Army Colonel assault police crackdown on farmers rock Punjab Assembly

    Chandigarh, Mar 21 (PTI) The alleged assault of an army colonel and his son by policemen and the crackdown on farmers rocked the Punjab Assembly on the first day of the budget session here on Friday, with Congress MLAs staging a walkout over these issues during the governor's address.
    Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa rose from his seat and sought to draw the attention of Governor Gulab Chand Kataria when he was addressing the House towards the alleged assault of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his 22-year-old son Angad in Patiala on March 13 and the Wednesday crackdown on protesting farmers at Khanauri and Shambhu border points.
    The governor paused for a moment before resuming his address.
    As Bajwa's microphone remained switched off, little could be heard about what he was saying.
    The other Congress MLAs, wearing black armbands, also rose from their seats.
    The Congress legislators then rushed to the Well of the House and started raising slogans against the AAP-led Punjab government. They were carrying placards that bore messages criticising the state government over the police action against the protesting farmers.
    Later in the Zero Hour, Congress leader Bajwa again raised the issue of the alleged assault, demanding exemplary punishment against the policemen.
    He also demanded a probe into the matter by either a sitting high court judge or a retired judge.
    Quoting media reports and the Colonel's family's statements, he said the officer's turban was removed during the alleged assault. 
    "They (policemen) are the men in the uniform, and they are behaving more like animals," alleged Bajwa.
    Bajwa also chided Patiala SSP Nanak Singh, accusing him of trying to protect the accused police personnel.
    "The SSP should be shifted out," he demanded.
    Questioning the role of police in handling the incident, he said that so far, no policeman has been named in the FIR.
    Raising the issue of eviction of farmers, Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali strongly condemned the police action against farmers.
    "Injustice with farmers is unacceptable," said Ayali, demanding that the issues be resolved as soon as possible.
    Meanwhile, Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwa reprimanded Congress MLA Pargat Singh for allegedly trying to mislead the House over his statement.
    "Show me one statement in which it was said that because of (farmers') 'dharnas', the drug problem increased. Please sit down. Please behave," the Speaker told the Congress MLA.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)