A day after BJP activists broke open the MLA Hostel’s gate in Agartala demanding the resignation of Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman over his “BJP leaders urinate on tribals” remark, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury targeted Tripura’s ruling party on Thursday over rule of law and democratic rights.
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“I have seen Sudip Roy Barman’s statement…The photo had gone viral. We don’t know whether any action has been taken against them. Did he (Sudip Roy Barman) commit any mistake by saying this? If it is a mistake, then you reply either through a press conference or a public meeting, or reply to him or his party,” the CPM MLA said.
Citing incidents of CPM workers being attacked, Chaudhury said his party’s office was attacked at Bishalgarh on June 17 and that an attempt had been made to “foil” a CPM conference at Takarjala in Sepahijala district on Tuesday.
“What kind of democracy is this? What kind of rule of law is this? It’s unfortunate,” he said.
“If a party has some flaws, naturally another party will criticise it. If a statement is untrue, the other party will make this clear or condemn the statement. This is our country’s political culture. Our democracy and our Constitution allow this,” the CPM leader added.
Chaudhury emphasised that the state must protect constitutional rights, human rights, and natural rights.
Sudip Roy Barman’s controversial remark referred to an incident in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district where a purported BJP activist, Pravesh Shukla, urinated on a member of the Kol tribe last year.
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Defending his remark, Barman said on Wednesday that he had merely stated a fact. “The reality is that the BJP hates Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBC, minorities, etc. How else can someone urinate on another person?” he added.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
