Garhwal Post Bureau
Rishikesh, 7 Mar: Women leaders and workers of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Mahila Congress, led by state president Jyoti Rautela, were stopped by the police at Nepali Farm while proceeding towards Haridwar to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to the state. The leaders said they were attempting to submit a memorandum highlighting several pressing issues concerning Uttarakhand.
Rautela asserted that the memorandum sought to raise matters such as the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and the failure to secure complete justice in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, rising crime, insecurity faced by women, growing unemployment among youth and the burden of inflation on the common people. She added that the memorandum also included a demand for a fair inquiry and the resignation of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri following reports that his name had surfaced in connection with the internationally discussed Jeffrey Epstein files.
It may be noted here that Uttarakhand Police had set up barricades at Nepali Farm in Rishikesh to prevent the Mahila Congress workers from proceeding towards Haridwar. Angered by the police action, the women leaders raised slogans against the government and the police and staged a protest at the spot.
During the commotion, Jyoti Rautela reportedly slipped out of the police cordon and began running on foot towards Haridwar. The sudden development led to a chase by the police personnel. Rautela was eventually stopped on the Song River bridge. During the attempt to evade the police, she reportedly lost her balance and fell on the road, sustaining minor injuries. Police later took Rautela and district president Anshul Tyagi into custody and brought them to Rishikesh Kotwali.
At the police station, officials tried to persuade them to return, citing the protocol arrangements for the visit of the Union Home Minister. However, the two Congress leaders remained firm in their demand to proceed to Haridwar to submit the memorandum.
Later, speaking to the media, Jyoti Rautela alleged that the crime graph in Uttarakhand has risen sharply over the past nine years and that corruption has reached alarming levels. She said questions are being repeatedly been raised about the safety of women in the state. She maintained that she and other Mahila Congress leaders were heading to Haridwar to meet Amit Shah and present these issues before him, but they were forcibly stopped by the police.
Expressing strong resentment over the incident, Rautela said that in a democracy political organisations and public representatives have the right to present their concerns. She asserted that Amit Shah was not merely the Home Minister of a particular political party but of the entire country. However, she alleged that whenever the Opposition attempted to meet him to raise public issues, they were either stopped or detained.
Rautela also questioned why the identity of the alleged VIP in the Ankita Bhandari murder case had not yet been made public, stating that it raised serious concerns about the justice process. She further said that in the matter of the Epstein file, in which the name of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had reportedly surfaced, transparency and moral accountability demanded an impartial investigation and that he should step down until the inquiry was completed.
The Mahila Congress state president alleged that the administration was functioning under pressure from the BJP government and that efforts were being made to suppress the voices of women. She said the Mahila Congress would continue its struggle against what she described as an authoritarian attitude and that the government would have to answer on issues relating to women’s safety and dignity.
Rautela warned that if the government fails to take serious cognisance of these issues concerning the state and the country, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Mahila Congress would be compelled to launch a widespread agitation across the state on matters of public interest.
After news of the detention of the Mahila Congress state president and the district president spread, several Congress leaders reached the Rishikesh Kotwali and attempted to secure their release.
It may be recalled that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was in Haridwar to participate in a programme marking four years of the Dhami government.
Senior Mahila Congress vice-president Asha Manorama Sharma, Mahanagar president Urmila Dhoundiyal Thapa, Haridwar district president Anju Mishra, general secretary Nidhi Negi, block president Anita Saklani, general secretary Deepa Chauhan, state general secretary Nalini Dixit, secretary Bhavna Sharma, Nitin Uniyal and Youth Congress leader Gaurav Rawat were among those present.
