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  Metros   Kolkata  04 Aug 2018  Trinamul Congress plans ‘black day’ to protest ‘manhandling’

Trinamul Congress plans ‘black day’ to protest ‘manhandling’

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Aug 4, 2018, 12:39 am IST
Updated : Aug 4, 2018, 12:39 am IST

The 8-member team said they were treated as ‘infiltrators’.

AAP supporters protest in front of Assam Bhavan in Kolkata on Friday against the NRC issue. (Photo: Asian Age)
 AAP supporters protest in front of Assam Bhavan in Kolkata on Friday against the NRC issue. (Photo: Asian Age)

Kolkata: An eight-member Trinamul Congress delegation of MPs and MLAs cried of being treated as “infiltrators” by the BJP government in Assam. They returned to Kolkata from Silchar Airport where they had been detained by the police for nearly 17 hours upon their arrival to attend a convention on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Guwahati in wake of the dropout of around 40 lakh people in the final NRC draft in the neighbouring state.

The ruling party later announced that it would observe “Black Days” on Saturday and Sunday to protest the prevention and harassment of its delegation, which included three Rajya Sabha MPs: Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Nadimul Haque and Arpita Ghosh, three Lok Sabha MPs: Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag and Mamata Bala Thakur, urban development minister Firhad Hakim and MLA Mohua Moitra.

The Trinamul delegation flew to Silchar from the city on Thursday afternoon. Following their arrival, at around 2 pm, they were prevented by the police personnel led by administration officials from going out of the airport to attend the event. They were kept confined till 7.30 am on Friday. Mr Roy said, “Firstly, do you think six MPs, a minister and an MLA can go on rioting by visiting a state? Secondly the prohibitory order of section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code stated that anyone carrying arms and ammunitions and explosives would be arrested. I offered them to check our bags.”

He alleged, “We were treated as infilltrators exactly the way the real infilltrators are behaved with and pushed back. Female MPs were physically abused. I was even manhandled. In protest of such incidents when we sat on a dharna there, they told me that they would not allow me to do it also. They jostled with us there too. We have discussed the incident with the party. The next course of activity will be fixed according to the decision taken by the party.”

Ms Ghosh Dastidar complained, “I doubt if the rule of law is in force in India or not. It looks an undeclared emergency has been underway. Questions have been raised whether each and every Indian is secured or not. In Assam we were physically abused by the cops. A minister of our state was heckled. Democracy is at stake.”

Mr Hakim claimed, “We went there on our party’s instruction to stand by the affected there. Our MPs wanted to study the reasons which left out so many people of the NRC list despite having documents. They could have submitted their suggestions in the parliament after studying the reasons. But they were barred from interacting with the common people. This is undemocratic. India belongs to its citizens. MPs are entitled to visit everywhere in the country. But the BJP government looted their right.”

In the afternoon Trinamul secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “They detained our public representatives forcibly. We strongly condemn the entire incident to protest which in each and every block and district across the state our party workers will observe Black Day wearing black badges and shouting slogan: Ei Danobik Sorkar Aar Nei Dorkar (No Need of this monster Government).”

Bantering him state BJP spokesperson Sayantan Basu alleged, “A minister of the state is trying to take the mileage by sending some people to put up rail blockade under a banner which has no existence. This misrepresentation is a criminal offence. We condemn it. The ministers of the state government have damaged the image of West Bengal so much that they should blacken their faces to observe Black Day.”

Tags: national register of citizens, bjp government
Location: India, West Bengal, Calcutta [Kolkata]