BJP hits out at Ashok Gehlot govt after Pulwama widows removed from Jaipur protest site

Rajasthan police early Friday removed the widows of the three CRPF jawans killed in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack from the protest site outside Congress leader Sachin Pilot's house here and shifted them to hospitals near their respective residential areas.

BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena, who was on his way to Chomu town to meet one of the widows, was stopped by police mid-way. He alleged he was manhandled and detained by them.

Meena was admitted to a government hospital in Govindgarh after the incident and later referred to SMS Hospital in Jaipur owing to his health.

"The police tried to kill me, but I was saved by the blessings of the widows of martyrs, the youth, the unemployed and the poor. I am hurt. I have been referred to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur from Govindgarh hospital," Meena said in a tweet.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore and former minister Arun Chaturvedi met Meena at the hospital.  On Friday morning, Meena went to SEZ police station, where the supporters of the three widows were initially kept, and said the government will not be able to suppress their voice.

"Why is the government so afraid of 3 women warriors that the police picked them up overnight. Don't know where they have been taken? The women are only pleading to meet the Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot ji. Why is the chief minister so nervous to hear them?” Meena told reporters.

He added in a tweet, “Sitting on a dharna outside the SEZ police station. The government will not be able to suppress the voice of the martyrs wives on the strength of the police. An autocratic and dictatorial government will be resisted with more force.” Later, Meena had left to meet the wives of the martyrs, but was stopped by Samod police.

"I was going to visit Samod Balaji with my supporters, but Samod police stopped me and abused and manhandled me. Is standing with the wives of martyrs such a big crime that the @ashokgehlot51 government is behaving like this with a people's representative?” Meena tweeted.

The police action against the widows happened around 3 am when Meena had gone to his residence, one of his close aides said.

The widows have been protesting since February 28 and launched an indefinite hunger strike six days ago, demanding a change in rules so that their relatives and not just children can get government jobs on compassionate grounds. Their other demands include construction of roads and installation of statues of the martyrs in their villages.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot responded to the demands, asking on Twitter whether it would be “appropriate” to give jobs to other relatives of the martyred jawans instead of their children.

“What will happen to the children of the martyr when they grow up? Is it appropriate to trample upon their rights?” he asked.