New Delhi: A BJP-led rally in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act turned ugly in Rajgarh district of Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh Sunday after a clash broke out between the district administration and the protesters.
In a viral video, District Collector Nidhi Nivedita can be seen slapping a BJP worker. Another video from the same rally, reported by news agency ANI, shows Rajgarh Deputy Collector Priya Verma making her way through the crowd, dragging protesters and slapping them as many of them refuse to budge and sit on the ground with the national flag in their hands.
#WATCH Madhya Pradesh: A protestor pulls hair of Rajgarh Deputy Collector Priya Verma, after she hits BJP workers and drags them. The clash broke out during a demonstration in support of #CAA. pic.twitter.com/7ckpZaFBkJ
— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2020
Towards the latter half of the video, Verma’s hair can be seen being pulled, though it is unclear who is tugging at it.
Speaking to ThePrint, Nivedita said the agitators took out the rally without permission. “We had imposed Section 144 on Saturday. Despite the administration explicitly denying permission to hold a rally, these people went ahead with it anyway,” she said. “This is when our deputy collector and other officials went there to stop the rally.”
“They started manhandling her (the deputy collector) and pulling her hair,” she added.
In the video, however, Verma is seen dragging the protesters and slapping them before her hair is pulled. Nivedita said Verma was “well within her rights” to do so according to Section 129 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“According to the section, the administration can use mild force against a crowd that is showing determination to not disperse,” Nivedita told ThePrint. “I am convinced that if we didn’t use minimal force, the situation would only have aggravated.”
She added that the mild force used “doesn’t warrant Verma’s hair being pulled”.
The collector also told ThePrint that 10 people have been arrested while an FIR has been registered against 124 people for violating Section 144.
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BJP rally that didn’t have permission
The pro-CAA rally was led by three BJP members — former MLA Amar Singh Yadav and party leaders Mohan Sharma and Dilbar Singh Yadav. They agreed that they didn’t have permission to take out the rally but did so anyway.
“Our permission was denied, so we took out a peaceful rally in support of the CAA anyway. We were shouting slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram. But we were stopped midway,” Amar Singh Yadav told ThePrint.
He added that he was slapped by officials who also grabbed him by the neck.
“Vande Mataram bolna gunah hai kya? (Is it a sin to shout Vande Mataram?” Yadav asked.
He denied all allegations of kicking and manhandling the deputy collector, and also alleged a “political agenda” behind him being targeted.
“The Congress party is using the administration to target us,” he said.
Nivedita, however, denied the allegation. “We have denied permission for several anti-CAA rallies too. This is because Rajgarh is a communally sensitive district,” Nivedita said. “And we have told everyone to hold rallies after 26 January to avoid any flare up.”
The incident drew condemnation from former BJP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He tweeted that it was a “black day”.
प्रदेश में शासन-प्रशासन द्वारा कांग्रेस सरकार की चाटुकारिता के नये आयाम गढ़े जा रहे हैं!
सरकार के तुग़लकी फरमानों पर अमल में कौन रेस में पहले आता है, इसकी होड़ लगी है!
कुछ अधिकारी भूल गए हैं कि वे किसी पार्टी के हुक्म बजाने के लिए नहीं बल्कि जनता की सेवा हेतु पद पर हैं। pic.twitter.com/7xIY3bZJVE
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) January 19, 2020
आज का दिन लोकतंत्र के सबसे काले दिनों में गिना जायेगा।
आज राजगढ़ में डे. कलेक्टर साहिबा ने जिस बेशर्मी से #CAA के समर्थन में प्रदर्शन कर रहे कार्यकर्ताओं को लताड़ा, घसीटा और चाँटे मारे, उसकी निंदा मैं शब्दों में नहीं कर सकता।
क्या उन्हें प्रदर्शनकारियों को पीटने का आदेश मिला था? pic.twitter.com/gi5fLCZsV8
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) January 19, 2020
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, meanwhile, tweeted that he was proud of the two women officers.
मप्र के राजगढ़ में भाजपा की गुण्डा गर्दी सामने आ गयी। महिला ज़िला कलेक्टर और महिला एसडीएम अधिकारीयों को पीटा गया बाल खींचे गये। महिला अधिकारीयों की बहादुरी पर हमें गर्व है।
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) January 20, 2020
So, now the jholawallahs at The Print suddenly remembered that BJP in MP had no permission for the protest, but forgot all about permissions for the anarchist CAA protests in other states?