India: Pratibandhi Suraksha Sangstha, Assam demands inquiry into lathicharge disabled persons protesting at Dispur Lastgate
Event- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2018
- Event Description
The Pratibandhi Suraksha Sangstha, Assam (PSSA) on Saturday demanded inquiry on the police atrocity took place on Friday upon the agitating members of the disabled while staging protest demonstration at Dispur Last Gate reiterating their longstanding demands. It must be mentioned here that city police resorted to brutal baton charge to dispense the protesters that led to several wounds. Talking to reporters here on Saturday, PSS general secretary Nripen Malakar said that during the discussion held on August 2 between the State government and PSS, government assured them to publish advertisement for recruitment against the backlogs lying vacant for the specially abled within September 30. "However, the given assurance was not materialized. Hence, the protest rally was carried out on Friday only to remind that the Dispur did not keep their commitment," said Malakar. Malakar also revealed that after picking up the agitating members from Last Gate on Friday, police transported them to the premises of the 4th APBN at Kahilipara. "The police ironically pretended of providing treatment to our wounded members. Except reading blood pressure, the police did nothing for the wounds," Malakar alleged. Highly criticizing the violent act of the police committed upon the members of the PSS, Malakar demanded an inquiry into the atrocity and stressed to punish the errant police officers involved with the condemnable act. Notably, Malakar has been threatened by some miscreants over his mobile phone over the last couple of days. In this regard, an FIR has already lodged at Dispur police station. Hence, he alleged that there must be a collateral motive between the threatening calls and the atrocity committed by the city police on Friday. Baton-wielding police personnel in riot gear were seen to have swooped down on differently-abled at Dispur Last Gate on Friday, leaving many of them injured. Members of the Pratibandhi Suraksha Sangstha, Assam (PSSA); the Drishtihin Parishad, Assam (DPA) and the All Assam Blind Students' Union (AABSU) were staging a demonstration in support of their demand for the filling up of 4,419 backlog posts reserved for persons with disabilities. The members of the three organizations were agitated as State Social Welfare Minister Pramila Rani Brahma failed to meet her assurance on the filling up of the backlog posts. The demonstration gained steam when none from the administration came to receive the memorandum, a demand the agitators were insisting on. The police then fired water cannons in vain to disperse the agitators who could overpower the former and started to go to the road. The security personnel then resorted to baton charge on the agitators mercilessly, before arresting them. According to PSSA secretary Nripen Malakar, they were around 600 and over 150 of them sustained injuries in the police action. He said that they were beaten up black and blue, arrested and taken to the Fourth APBn at Kahilipara in the city. "We condemn the government for such an action on us," Malakar said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Summary for Publications
On 5 October 2018, a group of differently-abled protesters were beaten by police forces during their peaceful demonstration.