Patna: Opposition lawmakers in Bihar boycotted the House session on Wednesday a day after they were allegedly assaulted, shabbily treated and dragged out of the assembly by security forces for protesting against the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021. The controversial Bill empowers the police to arrest people on suspicion without warrants and conduct searches in anybody’s house without search warrants.
The Bill, which the opposition described as “draconian”, was ultimately passed by the Bihar assembly late Tuesday evening in the heavy presence of police forces inside the House so that they could thwart the opposition’s protest. This was the first time in the history of Bihar assembly that police remained present inside the House to allow it to conduct its business smoothly.
The police had to be called in after the opposition lawmakers laid siege to the official chamber of Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha by staging a sit-in in front of his office and then blocking his way to the House. This prompted the government to seek help from the police to evict the protesting lawmakers by force.
Police from various wings, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF) set up to tackle communal riots, rushed to the House and swung into action. TV grabs and videos that have now gone viral on social media show the police hitting, kicking and punching the lawmakers sitting on protest and then throwing them out of the assembly, leaving many injured. Ultimately, stretchers had to be called to rush some wounded lawmakers to the hospital.
Even female lawmakers were not spared. They too were dragged by the forces in the presence of media persons and pushed outside the House. “I was dragged by the police like an animal. They (police force) didn’t relent even after my sari got unwrapped. We were only protesting against the police bill,” a woman lawmaker and former minister Anita Devi told the media on Wednesday. She alleged she was dragged by her hair.
“This had not happened in the past. The chief minister who claims to be working for the welfare of women ordered the police to remove us by force. We were only protesting in a democratic way,” said RJD legislator from Mohaniya, Sangeeta Kumari. She alleged the Bill was draconian as it allowed the police to enter anybody’s house and arrest them without any warrant. “We fear this provision could be misused to settle personal scores. We strongly oppose this,” she added.
A video that has now gone viral shows a police official repeatedly assaulting a Congress lawmaker Santosh Mishra while dozens of cops, holding him by his hands, drag him outside the House. Many lawmakers alleged they were kicked, punched and abused by the security forces before being thrown out of the House.
“A wrong precedent has been set by chief minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar by passing the bill in the presence of police forces. This is the murder of democracy. We will be boycotting the assembly session for the remaining tenure if the chief minister doesn’t tender an apology,” Bihar opposition leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said.
He said the Act which will give absolute powers to Police, so that it can act as veritable arm of the chief minister’s dictatorial politics, has been passed in police protection by throwing out battered MLAs using the police themselves. “This is the height of shamelessness,” he observed.
“I had not witnessed such an incident in my whole political career. Was it necessary to call the police force to evict lawmakers this way?” asked former minister and RJD vice-president Shivanand Tiwari.
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