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Nadda defends police action against protesters, cites Emergency era; CJP asks ‘nothing changed in 50 years?’
The union minister backed police action against the protestors and even recalled his own arrest during the Emergency period.
Union minister JP Nadda on Wednesday defended police action against student protestors amid a high-voltage session in the Rajya Sabha In a rebuttal to Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, the minister even recalled his own arrest during the Emergency (1975-77) period when Indira Gandhi was PM.
'Normal law and order'
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha amid the ongoing monsoon parliament session, JP Nadda stated that police's actions were part of “normal law and order situation”.
“Whatever my friend John Brittas (CPM MP) has said, this is a very normal law and order situation that we have to understand. I have been a student activist. I have been arrested many times from the classroom in Emergency days when the Congress party was ruling,” the health minister said.
Nadda added that activists who take order in their own hands, must be prepared to face the consequences. “It is a normal situation. A student activist has to face... and those who take law and order in their own hand, the police has to act accordingly. And the police has acted accordingly for those cases,” said Nadda.
Nadda also recalled his arrest as a student activist during the Emergency period, which lasted from 1975 to 1977. "And any student activist who wants to do activism should face this. Even I have faced it not once, but many times. When there was the Emergency, I was arrested from the classroom, not once but twice. So this is a very normal situation," he added.
CJP's jibe at Nadda
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) took a swipe at the Centre over Nadda's remarks. Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka wrote on X, “You mean to say that the country hasn't progressed one bit in the last 50 years?”
The party basically argued that comparing the present police action with arrests during the Emergency amounted to admitting that there had been no improvement in the country's handling of dissent over the past five decades.
Uproar in Rajya Sabha
Nadda's remarks sparked a massive uproar in the Rajya Sabha, prompting the proceedings to be adjourned till 12 noon.
Opposition leaders such as Kharge and CPI(M) John Brittas continue to question the government over the various arrests and detentions made in the aftermath of the student protests.
The Cockroach Janta Party has also questioned the Centre's move and urged it to act on its assurances, including that no FIRs or cases would be filed against students and others who participated in the protests, which was also reiterated by JP Nadda during a joint press conference with the online outfit.
The opposition has also questioned the use of lathis, pellet guns and tear gas against protestors during the CJP-announced Chalo Sansad march on July 20.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)
