Country decries attack on Bhushan, demands action

A shocked nation watched it on TV as a youth rained blows and kicks on Team Anna member and lawyer Prashant Bhushan in his Supreme Court chamber on Wednesday over his alleged anti-India remarks on Jammu and Kashmir. A sense of shock soon gave way to anger over this hooliganism and lawlessness unleashed by Sri Ram Sene’s Inder Verma (24) and two of his associates from a sister organisation. The discovery that one of the attackers—Tejinder Singh Bagga—was a former member of the BJP Youth Morcha had put the saffron party in a spot but it was quick to reject it. [caption id=“attachment_106582” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Prashant Bhushan addresses media at his Noida residence about the assault on him at his Chamber in Delhi, on Wednesday. PTI “]  [/caption] BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said, “The attack is not justified. Law should take its own course.The BJP has nothing to with the party” Both Bagga and the third attacker Vishnu Gupta now are reportedly members of a previously unknown outfit Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena. The due is absconding after the attack while Verma is in the gaol. Bhushan was allegedly beaten up for his statement, which he made in Varanasi weeks back, supporting a referendum in the Kashmir valley. As he was preparing to give an interview to a TV channel, the lawyer was first slapped as his spectacles flew, beaten, kicked and pinned to the ground after being pushed out of the chair. The lawyer’s assistants and clerks, who came to his help was also roughed up before Verma was caught and beaten up by some people said to be lawyers and others, while the other two escaped. The 55-year-old Bhushan was admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and later discharged after check up. “Some people called me up and said that they were not happy with my statement. But violence is not the answer. These organisations should be socially boycotted,” Bhushan told CNN-IBN after he was assaulted. After reaching his home in neighbouring Noida, he narrated the incident and sought a ban on organisations like Sri Ram Sene which practices “goondaism” of this type in various cities across the country on whatever issues it likes. He expressed hope that legal proceedings would be initiated against the attackers and appealed to his supporters not to indulge in retribution. Bhushan’s father and a senior Team Anna member, Shanti Bhushan was agreeably not happy with the attack. “I have no idea what the intent is. That will only be found out after a proper investigation. Prashant is a brave person, he will be undeterred. I am proud of him. It’s possible that some people are not happy with some of his cases but if they think that this will stop him then they are mistaken,” he said. Condemning the attack, Home Minister P Chidambaram asked the Delhi Police to arrest the absconders as soon as possible. “Nobody has the right to take law in their hands and I have asked the Delhi Police to take appropriate action against the people involved in the attack,” he said. Congress termed the attack as “barbaric” and demanded strict action against the attackers. “No words are strong enough to condemn the barbaric attack,” said party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi, himself a senior lawyer. Reacting to the violent incident, social activist Anna Hazare said in his native Ralegan Siddi, “I condemn the attack on Prashat Bhushan in strong words. The attackers were young and hot blooded. It is wrong to take law into hands.” CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said the attack was “reprehensible” and should be condemned in strong words. “Those who conducted this attack cannot by these means suppress the right of anybody to express their opinion,” Karat said. Activist Kiran Bedi said it was absolutely shocking and shameful. “I am very distressed. But you got evidence, I think these people will be in jail for a long time now. “It shows the amount of intolerance level we have reached. I don’t know what they are up for, but they don’t know they are beating up such a good man who continues to work for the community day in and day out,” Bedi said. Condemning the attack, activists and intellectuals like Aruna Roy, Kuldip Nayyar and Medha Patkar said it only shows the “growing intolerance and contempt for any differing opinion” in a democratic country. In social networking site ‘Facebook’, the account holder in the name of ‘Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena’ claimed they “hit Prashant Bhushan hard in his chamber in Supreme Court. If you will try to break my nation, I will break your head.” “We would not have come to blows if they hadn’t. We had only come to seek answers from them…we opposed it. We were three people. The issue was Kashmir. His views are an insult to our martyrs. It will not be tolerated,” he said. A case of voluntarily causing hurt, criminal trespass and criminal conspiracy was registered against Verma and two others. Meanwhile, Bhushan’s support staff admitted that they were taken off-guard. “Prashant Bhushan was sitting in his chair when some people entered his chamber (no 301 of New Lawyers Chamber) and started beating him up. They were kicking him and I called two-three people and we tried to stop them,” the staff member said.