CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Bharatiya Janata Party blamed police for the lathi charge on its workers on Noy.13 and alleged that out-of-uniform police agent’s provocateurs had mingled in the column of marchers and initiated the stone-throwing.
Unit president Jai Ram Joshi who presented about 10 party workers with plastered limbs and bandaged heads before journalists on Saturday said the police resorted to an unprovoked lathi charge which could have been avoided had Superintendent of Police Sudhir Mohan started arresting them immediately. However he did so only after the lath charge and stone-throwing was over.
The stone-throwing he said was started by the policemen in civil dress His workers could have retaliated only then Most of the demonstrators were poor workers who were more keen to highlight their grievances before the Administrator than to throw stones Joshi said. In beating up the workers including women the police went berserk he said and accused SP Sudhir Mohan of creating such troubles for the BJP whenever he could since 1980.
However he refrained from demanding any action against him and repeated his demand for a judicial inquiry into the lathi charge.
“However if judicial inquiry is not possible an inquiry by an IAS officer or an officer senior to the rank of the SSP will do” Joshi said adding that the agitation to call attention to the problems of the jhuggi-dwellers would continue although the police had acted in highhanded manner to prevent them from carrying out such a massive demonstration in future he said.
The BJP has been demanding larger rooms at the rehabilitation colony at Mauli Jagraon and more toilets and sulabh shauchalyas at other labor colonies.
Meanwhile the Rashtriya Suraksha Samiti (Chandigarh and Punjab) while condemning the lathi-charge has demanded that instated of the SP (City) some reasonable officer should be appointed to tackle sensitive situation who can keep the police force calm.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 27, 1992
