Opposition parties led by the Congress on Wednesday condemned the police action against MLAs in the Bihar assembly and alleged that the BJP-JD(U) government in Bihar was conspiring to enforce 'police raj' in the state.
In a joint statement issued by opposition parties in New Delhi, including the Congress, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, DMK, RJD, TMC, TRS, and AAP, the leaders said that the government forcibly evicted opposition legislators from the assembly in place of listening to their grievances.
"In doing this, the BJP and JD(U) have not only sought to throttle the voices of peoples' representatives but also assaulted constitutional principles. We unequivocally condemn this unprecedented attack on India's democracy, and urge every Indian to stand by democratic principles," they said in the statement.
The opposition leaders also alleged that the BJP-JD(U) combine in Bihar has pushed through the draconian Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021 that confers unbridled powers upon the Bihar Police to conduct raids and arrests without warrants.
"This is an unconstitutional bill that effectively transforms the police force into an armed militia to harass, suppresses and crack down on academics, activists, journalists, the political opposition and all those who dare to speak truth to power."
"It is an insidious conspiracy to enforce 'police raj' in Bihar and portends what the BJP intends to do throughout India employing the sheer tyranny of power," they said.
The leaders said that the bill violates the rule of law and undermines human rights. When MLAs of RJD, Congress and other parties raised their voices unitedly against it, they were ruthlessly beaten and forcefully ejected from the assembly, they said.
(With inputs from PTI)
