Kolkata: The manhandling of eight Trinamool Congress MPs — bodily lifted by Delhi cops from a dharna outside Union home minister Amit Shah's residence, bundled into a police van, and taken to Parliament Street Police Station on Friday — prompted CM Mamata Banerjee to criticise BJP-led Centre's "lack of respect" for the opposition.
"Respect is mutual. You respect us, we respect you. You drag us on the road, and we will drag you back to the constitutional idea of tolerance, dissent and democratic morality. This is our India. We are citizens by right, not at the mercy of a chair, a badge, or a position of power. No govt, no party, and no home minister gets to decide who deserves dignity in a democracy," the CM posted on X.
On Friday, TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Mahua Moitra, Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, Kirti Azad and Sharmila Sarkar staged a protest outside Shah's residence with placards reading, "Bengal rejects Modi-Shah's dirty politics," following ED searches at I-PAC's Kolkata office. Soon, Delhi cops swooped in. While MPs refused to budge from their dharna site, cops dragged them away.
Trying to resist the cop action, O'Brien was seen bending down with his placard and then sitting down on the road. Police lifted him up and carried him away even as the MP shouted addressing journalists: "You can see what is happening to MPs here."
Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra, while being lifted and packed into the police van, was heard saying, "We'll defeat BJP. The country is seeing how Delhi Police is treating an elected MP." She added: "Yesterday, the country and Bengal witnessed how ED was misused by the home ministry. ED was sent to steal our party's political, strategic information. Mamata Banerjee is a lioness...she protected our party's properties."
Having condemned the "shameful and unacceptable treatment" meted out to the MPs, the CM posted on X: "Dragging elected representatives on the streets for exercising their democratic right to protest outside the home minister's office is not law enforcement; it is arrogance in uniform. This is a democracy, not BJP's private property."
"Democracy does not function on the convenience or comfort of those in power. When BJP netas protest, they expect red carpets and special privileges. When opposition MPs raise their voices, they are dragged, detained and humiliated. This double standard exposes BJP's idea of democracy: Obedience, not dissent," she added.