By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday questioned the silence of Home Minister Amit Shah on the open shootout inside a courtroom in the national capital and also the Assam firing incident.
Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh also asked whether Shah does not have the time to resolve the issue in Assam.
“The country’s law and order situation is worsening, with firing taking place inside a courtroom in the national capital, killing people. There are 10-20 rounds of firing inside a courtroom and where is the home minister. Where is his statement,” he asked.
“Who is responsible for this,” Vallabh said, wondering whether the home minister is only supposed to give speeches.
“When the law and order situation is so precarious and the country’s home minister is silent and gives no statement or takes action, then it is an indication of a ‘majboor’ (helpless) government and not a strong government. The people of India have never tolerated ‘majboor’ (helpless) people,” he told reporters.
Vallabh said the BJP leadership made several tall promises ahead of Assam elections and asked where are those promises now.
He said never in the country’s history has one police force fired upon the police force of another state and killed cops and the home minister is still silent, apparently referring to the Assam-Mizoram border row during which seven people were killed and 50 injured in an exchange of fire between the police forces of the two states in July.
“The country’s home minister does not have time to visit Assam and sort out the issue through talks. He does not have time to resolve this matter. Where is the country’s home minister, has he also gone to America,” Vallabh asked, alleging that he has come to know from the media that he is attending a conference on cooperatives.
Commenting on the Assam situation, the Congress spokesperson questioned why the home minister was not giving any statement when leaders of opposition, the principal opposition party leaders are asking that the central government should interfere.
“Have you seen any statement by the home minister on that? In the past also we had seen that a state police of one state is fighting against the state police of another state? What is going on? Everybody is silent; nobody is making any comment on that, what is the reason for these things,” he asked.
An eviction drive in Gorukhuti village in Assam’s Darrang district on Thursday turned ugly when clashes broke out between police and alleged encroachers resulting in the death of two persons and injuries to 20.
A shocking video showing a man hitting an apparently dead person with a bullet wound on his chest and jumping over his body also surfaced after the incident, drawing widespread condemnation.
The man, who was a photographer engaged by the district administration, was arrested and a judicial probe has been ordered.