Indian police subject Congress protesters to lathicharge in Punjab
Chandigarh: Indian police resorted to lathicharge on protesting Congress members outside the party office in Chandigarh, Punjab, today, against the Modi government’s silence over humiliating treatment to the Indian immigrants in the United States.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Congress was protesting inhuman treatment of youths deported from the US.
The protesters were also raising slogans over unemployment, drugs and the ownership rights for residents of rehabilitation schemes in Chandigarh.
The Congress workers gathered outside the party office in the afternoon. As they tried to march towards the BJP office in Sector 33 in the form of a rally, a heavy police force deployed there stopped them.
The police arrest Youth Congress national president Uday Bhanu Chhib. As the protest escalated, the police, who had barricaded the road outside the Congress office, first used water cannons and later resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.
Three protesters and a few police personnel, including a woman constable, sustained injuries during the clash. Stones were also hurled at police vehicles. A group of youth among the protesters allegedly hurled stones, prompting a stronger retaliation by the police. The injured police personnel were taken to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital (GMSH) in Sector 16.
State Youth Congress president Deepak Lubana said the BJP was solely focused on self-interest. He emphasised the youth needed employment, not drugs. They had planned a protest at the BJP office to press for action against drug abuse and for government efforts to create more job opportunities. He warned that if strict action was not taken against drug abuse soon, the party would launch a larger protest.
The Congress leaders also accused the BJP government of depriving residents of rehabilitation housing schemes of ownership rights.
