By IANS,
Panaji : Protesting the “deliberate” arrest of its two tribal legislators, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday threatened to take on the Goa police, with opposition leader Manohar Parrikar saying he was not a eunuch to protest peacefully.
Parrikar told reporters after meeting Director General of Police (DGP) Aditya Arya at the police headquarters that the Goa police were targeting BJP legislators on the instructions of the Congress-led coalition government in the state.
“I am not a ‘hijra’ (eunuch) to be sitting at Azad maidan (a public area near the police headquarters that is generally a site for peaceful protests) every time,” said Parrikar, a former chief minister who is also the head of the BJP’s good governance cell in New Delhi.
“I am going to block the entrance to the police headquarters. Let them arrest me if they want to. This is time for aggression,” he added.
BJP legislators Ramesh Tawadkar and Vasudev Gaonkar were Friday arrested for rioting and attempt to murder when they were leading tribals protesting against the alleged harassment of tribal leaders by the police while investigating large-scale violence during a tribal rights agitation in May.
Two tribal youth were burnt to death after the agitation by miscreants in full police presence.
Parrikar demanded that the police withdraw the First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against the tribal leaders or else face the music.