The Hindu : Front Page : A violation of rights, says Somnath

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 31, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

A violation of rights, says Somnath

Special Correspondent

Bhagalpur incident condemned

Protest by RJD members for second day
RJD trying to politicise issue:
JD (U), BJP

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Thursday condemned the Bhagalpur incident in which an alleged thief was beaten up by a mob and dragged on the road after being tied to a police motorcycle.

Describing the incident as violation of human rights, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked the members to “rise above party lines” to condemn the incident. He hoped appropriate action would be taken by the authorities and no such incident was repeated.

Brief adjournment

Earlier, the Speaker was forced to adjourn the House for 20 minutes following protests by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for the second day. Party members, including Vijay Krishna and Ram Kripal Yadav, threatened to storm into the well. They were joined by others, who alleged that the incident showed that there was no government in the State and the minorities were unsafe.

This was countered by Janata Dal (U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, who alleged that the RJD was trying to “communalise” the issue. Members also voiced their concern over the Agra violence. Raj Babbar, MP from the town, wanted a parliamentary committee to visit the area. He said it was unfortunate that the incident was being given a communal colour. It only indicated corruption, lack of planning and “ill-will” on the part of the State Government.

Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) described the violence as extremely unfortunate. It was sad that a road accident had been given a communal colour because the victims were from a particular community. It indicated that communal forces of all shades were working to destroy the secular fabric of the country.

Ramji Lal Suman (Samajwadi Party) accused the local administration of not taking adequate steps to prevent such an incident. He said the Centre should take cognisance of the issue.

In a statement, the CPI expressed serious concern over the continued tension in Agra. The administration had admitted that the traffic police flouted the norms for entry of heavy vehicles. It appealed to the people to thwart conspiracies by communal forces by maintaining communal harmony. It urged the State Government to pay adequate compensation to the families of the deceased.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page