On July 12, Bhupesh Aggarwal, Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab, and other local leaders were attacked by alleged farmer protestors in Rajpura, District Patiala, Punjab. BJP leaders have alleged that the state police did not take immediate action to disperse the protesters.
In a statement to news agency ANI, Aggarwal said, “500 farmers beat me up at the behest of DSP Tiwana. He deliberately sent me to the wrong side. No Police force accompanied me, my life is under threat. I called up the SSP several times but to no avail. DSP paid no heed to us. He did this deliberately.”
500 farmers beat me up under at the behest of DSP Tiwana. He deliberately sent me to the wrong side. No Police force accompanied me, my life is under threat. I called up the SSP several times but to no avail. DSP paid no heed to us. He did this deliberately: Bhupesh Aggarwal, BJP pic.twitter.com/tRwLQNaygF
— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2021
In a video statement published on his page, he said, “I am stuck in a small kitchen. There are hundreds of protesters outside, ready to kill me. The Police sent me in the wrong direction. There is a threat to my life, and no one from Police is ready to help me. These protesters are trying to kill BJP members.”
Vikas Sharma, General Secretary, BJYM, was with him at that time. While talking to OpIndia, Vikas said there was a party meeting on July 11. The meeting was stopped by the Police, and they asked them to leave from a specific lane. “There were protesters who stopped us. Those were not farmers but goons disguised as farmers. The real farmers are busy in their fields.” He further added that they were beaten up with batons. “We saved ourselves by hiding in someone’s house, he said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) JS Tiwana denied the allegations. He said, “It’s a false allegation. 100 Police personnel & 2 SHOs were deployed. Farmers protested outside & they (BJP) held their program inside. They were brought out safely & were going in their vehicles. They might’ve been surrounded later. Nothing happened before us.”
It’s a false allegation. 100 Police personnel & 2 SHOs were deployed. Farmers protested outside & they (BJP) held their program inside. They were brought out safely & were going in their vehicles. They might’ve been surrounded later. Nothing happened before us: DSP JS Tiwana pic.twitter.com/ZoiJrLAGMO
— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2021
BJP General Secretary, Subhash Sharma, said they were lodged in BJP Yuva Morcha President’s house at Rajpura. Around 400 people with swords, bricks and acid bottles had surrounded the house. He claimed that Police was unable to tackle the situation.
In a video statement published on BJP Punjab’s official Twitter handle, he said, “The situation in Punjab is worse than the time of insurgency. Over 400 people with weapons have surrounded the house of a BJP karyakarta. They are holding flags of Kisan, but in reality, they are Congress goons. They have swords, bricks and acid bottles in their hands. They are calling to kill us. It has been four hours since Police have been standing here, but they are not doing anything to disperse them. We may get attacked after this video. But I would like to tell Police and Capt Amarinder that we are not going to get scared by this mob mentality.”
पंजाब में आतंकवाद से भी बुरा दौर है ।सैंकड़ों की भीड़ तलवारों से लैस , ऐसिड की बोतलें ले कर हमें भाजपा के एक कार्यकर्ता के घेर के खड़ी है । पर ना हम आतंकवाद से डरे थे ना हम इनसे डरते हैं । भाजपा का परचम लहराता रहेगा@AmitShah @blsanthosh @AshwaniSBJP @dushyanttgautam @DrSubhash78 pic.twitter.com/KKnUEYN516
— BJP PUNJAB (@BJP4Punjab) July 11, 2021
He further added that Congress could not suppress the voice of BJP. He said, “I would like to request Capt Amarinder to stop this drama. The public is watching, and they will answer when the time comes.” ANI had later reported that protesters pelted stones when the Police were assisting Aggarwal to leave the premises.
#UPDATE | Punjab: Farmers pelted stones on Police as they assisted BJP leader Bhupesh Aggarwal, who was at the residence of a party worker in Rajpura, to Patiala pic.twitter.com/Zx3joX4aNU
— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2021
OpIndia tried to reach out to BJP leaders and investigation officers. We will update the story as we get more details on the matter.
Farmer protests against agriculture laws
Since the three new farm laws: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 were enacted in September 2020, farmer unions have been protesting demanding to roll back the laws. They have been claiming that these laws are not for the benefit of the farmers. So far, several rounds of talks between the union government and farmers have failed to bring any resolution.
The farmer protests had turned violent on Republic Day that caused the riot-like situation in Delhi. Several arrests have been made in multiple FIRs registered against the rioters. Over 300 Police personnel were injured, and property worth crores were damaged during the riots.
