Congress MPs from Kerala on Thursday, 24 March, accused the Delhi Police of "manhandling" them during a protest march outside Parliament. The MPs had addressed a press conference at Vijay Chowk, and were later stopped by the police from marching to Parliament.
Videos of the incident show a scuffle breaking out between the cops and the MPs, and some leaders claimed that they were manhandled by the police. Congress MP Hibi Eden was reportedly slapped, while MPs Ramya Haridas, K Muraleedharan, and Kodukkunil Suresh were allegedly manhandled. Dean Kuriakose and VK Sreekandan also alleged that they were manhandled by the cops.
"I have led so many protests from Vijay Chowk to the Parliament. What was the point of stopping us with barricades? Not just me, even a woman MP was manhandled by the police," Eden told The Quint.
The incident occurred on the same day that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the K-Rail project.
"Chief Secretary and I met the PM today. We had a good discussion. PM has assured us that he'll speak to the Railway Minister & discuss what can be done. We're expecting that after this meeting with PM, we'll get Centre's approval for Silverline rail project at the earliest," he was quoted as saying by ANI on Thursday evening.
Vijayan informed that at present, it takes 12-13 hours to travel from Trivandrum to Kasaragod either by rail or road.
"Silverline project will be able to reduce this time to 4 hours. The project will be implemented after taking into consideration all environmental concerns," he said.
Vijayan also said that Silverline would not go through ecologically sensitive areas.
"We will provide the necessary passage for the flow of water streams. This will be done based on a hydrological survey. Detailed environmental impact study will be completed within a year."
He also attacked the opposition for trying to sabotage the project "which has huge development prospects for Kerala."
"Opposition is creating false propaganda and misleading the people. For this, an uncanny alliance has been formed," he stated.
What Did the Cops Say?
Earlier, responding to the claim that they had manhandled the MPs, the Delhi Police said that no such incident had occurred, claiming that the staff at the barricade had only tried to stop them as they were shouting and moving towards Parliament without revealing their identity.
"A few people came to the North Fountain barricades point from the media lawn shouting in Malayalam. They were stopped by the staff at the barricades. They claimed to be MPs and continued shouting. They were asked to show their ID cards, which they denied. Meanwhile, staff from the security picket at Gate No 1 of Parliament were called to identify the MPs. The staff came and identified them, and they were then allowed to go forward," the Delhi Police said.
Matter Raised in Lok Sabha
The issue was also raised in Lok Sabha on Thursday, with the MPs approaching Speaker Om Birla seeking action against the police.
Congress MP K Suresh said in the Lok Sabha, "Delhi police, without any provocation, came forward and blocked us. They did not allow us to enter the parliament house. We told the police officers that we are MPs and we are going to parliament. But they said no, you are not shouting slogans here… they then pushed us, manhandled us and attacked our member."
"The people of Kerala believe that this project is not viable. We also strongly oppose this project," he added, to which Birla said he would call him to his chambers in order to discuss this.
RSP MP NK Premachandran said, "They are very much aware that we are MPs, but they still didn't let us enter and attacked us. This is question of privilege. What is the authority of the Delhi police to forcibly prevent us from entering the parliament?"
Speaker Om Birla called the MPs into his chamber to find out more details about the incident.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader KC Venugopal raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha and said that the MPs, who were returning to the Parliament after their peaceful demonstration, were stopped and manhandled by the police. He said even a woman MP got the said treatment.
Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu asked Venugopal to provide the details of the incident and added he would find out from the home ministry.
Venugopal also took to Twitter and posted a video of the incident. He charged the Delhi Police with "misusing" their power.
A report in this regard will be prepared and sent to senior police officials. This report would later be furnished with the Ministry of Home Affairs, a police official said.
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