Activists being detained is normal: Nadda defends police action on CJP protesters
Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP government of making democracy unsafe and questioned the absence of accountability for police excesses against student protesters. JP Nadda countered that police action was necessary to restore order, drawing on his own experience of being detained during the Emergency.
A war of words broke out between Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, with Nadda saying that students who choose to engage in activism must be prepared for police action. Defending the police crackdown, Nadda, the Leader of the Upper House, recalled his days as a student activist during the Emergency, saying he was picked up from his classroom twice.
Nadda was responding to Kharge’s charge that democracy under the BJP is not safe and his claim that those responsible for using “brutal force” against student protesters were still roaming freely.
Replying to the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Nadda said the police were justified in taking all necessary steps to bring the law-and-order situation under control.
The Opposition has been pressing the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to address the alleged “police brutality” on July 20 and has also sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The row over police crackdown erupted on Wednesday when Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised an incident in which a Delhi Police team barged into the CPI(M)’s national headquarters to arrest student leader Aishe Ghosh. Brittas said her only “mistake” was participating in the Jantar Mantar protest.
The CPI(M) MP said he was present at the spot and confronted the police, questioning why they had entered and raided the office of a national political party. When he sought an explanation, the police told him that a 2021 case against Ghosh was pending in connection with a protest on the JNU campus. Alleging an attempt to silence protesters, John Brittas demanded answers from Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha. Kharge subsequently doubled down, saying, “Democracy is not safe, people are not safe,” triggering a heated exchange with Nadda.
In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition on Wednesday demanded accountability from the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and called for him to address Parliament over the police crackdown in the national capital last week before any business was taken up. Amid the ruckus in the Lower House ahead of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the ongoing debate on the anti-paper leak bill, the Speaker warned that he would adjourn the proceedings if order was not restored in the House.
On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also compared the police crackdown on student protesters at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country to the Emergency. “What happened in Delhi is worse than the Emergency,” Yadav said, alleging that the use of tear gas and force against demonstrators reflected a similar atmosphere of suppression.
A war of words broke out between Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, with Nadda saying that students who choose to engage in activism must be prepared for police action. Defending the police crackdown, Nadda, the Leader of the Upper House, recalled his days as a student activist during the Emergency, saying he was picked up from his classroom twice.
Nadda was responding to Kharge’s charge that democracy under the BJP is not safe and his claim that those responsible for using “brutal force” against student protesters were still roaming freely.
Replying to the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Nadda said the police were justified in taking all necessary steps to bring the law-and-order situation under control.
The Opposition has been pressing the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to address the alleged “police brutality” on July 20 and has also sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The row over police crackdown erupted on Wednesday when Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised an incident in which a Delhi Police team barged into the CPI(M)’s national headquarters to arrest student leader Aishe Ghosh. Brittas said her only “mistake” was participating in the Jantar Mantar protest.
The CPI(M) MP said he was present at the spot and confronted the police, questioning why they had entered and raided the office of a national political party. When he sought an explanation, the police told him that a 2021 case against Ghosh was pending in connection with a protest on the JNU campus. Alleging an attempt to silence protesters, John Brittas demanded answers from Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha. Kharge subsequently doubled down, saying, “Democracy is not safe, people are not safe,” triggering a heated exchange with Nadda.
In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition on Wednesday demanded accountability from the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and called for him to address Parliament over the police crackdown in the national capital last week before any business was taken up. Amid the ruckus in the Lower House ahead of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the ongoing debate on the anti-paper leak bill, the Speaker warned that he would adjourn the proceedings if order was not restored in the House.
On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also compared the police crackdown on student protesters at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country to the Emergency. “What happened in Delhi is worse than the Emergency,” Yadav said, alleging that the use of tear gas and force against demonstrators reflected a similar atmosphere of suppression.
A war of words broke out between Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, with Nadda saying that students who choose to engage in activism must be prepared for police action. Defending the police crackdown, Nadda, the Leader of the Upper House, recalled his days as a student activist during the Emergency, saying he was picked up from his classroom twice.
Nadda was responding to Kharge’s charge that democracy under the BJP is not safe and his claim that those responsible for using “brutal force” against student protesters were still roaming freely.
Replying to the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Nadda said the police were justified in taking all necessary steps to bring the law-and-order situation under control.
The Opposition has been pressing the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to address the alleged “police brutality” on July 20 and has also sought an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The row over police crackdown erupted on Wednesday when Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas raised an incident in which a Delhi Police team barged into the CPI(M)’s national headquarters to arrest student leader Aishe Ghosh. Brittas said her only “mistake” was participating in the Jantar Mantar protest.
The CPI(M) MP said he was present at the spot and confronted the police, questioning why they had entered and raided the office of a national political party. When he sought an explanation, the police told him that a 2021 case against Ghosh was pending in connection with a protest on the JNU campus. Alleging an attempt to silence protesters, John Brittas demanded answers from Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha. Kharge subsequently doubled down, saying, “Democracy is not safe, people are not safe,” triggering a heated exchange with Nadda.
In the Lok Sabha, the Opposition on Wednesday demanded accountability from the government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and called for him to address Parliament over the police crackdown in the national capital last week before any business was taken up. Amid the ruckus in the Lower House ahead of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the ongoing debate on the anti-paper leak bill, the Speaker warned that he would adjourn the proceedings if order was not restored in the House.
On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also compared the police crackdown on student protesters at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country to the Emergency. “What happened in Delhi is worse than the Emergency,” Yadav said, alleging that the use of tear gas and force against demonstrators reflected a similar atmosphere of suppression.
