Barkha Trehan, who threw ink at Abhijeet Dipke, claimed she was assaulted after acting to defend her religious sentiments against alleged mockery. She called the NEET protest a ‘political agenda’ that is ‘using’ activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Woman Who Threw Ink Claims Assault, Alleges ‘Political Agenda’
The woman who threw blue ink at CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke at Jantar Mantar, Barkha Trehan, has claimed that she was violently assaulted at the protest site after acting to defend her religious sentiments, saying associates of Dipke had mocked deities on stage. A self-described men’s rights activist, Trehan said she has no political affiliation and alleged that the protest at Jantar Mantar had nothing to do with the NEET controversy but had a “political agenda”, accusing the demonstration of using activist Sonam Wangchuk.
“I am not at all opposed to peaceful protest. I have no affiliation or connection with any political party. The event currently underway, involving those cockroaches and cockroach party, has nothing to do with the actual NEET issue; it is driven by a political agenda,” said Trehan.
The woman alleged that after she threw the ink, she was handled violently. She said the trigger for her action was remarks she claimed were being made about Hindu deities on the stage. “You cannot even imagine the treatment I received at the hands of Abhijeet’s goons… Abhijeet and his associates were laughing and mocking Lord Shri Ram and Goddess Sita right there on the stage… I threw the ink at Abhijeet simply as a way of protesting; I felt compelled to act… I never tolerate such things, whether the remarks are directed at Goddess Durga, Goddess Kali, or Lord Shri Ram. As for the goons, they beat me severely; they thrashed me and tore at my hair,” she said.
She credited the police with pulling her out of the situation. “I am grateful to the Delhi Police for saving me and bringing me to safety,” she said.
Trehan said that activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike over the demand for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, was being used as a tool for the protest. “I hadn’t done anything wrong; I hadn’t committed any violence. Yet, they subjected me to such extreme violence, and they are using Sonam Wangchuk. That is exactly what I had gone there to tell Sonam Wangchuk: that they are using him, just like they used Anna Hazare,” she said, drawing parallels with the 2014 anti-corruption movement where activist Anna Hazare held a hunger strike.
The video of ink being thrown at Abhijeet Dipke has been gaining widespread attention. The incident took place on the same day Wangchuk was taken from Jantar Mantar to a hospital by the Delhi Police on Saturday morning in a careful three-layered operation for essential medical care following the orders of the High Court, after his ongoing hunger strike entered Day 21 on July 18.
Sonam Wangchuk’s Wife Moves High Court, Alleges ‘Illegal Detention’
Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of Wangchuk, on Sunday said she had “lost faith” in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, alleging that it omitted the potassium level of 2.9 from its public health bulletin despite informing the family earlier that it had fallen to that level. She claimed that an independent laboratory test showed Wangchuk’s potassium level at 3.5. She also questioned the heavy police deployment at the hospital, saying that it is not medical care, but “illegal detention”. She claimed that the authorities had refused to allow Wangchuk to be shifted to a private hospital of the family’s choice despite repeated requests.
Angmo has moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions for his immediate discharge from Safdarjung Hospital and transfer to a hospital of the family’s choice, alleging that his continued stay at the government hospital amounts to “illegal and unconstitutional confinement” under the guise of medical treatment.
In the writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, Angmo has sought a declaration that Wangchuk’s continued confinement at Safdarjung Hospital is illegal and violative of his fundamental rights. She has also sought unrestricted access to him for his family, legal counsel and doctors who had been monitoring his health during his hunger strike, besides a direction to the authorities to hand over his complete medical records and permit an independent medical examination.
The plea alleges that Wangchuk, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28 at Jantar Mantar in support of students protesting alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, was forcibly removed from the protest site on July 18 and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital without his consent or prior notice to his family. (ANI)
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