Social activist Swami Agnivesh was on Friday, 17 August, reportedly assaulted by a mob outside the BJP headquarters in New Delhi’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, reported The Indian Express.
He had come to the party office to pay tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
I had gone to pay my respects to Vajpayee ji. Because of the police pickets, I had to walk down the last stretch... suddenly a group of people came and attacked us. There were two-three of us and they were quite a few. They beat us, pushed us around, abused us and knocked off my turban.Swami Agnivesh told NDTV
A complaint was filed on behalf of Swami Agnivesh at Sansad Marg police station in New Delhi on 17 August. The complaint reads:
“Swami Agnivesh was assaulted by a group of men who seemed to be BJP workers. More men arrived who kept us from going ahead and started raising slogans to send Swami Agnivesh back. Swami Agnivesh appealed for calm as it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cremation, but in vain.” Also added, “Despite police presence they continued to assault him.”
In July, he was assaulted by suspected Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists shouting "Jai Shri Ram" slogans at Pakur in Jharkhand, following which the state ordered a probe.
The 79-year-old activist known for his work against bonded labour – was slapped, kicked around and verbally abused by the mob.
Agnivesh was attacked as he was exiting an event of the tribal body, Akhil Bharatiya Adim Janjatiya Vikas Samiti, where he condemned the BJP government in the state for “acquiring tribal land by displacing them and giving it to corporate”.
Speaking to The Quint after the attack, Agnivesh said:
When I saw an aggressive mob approaching towards me, I folded my hands, as a gesture, and asked them what was their problem. Within a split second, they started beating me, tore my clothes, threw me in a 2-feet deep pit, and bashed me up. It was a situation similar to that of a lynch mob. I had lost all hopes of being alive.
(With inputs from NDTV and The Indian Express)
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