A spate of protests against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh — named in a sexual harassment case — continued gathering steam across the state, with freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sehgal’s daughter on Friday joining protesters in Jhajjar.
On Wednesday, the BJP had also dropped Sandeep’s name from the list of invitees for the upcoming state executive committee meet in Bhiwani, the party’s state unit president, Om Prakash Dhankar, explaining, “As the inquiry report has not come yet, we have told him (Sandeep Singh) that he has not been invited to the Bhiwani meeting. Chandigarh Police should submit its investigation report (early).”
On Friday, Captain Lakshmi Sehgal’s daughter and former MP Subhashini Ali led a protest in Jhajjar town to demand the removal of the minister from the state cabinet. While leading protesters in Jhajjar during the day, Subhashini Ali said that sacrifices for the freedom of the country were not made only to see those being elected to seats of power themselves trample upon the right of people to lead a dignified life.
Chandigarh Police had on December 31 lodged an FIR against Sandeep Singh, a former Olympian and Indian hockey team captain, on charges of stalking, illegal confinement, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation after receiving a complaint in this regard from a junior women’s athlete coach. Sandeep Singh has termed all allegations against him baseless.
Echoing Ali, a former volleyball player, Jagmati Sangwan, accused the ruling BJP government in Haryana of indugling in “double standard”, and said, “They give the slogan of ‘beti bachao’ on the one hand, but are found saving the sons when self-respect of daughters are at stake on the other hand”.
Sangwan, who is the vice-president of the All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), also stated, “The complainant woman coach can’t get justice till the accused is a member of the state Cabinet. The allegations [against Sandeep Singh] must be investigated under the supervision of a judge of the High Court.”
National president of the NCP students’ wing, Sonia Doohan, who had staged a protest against the minister when he had gone to unfurl the national flag on Republic Day at Pehowa this year — also joined the protest march in Jhajjar on Friday.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has so far insisted that “levelling allegations against someone and registration of an FIR because of that do not prove anyone guilty”.
Khattar had stated that resigning from the minister’s post on moral grounds comes into play only if the person concerned thinks he has made a mistake. Saturday, interestingly, will be the second time when the minister will not be invited to an important meeting of the BJP. Earlier, according to Dhankar, Sandeep Singh had not been invited to the meeting of BJP national executive held in New Delhi.
Earlier, Sandeep Singh had faced protests when he had gone to his constituency Pehowa to unfurl the national flag on Republic Day this year.
Then, the Republic Day celebration was marred by unruly scenes and sloganeering as a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader voiced her protest against Sandeep Singh, who was the chief guest at the function.
That day, as Sandeep Singh – the former sports and youth affairs minister – was seated on stage, Sonia Doohan – the national president of the NCP students’ wing – began shouting slogans. Witnessing the ruckus, police personnel tried to take Doohan away.