On October 9, Deputy Collector Nisha Bangre, who has embarked on a 300 km foot march to protest the non-acceptance of her resignation as she wants to contest the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, was detained by the police. Nisha took to ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) and posted a picture of hers from the police station holding a torn picture of Dr. BR Ambedkar. Though a caption of the post, Nisha has alleged that her clothes and the photo of Dr B R Ambedkar were torn during the police confrontation.
In the caption, Nisha had written: ‘They tore the posters of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar ji. They tore my clothes, the clothes of the daughter of a Dalit. They insulted the Constitution I was holding in my hands. Can you forgive them? We are being brutally arrested and taken to Central Jail.’
The post can be accessed here:
#न्याय_पद_यात्रा
🔴 उन्होंने बाबा साहेब भीमराव अंबेडकर जी के पोस्टर फाड़ दिए।
🔴 उन्होंने दलित की बेटी यानी मेरे कपड़े फाड़ दिए।
🔴 उन्होंने मेरे हाँथों में पकड़े हुए संविधान का अपमान किया।
क्या आप इन्हें माफ कर पाएंगे
हमें बर्बरता पूर्वक गिरफ्तार कर सेंट्रल जेल ले जाया जा रहा है pic.twitter.com/ypl2gilvDA— Nisha Bangre (@BangreNisha) October 9, 2023
As per a report of ETV Bharat, Nisha, along with a few of her supporters, were arrested and sent to jail.
A video was also posted by Jignesh Mevani, MLA of Gujarat and convener at Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, on ‘X’ which showed Nisha Bangre being manhandled by the male police officers and she was being forced into the Police van. The video also shows Nisha showing her torn jeans to the media personnel and her supports, following which the male police officers can be seen pushing her inside.
Mevani captioned the video raising the following allegations: ‘This is Nisha Bangre, Dalit SDM of Madhya Pradesh. Wants to contest assembly elections. She had resigned from the job several months ago but the government is not accepting the resignation. When she came on the road for a padyatra, the male policemen caught her, tore her clothes and forcibly put her in the car.’
The post can be accessed here:
यह मध्यप्रदेश की दलित SDM निशा कांवरे हैं। विधानसभा का चुनाव लड़ना चाहती हैं। कई महीनों पूर्व नौकरी से इस्तीफा दे चुकी हैं लेकिन सरकार इस्तीफा स्वीकार नहीं कर रही। जब वह पदयात्रा करने सड़क पर आई तो पुरुष पुलिसकर्मियों ने उन्हें पकड़ा और कपड़े फाड़ जबरन गाड़ी में ठूस दिया. pic.twitter.com/KVCfCkNkan
— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) October 11, 2023
According to official sources, reported by Times of India, Nisha Bangre has been on a foot march to Bhopal from Amla demanding that the government accepts her resignation as she wants to contest the upcoming Assembly polls. It is noteworthy that Bangre was posted as Deputy Collector in Chhatarpur district and had resigned from her post on June 22, 2023. The final destination of her protest march would have been the house of the MP Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, in Bhopal. On Monday, when she reached the Board Office in Bhopal along with her supporters, she was stopped by the police force. As per the report of Zee5, the police stopped Nisha in the city before she could reach the CM house citing not having permission for the yatra here.
Even prior to this incident, Nisha had alleged that she and her colleagues had been getting threatening messages to stop the foot march. As per the TOI report, she had said that she was receiving threats to stop the march, or else she, along with her supporters, would have to face dire consequences.
Statement of the police regarding detention of Nisha-
The Zee5 report provided the statement given by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Mahavir Singh Mujalde regarding the detention. As per the report, she said, “She (Bangre) had not taken any permission about the yatra to enter the Bhopal Municipal Corporation border area and to go to the CM House till date. Yesterday (October 8), also a message was conveyed to her that she should take permission according to the rules.”
The ADCP further provided that when the police prohibited her from proceeding further, they were at the Board Office square. At this point, she sat on a protest at that spot and was adamant on going to CM House. Citing traffic disruptions, police started forcefully detaining her which led to Nisha’s clothes getting torn.
Mahavir Singh Mujalde stated that “She garlanded B R Ambedkar’s statue at the Board office square for which the police had no objection. When she was stopped from going to the CM House, she said that she had the permission. But when asked to show the permission, she said that it was with the Collector. When she was not allowed to step further, she sat on a dharna at the spot. During this, the entire traffic was disrupted”
The ADCP has further provided that a case against Nisha Bangre will be filed in this regard.
Statement of Nisha Bangre regarding her protest march–
The report of Zee5 also provided the statements that Nisha had given to the press before her detention. She had expressed her dismay against the non-acceptance of her resignation, raised her qualms with the CM and asserted her decision to talk to the CM regarding the injustices that she is being subjected to. She also alleged that the authorities are deliberately delaying her acceptance in order to prohibit her from entering politics.
Her statement is as follows:
“Today our Nyaya Padyatra has reached Bhopal. I would like to say that it is a very sad and painful subject in the history of Madhya Pradesh that I have to walk over 200 kilometres from Amla, Betul to Bhopal to get justice. The MP government first stopped me from offering prayers to all religions, gurus of all religions had come to my house during the inauguration of my house, fearing that they would stop me from going there and then I resigned from my post. After the resignation, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the so-called Mama, is playing notice-notice and police-police with her. As soon as she resigned, they started giving her notices to find out how to stop her resignation. When I said that now I have no employment and the state government is not accepting my resignation, I will not remain silent. Now, I will fight for the rights of women and the rights of the deprived class. Now I want to enter politics, then they again tried to stop me. I filed a petition in the High Court but the responsible officials of the state government do the work of misleading the High Court. I would like to ask Shivraj Mama, did you not see the prayer of this niece (referring to herself), he (CM Chouhan) is sleeping in deep sleep that is why against injustice, we have decided to take out a march till CM House, today they reached the board office intersection.”
The Congress Government has also shown her solidarity and support with Nisha. Congress MLA from Bhopal, PC Sharma, stated that the injustice of Shivraj government and BJP government would not be tolerated at all.
It is essential to highlight here that Bangre has also approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court regarding the non-acceptance of her resignation and her case had been listed hearing in October. Nisha had warned that if her resignation is not accepted, she will then go on a hunger strike.
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