By IANS,
Bangalore: Condemning the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday sought a judicial inquiry by the Supreme Court on the Delhi Police’s atrocities on women and children at Ramlila Ground in the national capital.
“We request the Supreme Court to order a judicial inquiry into the police crackdown at Ramlila Ground where hundreds of innocent women and children were brutally caned up and beaten up,” Mayawati said in her address at a meeting of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s Karnataka unit in the Bangalore Palace grounds here.
Demanding stringent punishment for the policemen who resorted to firing tear gas and raining blows on hundreds of women and children who were on fast with Baba Ramdev, the BSP president said the tragic incidents at Ramlila grounds exposed the high-handedness of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
“What happened at Ramlila in the early hours where thousands of people, including women and children were present for fasting with Ramdev was inhuman and shameful. The forceful eviction of Ramdev and hounding of his supporters were unlawful, anti-democratic and anti-national,” Mayawati said.
Condemning the UPA government for unleashing police brutality on innocent and unarmed people, Mayawati also urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to visit the venue and investigate the police crackdown.
“There should be a thorough investigation by the Supreme Court and the NHRC into the police crackdown on the supporters of Ramdev and the guilty should be booked at the earliest, as the UPA government was directly responsible for what happened at the venue,” Mayawati said, reading out from a prepared statement.
Baba Ramdev launched indefinite fast Saturday at the Ramlila grounds seeking crackdown on black money stashed away in foreign countries and corruption across the country.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is on a two-day visit to the city since late Saturday for meeting the party’s state unit office-bearers and cadres.