Cong compares Munger incident with Jallianwala firing

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday flayed the Bihar government while comparing the Munger incident with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and asked if participation in Durga Puja festivities was a crime in the country.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi compared the incident with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919, when Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered British Indian Army troops to fire on unarmed civilians at Amritsar.

The Congress leader said that the police had gone "berserk under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and chased and beat up humans like animals".

"Why is police under BJP-JDU government in Bihar treating Durga Ma devotees like this? They are being beaten black and blue for no apparent reason."

Singhvi said he wanted to ask the reason for firing on worshippers, adding that "it is shameless and barbaric".

A person was killed and nearly 20 others, including a dozen-odd police officials, were injured during a police baton charge and firing by unidentified persons during the immersion of Maa Durga's idol at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Chowk in Munger at 11.30 pm on Monday in Munger, police had said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav condemned the incident at a joint press conference of the opposition's Grand A, saying that the police thrashed people "deliberately" on Monday night.

"What is the Chief Minister and his deputy doing about this incident?" he asked. "Who gave the permission to the police officer to act like General Dyer in Munger?"

Tejashwi said the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police should be removed and a high-level inquiry ordered under the supervision of a High Court Judge.