A day after Swami Agnivesh was assaulted by a mob belonging to the BJP-affiliated youth groups in Jharkhand, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to share the video of the attack – with a “pop quiz”.
In the “who am I?” quiz, the Congress President managed to launch a veiled attack on the BJP-led government – and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as many on Twitter pointed out.
Agnivesh – 79-year-old activist known for his work against bonded labour – was slapped, kicked around and verbally abused in the state’s Pakur town for allegedly “speaking against Hindus”.
BJP-Affiliated Youth Attacked Me Without Provocation: Agnivesh
Agnivesh was attacked as he was exiting an event of the tribal body, Akhil Bharatiya Adim Janjatiya Vikas Samiti, where he condemned the BJP government in the state for “acquiring tribal land by displacing them and giving it to corporate”.
"The Jharkhand government is not providing even minimum wage to workers under the MGNREGA scheme and instead of mandated 100 days of employment is giving job for only 42-43 days," he said.
He further added that India was home to the maximum number of bonded labourers in the world, and primitive tribals constitute the bulk of that.
Talking of the incident, Agnivesh said:
As soon as I came out of the venue, BJYM (Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha) and ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) activists attacked me without any provocation. They alleged that I was speaking against Hindus. I want that they be identified from CCTV footage, and the videos made available with the media and action be taken against them.
Agnivesh was rushed to the Pakur Sadar Hospital.
After beating him up, the alleged attackers raised the slogan: "If one wants to live in India, one has to chant Vande Mataram".
Kumar, a former IPS officer, said identifying the accused was not difficult as the incident was caught on video.
In Ranchi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das ordered a probe into the incident.
‘There Was no Police to Protect Me’
Shailendra Prasad Burnwal, Superintendent of Police in Pakur, said he did not have any prior information about Agnivesh's programme in the district. However, Agnivesh told TV channels that he had informed the state chief minister and the governor about the event. He further said his team had written to the district administration, informing it about the visit.
"My colleagues have proof," he claimed. "The attackers were gathering at the venue so how were the police unaware of it?"
Agnivesh, a known Arya Samaj scholar, alleged that the attack was "pre-planned".
"There cannot be an attack without rhyme or reason,” he said.
Even when I repeatedly called the SP and the DM, they didn’t turn up. I was told that ABVP and BJP Yuva Morcha workers wanted to protest. I told them there’s no need to protest, they can come in and talk. No one came in at that time.Swami Agnivesh
The assault came on a day the Supreme Court said that "horrendous acts of mobocracy" cannot be allowed to overrun the law of the land.
‘They Weren’t Workers of Our Party’: Jharkhand BJP Spokesperson
In Ranchi, the BJP state unit disapproved of the party activists indulging in an act of violence, adding that he was looking into the social activist's allegations.
We condemn this (attack) but his (Agnivesh’s) track record is such that this reaction doesn’t come as a surprise. Pakur has recently been in the news for religious conversion.P Shahdeo, Jharkhand BJP Spokesperson
But, at the same time, state BJP state General Secretary Deepak Prakash, advised Agnivesh not to play with the sentiments of other religions and to stop giving "provocative statements to remain in news".
"There is no place for violence in democracy. The party is seriously looking into the beating of Swami Agnivesh. Nobody connected to the party can indulge in such acts," Prakash said.
This is what the Delhi’s BJP unit spokesperson tweeted.
‘Vandalism is Inexcusable’
Besides Gandhi, the incident drew sharp criticism from different sections, including Opposition leaders, journalists, actors and other celebrities.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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