New Delhi
Two petitions have been moved in the Supreme Court for an immediate probe into the violence that broke out all over Delhi on the Republic Day on Tuesday in the wake of two months of the farmers' agitation protesting against three farm laws enacted last September.
One petition is filed by Delhi lawyer Vishal Tiwari and another by Mumbai University student Ashish Rai. Tiwari pleaded for a direction to the authorities to registered an FIR against the individuals and organisations responsible for the violence and dishonouring the National Foag.
Tiwari sought constitution of a 3-member inquiry commission under the chairmanship of a former top court judge with two retired High Court judges to collect and record evidence in the matter and submit a report to the SC in a time-bound manner.
The petition says the farmers' protests were going on peacefully for the last two months and hence the sudden violence on Tuesday raises a question for consideration in national security and public interest as to who is responsible for creating the disturbances. "The blames are from both sides and the matter is to be probed by an independent agency as it might be a conspiracy by notorious forces to cause disturbance and damage the peaceful protest and creat clash between police and protesting farmers.
In his PIL letter to the CJI, Ashish Rai has urged him to take cognizance of the violence at the Red Fort suo motu as hundreds of farmers climbed the ramparts of the Red Fort and hoisted religious flag, vandalising almost anything they could lay hands on. He sought a special probe on the way the Tricolour was removed and the religious flag was installed.
-- Farmer leaders involved in violence, no culprit will be spared: Delhi police chief S N Srivastava
-- Allahabad HC questions personal bonds from farmers
-- NCPCR asks for police report over kids at Red Fort
-- Never said doors for talks with farmers shut: Javadekar
-- Farmer who died had returned from Australia recently to celebrate his wedding
-- Sad to see clashes in Delhi: British MP Dhesi
-- Violence at Red Fort insult, says Punjab CM
-- Not involved in Jan 26 violence: Gangster-turned-socail activist Lakha Sidhana
Damaged metal detectors at an entry gate of the Red Fort. | —PTI
Why book farmer leaders, not rowdy elements, asks Congress
New Delhi
The Congress on Wednesday condemned the police registering cases against the farmer leaders instead of the rowdy elements who led the anti-social elements in Delhi on the Republic Day to create violence, saying it is part of the government’s continuous attempt to defame the farmers’ movement instead of resolving their demands.
Dubbing it a conspiracy of the government and the rowdy elements, Congress general secretary and chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala sought resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah for the breakdown of the law and order in the capital and failure of the intelligence agencies. He said the law and order in the national capital is under Shah and so he should step down for failure to stop second violence in it within a year.
He said it is for the first time in 73 years of the Independence the government failed in ensuring security to Red Fort, the national heritage as a handful of miscreants were allowed to enter the fort premises in the name of the farmers and the presence of Deep Siddhu, a disciple of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in the Red Fort was a clear planned conspiracy to defame the farmer movement.
Surjewala posed the pointed questions on the violence:
-- How the farmers’ movement going on so peacefully suddenly turned violent;
-- Government’s conspiracy is evident in the way it carried out a drama of talks for 10 days and its stress on defaming the movement all through.
-- Our straight question: How can the rogues gatecrash in the Red Fort with just 30-40 tractors?
-- Whose failure and whose responsibility?
-- Whatever be the situation, the govt will have to explain how a violent mob can enter the ramparts of the Red Fort and unfurl a flag. It’s clearly seen the police were sitting as spectators and the TV cameras were focused on the ramparts.
-- As many as 178 farmers have died during the movement. If they wanted to resort to violence, why should they sit on the borders in the bone-chilling winter for 63 days?
-- Creation of an atmosphere of violence to defame the farmer movement is repeat of one more in the series of East Delhi riots, Shaheen Baug, anti-CAA protests, and Delhi JNU violence.
-- Who gained and who lost from Tuesday's violence? Who wants to change the public support that the farmers were gaining?
Surjewala said what happened in Delhi on Tuesday was completely planned, but not by the farmers but a conspiracy of defaming their movement, with direct support and protection of the Modi government.
Lone INLD MLA Abhay Chautala resigns from Haryana Assembly
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala, who was his party’s lone representative in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, on Wednesday resigned as an MLA over the three new Central farm laws. “I decided I cannot sit in the Assembly with those who bring resolutions favouring these laws," Chautala said, referring to the BJP-led government's earlier move of bringing in a resolution backing the Centre's three contentious farm laws. Abhay, the younger son of INLD president and former CM Om Prakash Chautala, drove to the state assembly complex with his supporters in his green tractor to submit his resignation. "Abhay Chautala, who represents the Ellenabad constituency, came to me personally and tendered his resignation and I have accepted it with immediate effect," Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said, adding his resignation letter was correct in all technical aspects.
UP BJP MLA announces resignation: BJP MLA from the Meerapur Assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar, Avtar Singh Bhadana, has announced his resignation from the party protesting against the Centre's stand on the three farm laws. Bhadana, a former MP from Meerut and Faridabad, has been sulking of late and had started visiting the protesting farmers across Uttar Pradesh.
Important to respect peaceful protests, non-violence: UN
In the wake of violence and clashes between farmers and police in India, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it is important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence. Secretary-General Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, in his response to a question on the violence in Delhi during his daily press briefing on Tuesday, said: "As we say in many of these cases, I think it’s important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence".
Twitter suspends over 550 accounts after violence
Twitter on Wednesday suspended over 550 accounts from its platform in the violence during the farmers' tractor rally on the 72nd Republic Day. A Twitter spokesperson told ANI the platform has also labelled tweets which were found to be in violation of its "synthetic and manipulated media policy". "We have taken strong enforcement action to protect the conversation on the service from attempts to incite violence, abuse, and threats that could trigger the risk of offline harm by blocking certain terms that violate our rules for trends, the spokesperson said. "Using a combination of technology and human review, Twitter worked at scale and took action on hundreds of accounts and Tweets that have been in violation of the Twitter Rules, and suspended more than 550 accounts engaged in spam and platform manipulation," the spokesperson told ANI.
Appeal to Modi govt to take back laws immediately: Rahul
A day after violence during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday to repeal, what he claimed were, "anti-agriculture" laws. Taking to Twitter, he also shared a quote by Mahatma Gandhi -- "In a gentle way, you can shake the world." "Once again, I appeal to the Modi government that the anti-agriculture laws be taken back immediately," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. (Agencies inputs)
