The Meghalaya unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today rushed to put as much distance as possible between it and the violent protest in Tura yesterday evening.
In a press release, BJP state president Ernest Mawrie “strongly condemned” the incident and said that the party does not endorse “any form of violent protest and neither had the party issued any directive to its Mahila Morcha to participate in any such protest.”
The statement came after a list of those arrested was circulated to the media, which included two women reportedly belonging to the BJP women’s wing.
“The BJP is very much a part of the government and any decision in favour of the public taken by the government shall be stood by,” Mawrie said. “If there is any demand by any group, then the whole city’s functioning should not be affected.”
The party called for all those involved in the attack yesterday, which resulted in injuries to several police personnel, to be arrested immediately.
The BJP will seek a report from its West Garo Hills office and then initiate action against any of its members involved “in such crimes”. Mawrie added that the disciplinary committee will be assigned to submit a report against those involved within 15 days’ time.
