Amid the ongoing face-off in Parliament over the row that erupted following the students' protest, Union minister JP Nadda on Wednesday defended police
action against student protestors in the Rajya Sabha. In a sharp reply to Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Nadda backed the police action against the protestors and even recalled his own arrest during the emergency period. Amid the ongoing Monsoon Session, JP Nadda, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, defended the July 20 police action on protestors and stated that their actions were part of "normal law and order situation." "Whatever my friend John Brittas has said, this is a very normal law and order situation that we have to understand. I have been a student activist. I have been arrested many times from the classroom in emergency days when the Congress party was ruling," the health minister said. Stating that activists who take order in their own hands must be prepared to face the consequences, Nadda said, "It is a normal situation. A student activist has to face consequences, and those who take law and order in their own hand, the police has to act accordingly. The police has acted accordingly for those cases. They are trying to sensationalise. It is a normal law and order activity which the police undertakes."
Nadda Recalls His Emergency Arrest
Recalling his arrest as a student activist during the emergency period, which lasted from 1975 to 1977, Nadda said, "And any student activist who wants to do activism should face this. Even I have faced it not once, but many times. When there was the Emergency, I was arrested from the classroom, not once but twice. So this is a very normal situation."A massive uproar sparked in Rajya Sabha following Nadda's remarks, prompting the proceedings to be adjourned till 12 noon.
Opposition leaders such as Kharge and CPI(M) John Brittas continue to question the government over the various arrests and detentions made in the aftermath of the student protests that took place on July 20.
