A mahapanchayat being organised by Tyagi community members is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 21 August, in Noida's Gejha village in support of the family of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shrikant Tyagi, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for abusing and assaulting a woman.
Lakhs of people are estimated to show up for the event, the announcement of which was made by Mangeram Tyagi of the Sanyukt Tyagi Swabhiman Morcha.
While speaking to the press, he said that strict action should be taken against the police officials who have done injustice to Shrikant Tyagi's family members, especially his wife Anu Tyagi.
He also demanded that the role of political leaders involved in the case must be investigated.
Shrikant Tyagi had come under the scanner after a video of him misbehaving with a woman in Noida's Grand Omaxe housing society went viral, following her objections to his ground floor house encroaching upon the society's premises.
'Appeal to CM Yogi to Let People Attend Mahapanchayat'
The morcha has also called people from Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh to join the mahapanchayat, and claims that some farmer organisations are cooperating with them as well.
Speaking on the security arrangements of the mahapanchayat, Mangeram Tyagi requested Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to permit youths to attend the programme.
"Yogi ji is a person of very good image and we have full hope that he will take a decision on this. The number of people coming for the mahapanchayat may be more than 15 lakhs. We request the administration to allow youths to attend the programme," he was quoted as saying by Zee News.
However, he added that if any "anti-social elements" cause disruptions, then they alone will be responsible for it.
'Not Endorsing Tyagi's Behaviour With the Woman'
Mangeram Tyagi also said that while the Tyagi community does not support the actions of Shrikant Tyagi, the role of the police in the matter was also not acceptable.
"We are not supporting the actions of Shrikant Tyagi, but the manner in which the police have taken action against his family by ignoring the rules is also not acceptable. The way this entire episode has been conducted has tarnished the image of the Tyagi community," he said.
Rashtriya Lok Dal general secretary Manoj Chaudhary also slammed Shrikant Tyagi, but asserted that the treatment meted out to his wife, children, and members of the Tyagi community was wrong.
"The entire Tyagi community, farmers, and other people are angry at what Shrikant Tyagi did, but what was the fault of his wife, his children, and the people of the community?" Chaudhary asked, as per Zee News.
He added that Shrikant Tyagi's wife was "mentally tortured" by the police at the behest of BJP MP Mahesh Sharma, whom the morcha has said should be arrested.
The Case Against Shrikant Tyagi
In a video that had gone viral, Tyagi was seen arguing with a woman resident of the Noida housing society after she raised objections against planting some trees by the BJP leader, citing violation of rules.
The woman had said, “Shrikant Tyagi lives on the ground floor in this society. He was encroaching upon the plants here and I asked him to remove the plants. At this, he said, ‘If you touch the plants then I will touch you.’ He abused me a lot and abused my husband and my child.”
He was charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty).
Later, Sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), and 447 (punishment for criminal trespass) of the IPC were also added to the First Information Report (FIR).
(With inputs from Zee News.)
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