Gujarat minister Harsh Sanghvi praises police for flogging 9 men outside Garba venue

Days after a video of Gujarat Police publicly flogging a few men over alleged stone-pelting at a Garba event in Kheda went viral, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi appreciated and praised the state police for their action.

Sanghvi said, “Some human rights representatives are well awake these days. Human rights are only for stone pelters. Shouldn’t there be human rights for the small children and women who were hit by the stones?”

“Can't we play Garba in our village chowk? Shouldn’t there be human rights for the one who has been hit with stones? Why is it that there are always human rights only for stone pelters? Now is the time to think,” he added.

Also Read | BJP’s Pradipsinh Vaghela congratulates cops for flogging men

Praising Gujarat Police for flogging, the state home minister said, “Now people of the state can play Garba late night because of Gujarat Police. The state police has done a nice job and people should express their gratitude towards Gujarat Police on social media.”

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s general secretary, Pradipsinh Vaghela, on Thursday, congratulated Gujarat Police for their action.

In the party’s first reaction to the incident, Vaghela said, "I would like to congratulate the Gujarat Police and government. We need to understand this is a land of peace and harmony, the land of Gujarat is not Bengal. They will not be able to make it".

“One cannot do stone pelting on such religious events. The action taken by the police was absolutely right. In the future also, if such a thing happens, then the police should act similarly," added Vaghela.

However, Puducherry Lieutenant Governor and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi on Thursday slammed the Gujarat Police for publicly flogging nine men who allegedly hurled stones at a Garba event in Gujarat.

Also Read | Kiran Bedi slams Gujarat Police for flogging men outside Garba event venue

Nine people, who allegedly pelted stones at a Garba event in Gujarat's Kheda district, were publicly flogged by the police in front of the public on Tuesday. Several videos showed the accused men being caned as the public hailed the police action.

On Monday night, an incident of stone pelting was reported at a Garba function during Navratri celebrations in Undhela village in Kheda. At least six people got injured. The police detained nine people for allegedly throwing stones at the event, and on Tuesday, brought them before the villagers.