Dharamshala/Shimla, Dec 4 (PTI) BJP legislators walked out of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday in protest of the alleged lathi charge on ABVP workers near the Zorawar Stadium in Dharamshala.
Raising a point of order after the question hour, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Dharamshala, had granted permission to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to organise the protest march to the Zorawar Stadium, yet the police resorted to lathi charge on the protesters.
He also accused the chief minister of misleading the House, saying Sukhu had earlier told the assembly that the ABVP had not been granted permission for the protest demonstration.
Several people were injured following a scuffle between ABVP activists and the police at the Zorawar ground on Wednesday after workers of the RSS-affiliated students’ organisation arrived in large numbers to gherao the Vidhan Sabha to press for their demands.
The ABVP workers alleged that women activists were kicked by male police personnel and demanded action against the police, specifically the suspension of station house officer, Dharamshala, for taking the ABVP workers to a community hall after the protest, and allegedly threatening and thrashing them.
As per Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s statement on Wednesday, one male and three female police constables were injured in the scuffle and six people were injured due to the agitation. During the protest, ABVP workers also misbehaved with a female constable, which the government has taken seriously, he said.
The leader of opposition also raised the issue of Youth Congress workers burning and kicking an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside the Raj Bhavan earlier in November.
Terming the incident as unfortunate, he questioned whether the authorities had taken any action against the Youth Congress workers responsible for this.
He then said the BJP legislative party was walking out of the House in protest of the lathi charge on the ABVP activists.
Defending the government, Vidhan Sabha speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania cited the chief minister’s statement, saying the ABVP was only permitted to hold a protest march, and not a sit-in demonstration.
Condemning the walkout by the opposition, Chief Minister Sukhu said the BJP orchestrated the walkout for political gain, which is condemnable. He said the BJP MLAs actually wanted to attend a party rally.
That is why they took advantage of the alleged police clash with the ABVP workers, the chief minister said, adding that the ABVP had been given permission for a protest march to the Zorawar Stadium, but instead they made an attempt to march to the assembly, breaking through barricades.
This led to a clash with the police and mild force was used against them, he said.
The ABVP activists blocked traffic for three hours, despite not having been given permission to block the road which caused inconvenience to the general public, he added. PTI BPL ARB ARB
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