By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 7 Dec: The ongoing dispute between the Press Club and Uttarakhand Congress President Karan Mahara is claimed to have been resolved on Saturday after Mahra himself visited the Press Club and formally apologised to Uttaranchal Press Club president Ajay Rana for the incident involving journalists at the Police Lines a few days ago.
During the meeting with the Press Club office bearers here Saturday, Mahara expressed regret to Rana and described the incident as a ‘misunderstanding’. However, he still sought to lay the blame for the incident on the police. Mahara assured the Club members that there was no intention on part of the Congress leaders to create any conflict with the media.
Mahara also claimed that he was attempting to calm down the agitated party workers during the incident, but due to the noise and commotion, his instructions were not heard by the workers . He also claimed that he and the Congress workers were unaware of the Uttaranchal Press Club event at the Police Lines that day. Following his arrest after staging a dharna and a march on 4 December, he along with other Congress leaders and workers were taken to the Police Lines stadium, unaware of the circumstances that unfolded or the escalation that occurred.
It may be recalled that on 4 December, a scuffle had broken out between Youth Congress members and journalists in the presence of PCC Chief Karan Mahara during the prize distribution ceremony after a cricket match organized by the Uttaranchal Press Club. The ceremony was disrupted following loud sloganeering and a march by Youth Congress. This video went of the altercation went viral on the social media and became a major issue and controversy.
Initially, Mahara appeared adamant to lay the entire blame on the police for the incident. However, the Press Club executive committee convened an emergency general meeting and passed a resolution demanding an apology from Mahara. The House authorised Press Club president Ajay Rana to handle the matter.
Following Mahara‘s formal apology, Ajay Rana announced the resolution of the issue, expressing satisfaction with Mahara’s positive apology. However, Mahara continues to lay the blame for this incident on the police. Press Club acting General Secretary Meena Negi, senior vice president Rashmi Khatri, and executive member Mangesh Kumar were among those present during the meeting.
Mahara slams policeBy OUR STAFF REPORTERDEHRADUN, 7 Dec: Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress President Karan Mahara has held the police administration completely responsible for the incident that took place in Police Lines here on Wednesday. Mahara has demanded action against the guilty police officers after an investigation.In a letter to the Director General of Police (DGP) Uttarakhand, Mahara claimed that the “unfortunate incident” in Police Lines was due to the gross negligence of the police administration.Mahara has written that after the mass arrests of the Congress leaders after their march towards Secretariat, were taken to the Police Lines and made to sit on the stairs for further action. While conceding that this is the usual procedure after any protest, Mahara added that the Congress leaders were not informed about a media event happening there. The journalists were also unaware of the Congress members’ presence. This misunderstanding led to the incident, for which Mahara has held the police officers and personnel on duty responsible.Karan Mahara stated that the misunderstanding occurred due to the ignorance of the Congress members and due to the negligence of the police personnel on duty. He did not rule out the possibility of a deliberate conspiracy. He emphasised that the police should have been present when the Congress members were taken away, but no police officers or personnel were there. Additionally, the police administration should have arranged for the Congress members to be seated elsewhere due to the pre-scheduled media personnel programme near the stadium, but they deliberately did not do so, which Mahara finds very unfortunate.
