Eight health workers have been arrested for waving black flags during a public meeting featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu on March 8, the Hindustan Times reported on Saturday. Three of them were arrested a day after the event and five on Saturday.
During the event, a section of the audience had started hooting and waving black flags when Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje got up to speak about the steps her government had taken to protect the girl child. Raje later suggested that Communist party or Congress workers might be behind the protest, as they could do “anything to play spoilsport”, IANS reported. She had also said the protestors were “clueless” when asked for the reason for their action.
“They indulged in sloganeering, tried to uproot a barricading, and obstructed police personnel from discharging their duties,” Station House Officer of Kotwali police station Gopal Singh told the Hindustan Times after eight people were arrested. They were booked under Sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty), 353 (assault to deter public servant), and 336 (endangering life or safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
Six of the arrested people were sent to a day in police custody on Saturday, while two will be produced in a court on Sunday. They work on contract in the National Health Mission and want to be made permanent employees, but had reportedly not got an appointment to meet Raje for days.
Modi was in Jhunjhunu on March 8 – International Women’s Day – to launch an expanded “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” scheme and the National Nutrition Mission.
Assembly elections will be held in the state later this year.
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