A rally taken out in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh in favour of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act turned violent on January 19. A video of the incident, where protestors can be seen assaulting a district collector, has gone viral on social media.
The clashes broke out in Rajgarh district when supporters of the citizenship law took out a rally despite the government denying them permission to do so. According to an NDTV report, it all started with a Bharatiya Janata Party worker allegedly manhandling government official deployed at the spot.
In the video, woman district collector Priya Verma can be seen slapping a protestor, reportedly for assaulting her junior colleagues and a few cops.
Speaking to agencies, District Collector Nidhi Nivedita said: “They were not granted permission to hold a rally, yet nearly 100 protestors had taken out a protest march, violating Section 144 that had been imposed. When they were intercepted by police and administration, they started resorting to violence. A women officer was pulled by her hair and kicked; protestors also tried to pull the clothes of two women officers.”
Nivedita added: “I was surprised at how little the law meant to them. They were kicking the sub-district magistrate (SDM) and assaulting the officials.”
Meanwhile, a protester who had sustained a head injury accused the police of assaulting him. Police resorted to lathi charge as after the protesters had turned rogue and attacked government officials; three people were reportedly injured in the process.
In the 75-second long video, DC Verma can be seen being assaulted by some pro-CAA supporters whom she was dragging by the collar. However, none of the officials can be seen being kicked in the video.
The BJP has responded to the Rajgarh incident by labelling it a “black letter day” for democracy. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also hit out at DC Nivedita for roughing up protestors.
He said: “Collector madam... which law book have you read that empowers you to beat up and drag citizens protesting peacefully? The congress-led government should hear it loud and clear that Hitlerism with people of MP would not be tolerated. It is a black day for democracy, the collector slapped people who were chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and holding the Tricolour in their hands.”
Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja retorted by pointing out how the Opposition party called for the rally despite being refused permission.
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