Jharkhand BJP's Pratul Shah Deo slammed the Hemant Soren govt over a crackdown on student protesters, likening it to "Nazi Germany." The JMM dismissed the protest as a politically engineered event backed by the BJP and coaching institutes.
Jharkhand BJP Chief Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Hemant Soren-led state government, likening the administration's crackdown on student protesters in Ranchi to "Hitler's Nazi Germany" and declaring that the BJP will hit the streets to shield students from police batons.
Speaking to ANI, Shah Deo alleged that ruling party workers and local police unleashed brutal force against students who were protesting peacefully, turning the state into a "dictatorship." "This government is treading the path of Hitler. The scenes witnessed yesterday were so horrific that it did not feel like we were living in a democracy. It felt as though we were in Hitler's Germany--in Nazi Germany--where JMM workers, armed with sticks, batons, and hockey sticks, were behaving like Nazi party cadres. The Jharkhand Police stood ready to assist them, much like the Nazi secret police," Shah Deo said.
Alleging severe excesses and assault on female protesters, the BJP leader added, "Students were assaulted, and attempts were made to tear women's clothes. Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protest. Have you imposed a dictatorship here, or has this become a police state? The way you beat up students who were protesting peacefully and engaged in such brutality marks the beginning of the final countdown for the Chief Minister's tenure."
Announcing an escalation in the party's agitation, Shah Deo asserted, "The BJP has now resolved that if you raise a baton against students, we will stand in your way first. Until now, our support was merely moral; from this point on, we will take to the streets to support the students."
JMM dismisses protest as 'politically engineered'
However, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Manoj Pandey dismissed the agitation as a politically engineered event backed by coaching institutes and opposition leaders rather than genuine student unrest. "There were very few students in it. It was mostly leaders from the students' council, people from coaching operators, and BJP people. They are misleading the students. You tell me, in the court order that was issued, how Hemant Soren became guilty. Burning an effigy is fine, but abusive language was used against an Adivasi Chief Minister. Is being Adivasi a crime? Is being a Jharkhandi a crime? Outsiders come to Jharkhand's soil and hurl abuses, while the Chief Minister sets an example," Pandey told ANI.
Attacking the BJP administration in handling of such cases, Pandey added, "In BJP-ruled states across the country, 152 exams were leaked, but nowhere in any state was such a massive action taken as Chief Minister Hemant Soren did. Stop disrespecting the honourable High Court. What kind of people are there? Behind the whole game is the Bharatiya Janata Party and some money-guzzling coaching mafia... The students' fight is going on in court, and the government is with them. Have faith, the students are our own."
Police state mild force used after route violation
This comes after Ranchi city Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) KV Raman earlier stated that police had to resort to mild force after protesters allegedly violated the route designated by the police administration during a demonstration in the city.
The protest was organised on Friday following a call by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission-Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JPSC-JSSC) Reform Forum, which had appealed to students to burn effigies of the Chief Minister across all 24 districts of Jharkhand in protest against the High Court's stay on the cancellation of JPSC examinations and appointments. (ANI)
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