Chandigarh, October 6
Demanding immediate arrest of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, for allegedly mowing down four farmers protesting against the centre’s three agricultural laws in Lakhimpur Kheri and also dismissal of the latter from the cabinet; the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab staged a massive protest in front of the Punjab Governor’s residence ‘Raj Bhawan’. While the AAP leaders and volunteers staged a protest on the main road outside the Raj Bhawan; the AAP MLAs, office-bearers and leaders on the other hand, fearlessly faced the water cannons used by the police at MLA Hostel Complex in Sector 4 here.
As part of the party’s strategy to dodge the police and the administration, the leaders and volunteers from across Punjab were gathered on one side at the MLA Hostel; on the other hand, a group of leaders and volunteers led by party’s Punjab affairs in-charge and MLA from Delhi, Jarnail Singh, MLA Aman Arora and Youth Wing co-president Anmol Gagan Mann reached in front of Raj Bhawan where police had already set up barricades.
The AAP leaders staged a dharna at the check post near Raj Bhavan and raised slogans against the BJP-led central government. During the struggle to move forward, the AAP leaders altercated with the Chandigarh police and the civil administration; after which Jarnail Singh, Aman Arora, Master Baldev Singh and Anmol Gagan Mann along with dozens of other leaders and volunteers were detained at Sector 3 police station.
Jarnail Singh and Aman Arora said that the Aam Aadmi Party, through the Governor of Punjab, want to ask the Modi-led central government and the Yogi Adityanath government of UP that why aren’t the UP police arresting the goon son of the minister who being power-drunk; mowed down the ‘annadatas’ under his vehicle. “What is the compulsion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the father of the ‘goonda’ son has not been removed from the Union Cabinet yet,” they said.
The leaders further said, “Is it a feeling of revenge for the farmers across the country who are fighting for their existence against the black farm laws that Modi and the Yogi government have become so bloodthirsty? So far 700 farmers have sacrificed their lives under the farmers’ movement. Hasn’t the BJP’s blood thirst been quenched by taking so many lives? Will Modi and Amit Shah tell whether an impartial and transparent inquiry into the Lakhimpur Kheri case is possible when Ajay Mishra is the Home Minister; because the entire police system of the country is under Ajay Mishra.”
Meanwhile, the police administration deployed heavy force with water cannons after barricading at both the gates of the MLA hostel complex. As a result, AAP MLAs, office-bearers and hundreds of volunteers along with media personnel were locked inside. After rhetoric and sloganeering against the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and black farm laws, when the AAP’s convoy including Deputy Leader of Opposition Saravjit Kaur Manuke, MLAs Principal Budh Ram, Master Baldev Singh Jaito, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Jai Singh Rodi, state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat, state treasurer Neena Mittal, among other leaders approached the gate of the MLA hostel and tried to jump over the barricades; the police used water cannons on them. But the spirit of the AAP leaders and volunteers remained high.
The indiscriminate use of water cannons continued for about an hour, finally stopping when the engine of the water cannon truck overheated. Meanwhile, the police had to work hard to stop the AAP brigade trying to jump over the barricades. Finally, by bringing buses through the second gate, the Chandigarh police detained the AAP leaders and volunteers. On this occasion, Saravjit Kaur Manuke strongly condemned the brutal behavior of the police stating that due to this dictatorship of the police, many party volunteers and leaders were injured; but the police and civil administration did not even provide an ambulance.
The AAP MLAs said that peaceful protest is a constitutional right of every citizen, but the dictator Hitler’s spirit has entered the BJP leaders; so they have started crushing the opposition and the protesting farmers as small creatures. “But the BJP’s oppressive attitude cannot defeat the country’s ‘annadatas’ and the Aam Aadmi Party’s high spirits,” they added. Party leaders Lakhvir Singh Rai, Harjot Singh Bains, Chetan Singh Jaurmajra, Sunny Singh Ahluwalia, Satish Saini, Raj Laali Gill, Govinder Mittal, Prabhjot Kaur among others were also present on the occasion.
