Friday, Mar 29, 2024 | Last Update : 12:11 PM IST

  Metros   Delhi  26 Feb 2017  Delhi Police has become BJP’s agent, says Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Police has become BJP’s agent, says Arvind Kejriwal

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Feb 26, 2017, 1:53 am IST
Updated : Feb 26, 2017, 6:57 am IST

The Delhi police has acknowledged “unprofessional” conduct on the part of some of its personnel during the clash and suspended 3 policemen.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday criticised the Delhi police over its handling of clashes at DU’s Ramjas college and alleged that the force has become an “agent” of the BJP.

He also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not act as a “BJP worker” and hold police accountable for the February 22 violence.

“I strongly condemn the manner in which the Delhi police has become an agent of the ABVP and the BJP. It is the duty of police to protect the people of Delhi and not allow the ABVP and the BJP to engage in goondaism (sic),” he told reporters. “I hope the Prime Minister will perform his duty in an impartial way and not work like a BJP worker. The Delhi police reports to the PM. He is not the Prime Minister of the BJP only but of all people, including me, and he should perform his duty,” the AAP chief said.

Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed clashes between members of the Left-affiliated AISA and the RSS-backed ABVP. The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on ‘Culture of Protests’ which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

The Delhi police has acknowledged “unprofessional” conduct on the part of some of its personnel during the clash and suspended three policemen.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Saturday ordered an inqiry into the alleged attack on female protesters during the violence at Ramjas College.

The college was mired in a JNU-like confrontation between the Left student outfits and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. “We are of the view that these attacks on women protesters by policemen may also amount to molestation and need to be severely punished. The images of Delhi police officers beating and misbehaving with women protesters are resonating across Delhi and India and have severely damaged the reputation of Delhi police. It is a classic case of protectors turning abusers,” the women’s panel said in a notice issued to the Joint CP, Central Range.

“Further, the commission is aghast to read newspaper reports alleging that Delhi police claims it does not know who ordered the lathi charge on the protesters. Such statements raise suspicions about politicisation of police and the matter needs to be investigated urgently,” the notice said.

The commission has asked the police to respond within a week’s time with information on “number of police officers (male and female separately) deployed in and around Ramjas College for the said protest.

Meanwhile, the Rashtrawadi Shikshak Sangh has asked for a detailed inquiry to investigate the situation that led to violence in Ramjas College this week.

Terming the incident as “engineered by those who attempted to provide space and audience to anti-India forces in DU”, the association said that it will hold a dharna  on Monday.

Tags: arvind kejriwal, narendra modi, abvp
Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi