GUWAHATI, July 9 � Around 20 BJP leaders and workers, including women, were injured today when police resorted to lathi charge to stop thousands of BJP members from proceeding towards the main gate of the State Secretariat protesting against the NC Hills scam and price rise.
The Asom Pradesh unit of BJP, while condemning the incident in strong terms � particularly the assault on its women members � has demanded a judicial inquiry into the lathi charge. Seven women protesters sustained injury in today�s police lathi charge.
To protest against the government attempt to put the lid on the NC Hills scam and the unprecedented price rise, the BJP had organized a dharna at Dispur Last Gate today. National general secretary of the party Arjun Munda, also an MP and national vice-president of the party Bijoya Chakravorty, State president Ranjit Dutta and other senior leaders participated in the protest programme.
Thousands of BJP members from across the State had gathered here in the capital city to join the dharna. Party functionaries said that BJP members had assembled in the capital city despite braving numerous harassment by police in their respective districts.
Under the leadership of senior party leader Rajen Gohain, a procession of the BJP members took off from the party�s State office at Nursery and moved towards Dispur Last Gate, where thousands of members from across the State had assembled.
These protesters were stopped by the police when they moved towards the main gate of the Secretariat.
Ranjit Dutta has described the incident as a manifestation of the fascist character of the Tarun Gogoi government and asserted that such incidents will only boost the morale of the party workers.
�The Tarun Gogoi government cannot curb our democratic movement. We will intensify our movement at the district, block and national level,� said Dutta informing that the issue of NC Hills scam would be raised in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament by the party�s MPs.
The party has demanded that CBI investigating into the NC Hills scam should have a comprehensive mandate and cover all the departments of the NC Hills Autonomous Council from 2001 onwards. �The CBI should be given a free hand without any political interference and be given the mandate to interrogate any public servant, irrespective of their post or position,� said Dutta.
The party has further demanded that CBI be given a specific time frame to complete its investigation and that the report be made public immediately when ready. �There is a possibility that the government could pressure CBI to drag the case indefinitely,� said Dutta.
Meanwhile the AGP also condemned the lathi charge and said that the incident has revealed the fascist nature of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
Party chief Chandra Mohan Patowary alleged that the Chief Minister has been manipulating the administrative machinery to curb the Opposition�s protest movement.
