Thiruvananthapuram, July 23: The Bharatiya Vichara Kendram has demanded a comprehensive CBI investigation into the violent incidents that took place in the national capital on July 20, the day the Monsoon Session of Parliament began.
In a statement here, Bharatiya Vichara Kendram Director R. Sanjayan said the “condemnable” violent incidents that occurred in the national capital on July 20 were extremely unfortunate. The fact that protesters managed to reach the Parliament premises itself constituted a serious security lapse, he said, adding that citizens had the right to know the actual facts behind the incident.
Sanjayan said Sonam Wangchuk and others had repeatedly stated that the protest march of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) would be peaceful. However, when the protesters allegedly moved forward by breaking barricades, provoking and attacking police personnel and damaging vehicles, it brought great disrepute to the country, he said.
“There is reasonable ground to suspect that the series of violent incidents witnessed in Delhi was the result of a conspiracy aimed at creating anarchy in the country and destabilising the government,” Sanjayan said.
The protesters have alleged that the police resorted to excesses. However, it appeared that the organisers of the agitation had failed to take into consideration the basic fact that police personnel were responsible for maintaining law and order, he said.
Sanjayan said Wangchuk’s latest demand that the government should not initiate any legal proceedings against those who participated in the protest, while simultaneously raising allegations of police excesses, was a “strange and dangerous” position. Such a stand would send a wrong message to society from the perspective of national security, he said.
“There is a desire among the people to know who is providing financial assistance to the CJP’s protest, which has continued for nearly one-and-a-half months,” he said.
It was understood that people from various parts of the country, including Kerala, had participated in the protest held on July 20, Sanjayan said. Therefore, he said, it would not be sufficient for the Delhi Police alone to investigate the violent incidents that took place in the national capital and a CBI investigation was necessary.
Sanjayan also said he was still unable to understand the logic behind Wangchuk’s demand that the education minister should resign over the NEET question paper leak.
The question paper leak was an unfortunate incident that could have affected the future of lakhs of students, he said. However, it was evident to everyone that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally intervened in the matter from the moment the question paper leak was reported, he said.
The government’s priority was to conduct a fresh NEET examination at the earliest and in a flawless manner, Sanjayan said. The re-examination was subsequently conducted without any significant complaints and its results were also declared, he added.
He said efforts to bring before the law everyone suspected of being involved in the question paper leak had begun from the very first day.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous organisation functioning under the Union Education Ministry, Sanjayan said. It is headed by a governing body comprising experts from the higher education sector, while the Director General is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the agency, he said.
The Director General who was in charge at the time of the question paper leak was removed from the post at the end of June, Sanjayan said. All these facts made it clear that the government had effectively carried out all the measures that a government was required to take in an emergency situation, he said.
“It is in this context that the hollowness of the demand for the resignation of the Minister becomes evident,” he said.
Sanjayan said that Wangchuk should have ended his hunger strike in the wake of the organised violence allegedly unleashed by his followers in the national capital, particularly against the backdrop of his repeated claims that the protest was peaceful.
He also recalled Wangchuk’s statement that he was not a Gandhian.
The hunger strike conducted by Wangchuk in Ladakh last September and the violence associated with it had claimed the lives of four people, besides causing large-scale destruction of public property, Sanjayan alleged.
Many people had expressed apprehension that the agitation being conducted by Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar would also proceed in the same direction, he said.
The Central Government should have taken steps to end the protest at Jantar Mantar at least a week before the commencement of the Parliament session, Sanjayan said. Preventive arrests should also have been made as a precautionary measure, he added.
It was true that Wangchuk was shifted to a hospital a day before the July 20 incident on the basis of a High Court order. However, no other measures were taken, he alleged.
Sanjayan also referred to an earlier incident involving Prakashananda Swami of Sivagiri Mutt, who had undertaken a hunger strike in front of the Kerala Secretariat demanding justice from the government.
At that time, Kerala was ruled by a government headed by E.K. Nayanar. When the Swami’s hunger strike entered its 26th day, the police forcibly shifted him to a hospital as an emergency measure to save his life. The protest ended following the move, and the Swami lived among the people for many more years thereafter, Sanjayan said.
He said the incident was being cited to point out that governments sometimes had to take certain stringent measures during emergency situations to maintain law and order.
“It is not desirable for the mainstream Opposition to extend support to politics of anarchy,” Sanjayan said.
A comprehensive investigation into the violence that took place in the national capital under the leadership of the CJP, bringing shame to the country, was essential, he said.
“Only the CBI can effectively investigate the matter,” Sanjayan said, urging the Central Government to immediately order a CBI-led investigation into the violent incidents of July 20.
