By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 5 Dec: The clash between Youth Congress leaders and journalists in Dehradun on Wednesday has snowballed into a major issue with journalists expressing significant anger over the incident. Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Karan Mahara today issued a clarification in this regard and blamed the Police for this clash.
It may be recalled the Youth Congress had yesterday taken out a march to the Secretariat to protest against ‘rising unemployment, drug addiction’ and the delay in holding civic and panchayat elections. The police had stopped the large group of Youth Congress workers and leaders by erecting barricades on Subhash Road. During the protest, Congress members climbed over the barriers and created a ruckus while shouting slogans of ‘Nasha Nahi-Rozgar Do’. Subsequently, the police took many leaders into custody and transported them to the Police Lines in Race Course, here. At that time, the final match of a cricket tournament organised by the Uttaranchal Press Club was being played at the Police Lines, with Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bahuguna attending as the Chief Guest. The Congress leaders continued to loudly raise slogans resulting in a ruckus between the Congress members and journalists. The journalists had appealed for peace, calling it a private event, which angered the Congress workers.
This incident occurred in the presence of Congress state president Karan Mahara. While yesterday, Mahara did nothing to intervene and stop this ruckus, he expressed regret over the incident today, calling it unfortunate. He also blamed the police administration for the situation.
In a statement issued, today, Karan Mahara stated that the police had taken him and the Congress workers to the Police Lines. The Congress leaders were made to sit before further action was taken. He also claimed that the Congress leaders were unaware of the fact that a cricket match between two teams of journalists was underway at the grounds there. Even the journalists were unaware that the police would bring the Congress workers there. According to Mahara, the incident occurred due to a misunderstanding.
Mahara expressed deep sorrow if anyone’s feelings were hurt by the incident. He emphasised the importance of harmony between the opposition and journalists for the sake of democracy. Mahara asserted that in case something serious happens, journalist bring it to the notice of the people and in case any injustice is done to a journalist, the opposition stands with him or her. He reiterated that the unfortunate incident should not have happened and held the police administration responsible for this.
