Bhubaneswar, March 11: The alleged police excesses on women taking part in an anti-liquor campaign at Rajkanika in the politically volatile Kendrapara district on the International Women's Day generated a lot of heat in the Odisha Assembly today.
Though the Odisha government announced an administrative inquiry into the issue, the Opposition forced adjournments in the House.
Opposition members waved banners, accusing the government of being insensitive towards women and anti-liquor activists. "Consume liquor, or face bullet," read one of the banners displayed by the Congress members. Another banner condemned the violence unleashed by the police against women activists on a day that celebrates womanhood.
Shouting slogans, the Congress members even trooped into the Well. Later, both the Congress and the BJP staged a walkout dissatisfied with the reply of parliamentary affairs minister to their adjournment motion on the issue.
More than 20 persons, including some police personnel, suffered injuries in the clash at Namtara village in Rajkanika, where the women had ransacked a liquor shop. While the Opposition members alleged that the police had fired upon the agitators leaving many of them injured, the government maintained that the men in khaki had resorted only to blank firing to disperse the rioting mob.
Local Congress MLA Devendra Sharma was seen displaying a torn cloth reportedly collected from the clash site in the House, while BJP legislature party leader Basanta Kumar Panda flashed a bullet that was also gathered from the site.
As protests continued, Speaker Niranjan Pujari was forced to adjourn the proceedings twice for a duration of over two hours.
Later during the day, when the House reassembled, it took up an Opposition-adjournment motion on the matter for discussion during which allegations and counter-allegations were traded by the Opposition and the BJD members. The Congress members stormed the Well, demanding stringent action against the Kendrapara district collector and the superintendent of police.
Wary of the fallout over the issue, the government announced an administrative inquiry into the incident. However, not satisfied with the announcement, the Opposition members, who were demanding a probe by a House Committee, staged a walkout.
Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra said: "Firing at women on the Women's Day is really unfortunate. Police firing was also unlawful as the police had not obtained prior permission from the magistrate at the spot."
Mishra also recalled that late Biju Patnaik had once asked women to demolish illegal liquor shops. "However, the BJD leaders are not following the ideals of the man who lent his name to their party. Ironically, it is the women, who protested against an illegal liquor shop, faced bullets," he said.
Alleging that the police and the district administration were "hand in glove" with the liquor mafia, Sharma said police action was pre-planned to thwart the anti-liquor agitation.
However, the BJD members blamed the local Congress leaders for misleading the people and provoking the violence, triggering protests from the Opposition benches.
Responding to the debate on behalf of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said the revenue divisional commissioner (central) would conduct the administrative probe into the Sunday's incident. The inspector general of police (central range) had visited the spot to take stock of the situation, which was "under control" now, he said.
The minister said the police were compelled to resort to blank firing as the mob was getting out of control. Thirteen police personnel, including a lady police officer Sandhyarani Beuria, had suffered injuries in the mob violence, he said.
Nine villagers, who were injured in the incident, are admitted at SCB Medical College and Hospital at the government's cost.
The police have arrested six persons in connection with the violence and produced them in court.
