In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Amravati MP Navneet Rana said, ‘I emphatically state that basic human rights such as drinking waster was denied to me on the ground that I belong to Scheduled Caste (Neechi Zaat)’
Amravati MP Navneet Rana writes letter to LS Speaker Om Birla, alleges casteist abuse by Maharashtra Police – ANI
Navneet Rana, Lok Sabha MP from Amravati, on Monday wrote to speaker Om Birla where she revealed about casteist abuse by Maharashtra Police at Khar Police station in Mumbai. She said, “I was abused on the basis on my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided.”
“I was taken to Khar Police Station on 23.04.2022 and I spent the night in the Police Station on 23.03.2022…I made several and repeated demands for drinking water throughout the night, however, no drinking water was provided to me throughout the night,” Navneet Rana said.
She went on to add, “To my shock and disbelief, the police staff present told me that I belong to Scheduled Caste and hence they will not give me water in the same glass. Thus, I was directly abused on the basis of my caste and it is only for this reason that no drinking water was provided.”
In her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Rana said, “I emphatically state that basic human rights such as drinking water was denied to me on the ground that I belong to Scheduled Caste (Neechi Zaat).”
Also, when she wanted to use the bathroom at the night, she alleged that the police staff paid no heed to her demands. “I was again abused in the most filthy language…I was told that we don’t let people from Neechi Zaat Scheduled Castes use our bathrooms.”
In the letter, Navneet Rana said she declared to go outside the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence – Matoshree -in Mumbai to chant ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ because she had sincere hope to “rekindle the flame of Hindutva in Shiv Sena. This was not meant to incite any religious tensions”.
She said her actions were not against the Chief Minister and she even had invited the Uddhav Thackeray to join her in reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’. “However, looking to the fact that my actions may prove detrimental to law and order situation in Mumbai, I had publicly withdrawn from the said exercise and declared that I shall not be going to CM’s residence. I was confined with my husband Ravi Rana, an MLA, in my house,” she added.
Navneet Rana and her MLA husband were arrested on Saturday, 23 April, 2022, by the Mumbai Police after they gave a call for the chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ outside Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence which triggered angry protests by Shiv Sainiks.
The couple was arrested under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with assault or use of criminal force against a public servant in the execution of his duty and sedition. They have been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
Navneet Rana was sent to the Byculla women’s jail in Mumbai while her husband husband Ravi Rana was taken to Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.
With inputs from agencies
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