Jammu: The Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Tariq Hameed Karra on Sunday accused the police of misbehaving with party workers and leaders during their hunger strike for statehood restoration and asked the force not to behave as “the BJP’s frontal organisation”.
Karra alleged that a team of police officials led by a Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) and a station house officer (SHO) heckled him and other leaders outside the party headquarters at Shaheedi Chowk in an attempt to disrupt the chain hunger strike announced by the party.
The party began a chain hunger strike here on Sunday under its ‘Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq’ campaign to press for the restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.
“We had already announced and formally informed the administration about the scheduled hunger strike at the Maharaja Hari Singh statue site at Tawi Bridge from today till August 19 and had requested permission to erect a ‘shamiyana’ (tent) for the participants at the venue,” Karra said.
After not getting permission from the district administration, he said the party informed the officials concerned about shifting the venue to party headquarters and sought nod to put up a tent at Shaheedi Chowk Park without disrupting the traffic.
After moving the hunger strike venue from Maharaja’s statue to Shaheedi chowk, the police did not allow any tent to be erected at the site, and thus the party workers and leaders were forced to continue the hunger strike on the footpath, Karra claimed.
He said Congress leaders objected to police personnel clicking photographs while the SDPO, along with the SHO, “misbehaved and manhandled” him and other senior leaders.
“This kind of attitude of the police officers with senior leaders, including MLAs, former ministers, legislators and other prominent leaders is highly irresponsible and questionable,” Karra said.
In the past, too, officers had placed barbed wire before the barricades during a Congress protest, putting the lives of peaceful protestors at risk of injuries, besides assaulting Rajouri MLA Iftikhar Ahmed.
Karra asked police not to behave as a “frontal organisation of the BJP”. “If this is the attitude and approach of the police towards the senior political leaders, what must the common people be facing in their day-to-day lives?”
