New Delhi: Reacting sharply to the Delhi Police’s detention of protesting wrestlers in the national capital, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday said that the ‘Sengol’ installed in the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ‘bent’ the very first day. His reaction came after cops detained ace wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia for violation of law and order in the capital after they breached the security cordon while trying to move towards the new Parliament building for a planned women’s ‘Mahapanchayat’. Stalin’s jibe at the Centre seemed to be targeted at the hype around the Sengol as the sceptre is said to be symbolic of upright governance and the upholding of justice.
Taking to his official Twitter account, MK Stalin said, “It has been several months since female wrestlers filed sexual complaints against a BJP member of Parliament. The party leadership has not taken any action against him so far. Female wrestlers continue to battle it out in the capital. During the inauguration ceremony of the new building of the Parliament of India, it is condemnable that those who protested were dragged and arrested. This shows that the scepter was bent on the first day.”
Wrestlers’ Protest: Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi attack Modi govt
Several other Opposition leaders including Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar also slammed the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre over the ‘manhandling’ of wrestlers.
“It’s shameful our champions are treated in this manner. Democracy lies in tolerance but autocratic forces thrive on intolerance and quelling of dissent. I demand they be immediately released by the police. I stand by our wrestlers,” Mamata Banerjee said.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said that the ‘arrogant king is crushing the voice of the people’ on the streets as the ‘coronation’ is over.
Attacking the Centre, Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also said, “The arrogance of the BJP government has increased so much that it is mercilessly trampling the voices of our women players under its boots. This is totally wrong.”
Wrestlers booked after scuffle as cops thwart protest near new Parliament building
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia along with other protesters were booked for rioting and obstructing public servant in discharge of duty on Sunday after a scuffle with security personnel who tried to stop them from marching to the new Parliament building as it was being inaugurated.
“The FIR has been registered at Parliament Street police station under New Delhi district against the organisers of the protest, including wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, and others who were part of the scuffle that took place at Jantar Mantar today with the police,” a senior police officer said.
The FIR has been registered under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the officer said.
Sections 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation), 147 (rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC and Section 3 (mischief causing damage to public property) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act have also been invoked, he said.
Soon after, the Delhi Police also cleared the site of their over-month-long sit-in at Jantar Mantar and said they will not be allowed to return there.
The police said that 700 people were detained across the national capital and as many as 109 protesters, including the three wrestlers, were detained at Jantar Mantar. Women detainees were released later in the evening.
Elaborate security measures had been made after the wrestlers’ call for a women’s ‘Mahapanchayat’ outside the Parliament for which they did not have permission.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the dharna site at Jantar Mantar, barely three kilometres from the new Parliament building that was inaugurated by the prime minister, as protesters and police personnel shoved and pushed each other when the Phogat sisters, Sakshi Malik and others tried to breach the barricades.
Immediately after the wrestlers and other protesters were pushed into buses and taken to different locations, the police personnel began clearing the protest site by removing cots, mattresses, coolers, fans and the tarpaulin ceiling along with other belongings of the wrestlers.
Delhi Police calls wrestlers’ behaviour ‘highly irresponsible’
Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak claimed the protesters ignored repeated requests and warnings and ‘wrestled’ with police personnel who tried to stop them.
“Today (Sunday) was an important day for the country as the new Parliament building was to be inaugurated and despite warnings and repeatedly urging protesters at Jantar Mantar to not march beyond the protest site, they continued to do so,” he said, adding the behaviour of the wrestlers was ‘highly irresponsible’.
They were out to disturb the preparations made by the security agencies, the senior police officer told the news agency PTI.
“The detained protesting wrestlers will not be allowed to continue with their dharna at Jantar Mantar. The entire protest venue at Jantar Mantar has been cleared,” Pathak added.
Security was heightened near the new Parliament building, at Jantar Mantar as well as at Delhi’s borders with neighbouring states, and many farmer groups who were planning to join the wrestlers’ protest were stopped from entering the national capital. Several farmer leaders in Haryana were also detained for a few hours, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Charuni) claimed.
A group led by BKU leader Rakesh Tikait held a sit-in at the Ghazipur border which was closed as they tried to enter the national capital to take part in a protest called by the agitating wrestlers. The protesters later dispersed.
‘Our movement is not over’: Wrestlers to continue protest against WFI chief
After the scuffle, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik vowed to continue their sit-in at Jantar Mantar.
“Our movement is not over… We will start our satyagraha at Jantar Mantar. In this country, there will be no dictatorship but there will be satyagraha held by women wrestlers,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.
Vinesh Phogat also said while it took the Delhi Police seven days to register an FIR against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, it didn’t even take seven hours to book those who were protesting ‘peacefully’.
The top Indian wrestlers resumed their agitation against Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on April 23 demanding his arrest for alleged sexual harassment of several women grapplers, including a minor.
Bureau Report
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