Security guards stationed at Pune's MIT College, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated several developmental projects on Sunday, 6 March, reportedly asked all the guests entering the venue to remove masks, socks, and even shirts if they were black, reported news agency PTI.
This was done to prevent any protest against the prime minister.
Speaking on the matter, Amitabh Gupta, the Police Commissioner of Pune, however, said that there must have been some confusion. He clarified that instructions had been given only "to not allow black flags and black pieces of cloth and not the clothing (itself)."
Mangesh Phalle, a journalist who covered the event, reported that the security at the venue had asked him to remove his mask as it was black.
During his one day visit to Pune on Sunday, PM Modi inaugurated a slew of developmental projects, including a stretch of metro rail, a gallery dedicated to cartoonist RK Laxman and golden jubilee celebrations of Symbiosis University.
Activists from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had reportedly held a protest against PM Modi before his arrival at the venue on Sunday morning. The protesters alleged that the prime minister had "insulted" Maharashtra by indicating that the state had triggered the spread of COVID-19 in other states.
As a mark of protest, the agitators also rallied on roads carrying black flags and placards that read 'Go Back Modi.'
While addressing a debate in Lok Sabha on 7 February, PM Modi had said, “During the first wave of COVID-19, you (Congress) gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government told migrant workers to leave the city and provided them with buses. As a result, COVID spread rapidly in Punjab, UP, and Uttarakhand.”
(With inputs from PTI.)
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