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‘Being taken to unknown destination’: Shashi Tharoor's video from police bus
Senior Congress leaders protesting against ED's summons to Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case were detained on Thursday. Police also used water cannons on protesters.
Senior Congress leaders, including Pawan Khera, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, Vivek Tankha, Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor, were detained in Delhi on Thursday as the Congress was protesting against the enforcement directorate's summons to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. Police also used water cannons to disperse the protesters.
Party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh tweeted that all Congress MPs and CWC members courted mass arrests outside the party headquarters "in a show of collective solidarity with Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi, a target of Vishguru's political vendetta". "We are being taken away to a police station in Old Delhi evidently," he tweeted. Also Read: What Yashwant Sinha says on ED Summoning Sonia Gandhi
In a video statement issued from the bus in which the Congress leaders were packed, Shashi Tharoor said, "We are being taken by the police to an unknown destination. Two other police buses full of MPs and other party colleagues are there. We are trying to head God knows where. The government is misusing its official machinery.. we are very disappointed seeing the government functioning this way." Pawan Khera, Harish Rawat, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were also seen in the video.
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"It's an assault on democracy. As far as we are concerned, we will continue to protest this abuse of democratic protest. We want to stand up for the rights and the problems of the ordinary people which the government does not want to discuss in Parliament. Instead, we are seeing this kind of harassment of political leaders by the authorities which is truly regrettable, truly deplorable, truly condemnable," Tharoor said adding that the Congress leaders have been apparently detained for “standing up for the democracy of the country”.
Referring to the joint statement issued by other parties, Tharoor said Congress is supported by other parties too. "We have issued a joint statement deploring the misuse," he said.
"There is a misuse of agencies in the country. It's our right to protest in a democracy but it is being crushed," Sachin Pilot said from the bus.
“They are taking us in a police bus to North Delhi and beyond. Presumably, we have been detained/arrested,” Chidambaram tweeted.
Delhi Police barricaded Akbar Road on Wednesday evening after the Congress announced its nationwide protest plan. The BJP slammed the Congress for holding the protest and said when Narendra Modi as Gujarat CM faced interrogation, there was no such protest because BJP always respected the agencies.
