Amnesty row: ABVP protesters clash with cops

A protest by members of the Akhil Bharat Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), demanding the immediate arrest of those who shouted anti-national slogans and the organisers of Broken Families event on Saturday, turned ugly when the activists tried to enter the police commissioner’s office and were allegedly stopped and manhandled by policemen.

Demanding the arrest of Amnesty International India’s representatives, who organised Saturday’s event, and banning of the NGO, over 1,000 activists took out a rally from Basaveshwara Circle around 11 am on Tuesday.

When the rally reached near Raj Bhavan, the police stopped the protesters, which led to a heated argument between the agitators and the policemen. Though the police requested them to stop the rally, the agitators refused and tried to march towards the police commissioner’s officer. The policemen, including DCP (Central) Sandeep Patil, allegedly manhandled some of the activists and also resorted to a mild lathi-charge.

The police detained 15 activists, while the other agitators protested near the Raj Bhavan demanding their immediate release. Later, some of the activists were allowed to go to the police commissioner’s office, where Commissioner N.S. Megharikh came out of his chambers and received a petition. Mr Megharikh assured the agitators that the police were working as per law and had registered the FIR. The culprits will be arrested if evidence is found. he said. The police released the 15 activists from CAR Grounds on Mysuru Road around 3 pm.

Mr Jayaprakash Thantepadi, a member of the ABVP National Executive Council and the complainant in AII case, said that the protest was peaceful. “We just wanted to submit a petition to the police commissioner to bring to his notice that his men had not arrested the accused even three days after the complaint was filed. We have named some people in the complaint, but their names have been dropped in the FIR. But the police, instead to acting against those involved in anti-national activity, manhandled us.”

Traffic in the CBD area was affected for more than an hour because of the protest.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International’s India chapter on Tuesday said none of its employee had shouted any anti-India slogan at an event on Kashmir in Bangaluru, allegations based on which sedition charges were slapped against the human rights body.

Amensty India said allegations mentioned in a complaint by an ABVP representative against it were “without substance” and that only discussion at the event on Saturday was about allegations of human rights violations and denial of justice in Jammu and Kashmir.

Local police had slapped sedition charges against Amnesty International India on Monday following allegations that anti-India slogans were raised at the event, organised by it, during a discussion on Kashmir issue. “No Amnesty International India employee shouted any slogans at any point,” the human rights organisation said in a statement referring to allegations that “slogans were raised that Indian Kashmir should be part of Pakistan.”

To charges that the event indirectly supported terrorists, Amnesty said the only discussion that had taken place was about allegations of human rights violations and the denial of justice to families in Kashmir. “These are issues that have regularly been discussed in the media,” it said.