Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Aug 14: Even as ex-servicemen staged a strong protest at Jantar Mantar here on Friday August 14 to demand One Rank One Pension scheme, and resisted police attempt to evict them, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress national vice-president Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Modi to accept their demand on Independence Day.
Rahul Gandhi said that the PM should announce a date on which he would implement OROP, and if he is able to do that, the protest would end.
He also condemned police action on the protestors and said they should not be evicted.
"People from armed forces spend their lives on the border and they are protesting now. They should not be removed. The government should have thought about the technicalities before announcing the scheme," Gandhi said.
Terming police action to attempt eviction of the protestors as 'bizarre' Kejriwal tweeted, "Ex-servicemen being forcibly thrown out of Jantar Mantar? Bizarre. They protected us till yesterday. Now they are a security threat for Independence Day?"
Comparing the present government with the previous UPA, he said, "Within a year, the NDA has started behaving the way UPA behaved in its second term. This is how UPA-II would crush movements," he said.
"I urge the PM to announce (the) acceptance of the demand of OROP of our ex-servicemen from Red Fort tomorrow," Kejriwal said.
The Delhi police meanwhile said that they wanted to evict the protestors in the wake of security concerns ahead of Independence Day on August 15. The action drew flak from many, with some of the veterans terming it as 'Black Independence Day'.
Senior police officer claimed that it was a drive by NDMC to clean the area and cops were assisting them. In the drive they were removing all posters, banners and tents.
"As Delhi is on a high alert ahead of Independence Day so we are removing the protestors to ensure security," a senior officer said.
A group of ex-servicemen demanding 'One Rank One Pension' have been protesting for the past two months.
Ex-servicemen at the spot said the police action was "barbaric" and "undemocratic" and requested police commissioner BS Bassi to restore their tents. "This is shocking and obnoxious. Nothing can be worse. We are the protectors of India's Independence.
We are requesting the Police Commissioner to restore our tents since we had permission. The move to remove our tents is barbaric, undemocratic and dictatorial as it comes on the eve of Independence Day," Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, Chairman of Indian Ex-servicemen Movement.
With PTI Inputs