West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today hit out at the Centre over the removal of ex- servicemen protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and described the incident as "shameful".
"#OROP (one rank one pension) crackdown by evicting Armed Forces veterans by Delhi Police from Jantar Mantar is shameful," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle tonight.
Several ex-servicemen, demanding the implementation of 'One Rank, One Pension' or OROP, were forcibly evicted from Jantar Mantar yesterday following a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order banning protests and dharnas around the historic monument.
The army veterans have been protesting at Jantar Mantar for more than two years.
Drawing reference to the West Bengal BJP hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Gurez Valley earlier this month and stating that the soldiers at the borders "is an extended part of his (Modi's) family", Banerjee further described the incident as "unfortunate".
"Calling Army extended family in Kashmir and then using brutal force on the 'extended family' in Delhi is very unfortunate," the chief minister, who is on a two-day trip to Mumbai, added.
Banerjee reached Mumbai this evening to participate in a business summit.
She is also likely to meet several industrialists there to woo them to invest in West Bengal as well as to invite them to the Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled in Kolkata in January.
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