Chinmayanand case: Congress leader held for planning march to support law student
Congress leaders, including Jitin Prasada, were detained and put in preventive custody when the police tried to stop the Nyay Yatra wherein the leaders wanted to march from the town of Shahjahanpur to state capital Lucknow.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday denied permission for a march — annointed 'Nyay Yatra' — by the Congress to show to support to the arrested 23-year-old law student who has accused former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Swami Chinmayanand of sexually assualting her. Incidentally, a local court on Monday dismissed both their bail pleas.Congress leaders, including Jitin Prasada, were detained and put in preventive custody when the police tried to stop the Nyay Yatra wherein the leaders wanted to march from the town of Shahjahanpur to state capital Lucknow."UP is no Kashmir, yet today I am in preventive custody for simply wanting to highlight the plight of the Shahjahnpur rape victim. This BJP govt has no qualms in quashing an individual's fundamental rights!" Prasada said in a tweet. He attached a letter of the District Magistrate, Shahjahanpur, rejecting the party's request to hold a public meeting on Monday at 10 am followed by a 'padayatra' from the Congress office in Shahjahanpur to Lucknow en route places like Sadar Bazaar, Bahadurganj and Ghantaghar.The administration cited "busy markets" for the ongoing festivals on the areas where the yatra was to pass through for not providing police protection. "As Section 144 (which prohibits the gathering of more than four people) is imposed in Shahjahanpur district, it is not possible to organise a programme of such a large scale. Hence, the administration has denied permission to hold the 'padayatra'," the letter stated.Lashing out against the Yogi Adityanath government, Congress spokesperson Rajeev Tyagi said, "The government has come out with a new fashion to detain people. Many leaders are held in police custody which is a violation of constitutional rights."The party has demanded the accused be held in police custody instead of receiving treatment in an air-conditioned room. The march was also in solidarity with the woman who is currently in 14-day judicial custody in connection with an extortion case filed by Swami Chinmayanand.
—Zee Media Newsroom