journalists of Bilaspur have handed over a memorandum to the IG and demanded the dismissal of ASP Chandrakar.
Opposition in Chhattisgarh
There has never been a strong opposition against the ruling dispensation in Chhattisgarh. Congress has been politically weak. Besides holding rallies and shouting slogans it has never been seen to be enough to rattle the ruling party. Many Congress members are accused of being hand in glove with the BJP. After the Jiram Valley murder controversy, Congress’s spine had been broken.
The Congress role in opposition has been beneficial for the BJP in Chattisgarh. In the last few years, people have become aware of the weakening democracy in the country and state. Scandals involving BJP members have also come to the forefront and become commonplace. Even after these incidents, Congress has not come out on the streets as a reliable opposition.
The violence against Congress members and their arrest is not a special incident. What is worrisome is the absurd behaviour of the police. Protests are a right in a democratic state. They are essential for the survival of democracy. BJP has never been this rattled by a protest before so why now? Their dictatorship is becoming unbearable. A dictator is a dictator for the masses as well as its opponents. How would the police have such impunity to break people’s heads and beat them with sticks otherwise?
