Farmers Movement Archive

Cong protests farm laws, Hathras rape

Ranchi: State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who is also the Jharkhand Congress unit president, protested the Centre’s farm laws for two hours here along with several party leaders on Friday and flouted the Covid-19 protocols. Top district administration officials were mostly unreachable for comments on what actions are planned against the political leaders who are organising congregations, which are viewed as super-spreader events by health experts. Friday’s protest near the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Morhabadi ground from 11 am to 1 pm was not the first time that Congress leaders hit the streets and staged demonstrations. Earlier party ministers, legislators, functionaries and workers had also flouted the rules framed by its own government to check the viral infection in the state. During the protest led by Oraon, the Congress men were seen with face masks on their chins and without maintaining social distancing. Oraon did not respond when contacted but state spokesperson Alok Dubey said a permission was sought from the Ranchi administration. While sub-divisional officer Sameera S refused to comment on the issue, officials in the administration said, “The political party had sought permission on September 30, but it was denied by the SDO.” Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan was not reachable for comments but officers in the district collectorate said they are undecided about the future course of action to be taken on such violations. Health minister Banna Gupta also led a large contingent of Congress workers through the streets of Jamshedpur to condemn the Uttar Pradesh government over the Hathras gang-rape incident on Friday. There was no social distancing in the protest march either. Talking to TOI in the evening, Gupta said: “Because of the magnanimity of the crime, we had to take to the streets to lodge our protests. I had personally asked everyone to maintain social distancing. If the norms were flouted, I will take a look at it.” As per the guidelines issued by the state department of home, jail and disaster management department, religious, cultural and political congregations in the state are prohibited until further orders. Violators of the guidelines will be booked under sections 51-60 of the Disaster Management Act of 2005 and Section 188 of the IPC, which mandates a jail term up to one year and other penalties or both. Before the Rajya Sabha election on June 19, Congress’s Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari had hosted a feast at his government bungalow in Dhurwa, which was attended by chief minister Hemant Soren, other cabinet ministers and more than 100 party functionaries. On July 27, state rural affairs minister Alamgir Alam had staged a sit-in outside the Raj Bhavan to protest the new National Education Policy. On September 28, AICC’s Jharkhand-in-charge RPN Singh had organised a sit-in at the same spot to condemn the passage of farm laws. Singh later tested positive after returning to Delhi. On Thursday night, Singh tweeted asking all those who came in contact with him to get themselves tested. The party’s senior functionaries said plans are afoot to hold a farmers’ convention on October 10 on the city outskirts. “There are plans to bring 500 farmers from all over Jharkhand for that programme,” a senior functionary said. On the risks of mass congregations, a public health expert and associate professor of preventive and social medicine at Rims said, “Congregations of any kind, be it political, religious or social, can prove fatal during the pandemic as we cannot identify infected people by their appearance. This is the reason behind the government’s decision of limiting the number of people even at marriages and last rites.”

The Times of India

2020-10-03

Ranchi