The entire opposition in Maharashtra has demanded the immediate dismissal of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government in the state in the wake of police firing at Ramabai Ambedkar nagar in north-east Mumbai.
A delegation of opposition parties led by leader of the opposition in the legislative council Chhagan Bhujbal and his counterpart in the Assembly Madhukar Pichad called on Governor P C Alexander yesterday evening to present him with a memorandum demanding the governments dismissal.
In the memorandum, the opposition leaders condemned the indiscriminate and uncalled for police firing on the emotionally-aggrieved mob which had gathered following the desecration of Babasaheb Ambedkars statue.
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They claimed that 11 people, including an octogenarian woman and a child, had been killed and 29 severely injured in the firing. The official toll was put at 10.
The old woman sustained seven bullet injuries, while the child, who had gone to attend the natures call, was also a victim of brutal firing, they stated.
The delegation members, who visited the area and met families of the victims, said they found that police resorted to indiscriminate firing without going for lathicharge or bursting tear gas. in the memorandum, the opposition leaders gave alleged instances of police brutalities.
According to them, a resident was called near the police jeep and was asked to run away by the police personnel. When he started running, he was shot in the back and killed.
In another incident, an injured resident lying near the statue was to be removed for hospitalisation. When another person went to help him, that person was also shot at and his ear was blown up. Ironically, nobody went to help the wounded person (who went to save the other man) and he died on the spot.
The opposition leaders alleged that police came late at the spot although the incident of desecration was noticed at 0630 hours. Instead of giving a warning to the mob, police started indiscriminate firing, the alleged.To hush up the matter, stories were planted by the alliance partners, they charged in the memorandum, stating that the deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who holds the home portfolio, distorted all facts in his speech in the legislative council.
Earlier, the opposition-sponsored adjournment motion, on the desecration of B R Ambedkars statue here and the subsequent firing, lapsed in the Maharashtra legislative Assembly yesterday as voting on it could not take place within the stipulated two-hour time limit. The motion was moved by R R Patil and Dilip Walse Patil (both Cong) under Rule 57 after it was admitted by Speaker Dattaji Nalawade. Under the rule, the motion must be debated and voted within two hours and if it is carried by majority in the division it tantamounts to expressing no-trust in the government which, according to convention, then must resign.
The discussion on the motion began at 1207 and the Speaker said the discussion must be completed within two hours to facilitate voting and urged the members to restrict their time limit while speaking.
However, several opposition members crossed their time limit and Chief Minister Manohar Joshi took half-an-hour to give his reply. When Joshi was speaking, several opposition members rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans demanding his resignation and a judicial enquiry.
Some opposition members, sensing that time was fast coming to an end, pursuaded their colleagues to return to their seats but before everyone could do so it was already 1410 hours.