‘Masks were off’: BJP pulls up Congress over pro- Hidma slogans; claims protest over pollution was diversion | India News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said that the “pollution of Marx and Mao” is denser in the brains of the agitators after slogans condemning Naxal commander Hidma’s encounter were raised during a protest over rising air pollution levels in Delhi.During a press conference, BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the “real face” of protestors was out soon as they started raising slogans in support of a slain Naxal commander.“Some people reached India Gate with a mask on their faces that they are there to protest against the pollution. The masks were off as soon as they reached there, and the real face was out, and they started raising slogans in support of a slain Naxal commander,” the BJP leader said.He also latched on the incident to target Congress and claimed that the party “dreams” of coming to power with the support of the extremists.“The PM has said that the Congress has become the Muslim League-Maoist. More than the air pollution, the pollution of Marx and Mao is denser in their brains. Along with that, they dream of coming to power with the support of extremist ‘Kathmullas’. This is even more dangerous,” Trivedi said.This comes after visuals from the Sunday protest at India Gate showed the demonstrators holding posters of Maoist commander Madvi Hidma, who was recently killed in an encounter.“A protest was held this evening at C Hexagon, India Gate, over pollution. But the protesters were holding posters of Maoist commander Madvi Hidma. When they tried to block the road, the police tried to remove them, but they sprayed pepper spray on the police personnel and tried to attack them. The police are now taking legal action against them,” ANI quoted Delhi Police saying.Hidma, a CPI(M) central committee member and the secretary of the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee, was killed on November 18 along with his wife, Rajje, and four other Maoists in the Maredumilli forests of Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district. Security forces had said the group initiated firing during a cordon-and-search operation, sparking an extended encounter.Meanwhile, Delhi Police also arrested 15 activist on charges of obstructing its personnel and assaulting them, besides blocking the road during the protest.The situation at the protest escalated as some demonstrators allegedly used pepper spray on police personnel while being removed from the scene, the official added.“The situation then turned into a scuffle, and some protesters used pepper spray on our personnel, which is unusual and rare,” the officer said, adding that so far, police have arrested at least 15 protesters.“India Gate is not a designated protest site. The protesters were asked to leave. Jantar Mantar is the designated protest site, and anyone can demonstrate there after obtaining permission. On Sunday, the protesters blocked the C-Hexagon after jumping police barricades. They sat on the road for over an hour, and even people stuck in the traffic jam were requesting them to clear the way,” the police officer told news agency PTI.When asked about slogans allegedly raised in support of Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, the officer said they are probing the matter from all angles.The Delhi Coordination Committee for Clean Air, in a statement, said the city’s worsening air quality has become a “serious risk” to public health and alleged that authorities have failed to address the root causes of pollution.It further alleged that air quality has remained in the “severe” category, while the government relies on “cosmetic measures” such as water sprinklers, cloud seeding and spraying near Air Quality Index (AQI) stations instead of finding long-term solutions to tackle the issue.Meanwhile, Scientists for Society (SFS), one of the organisations that participated in Sunday’s “Delhi Against Clean Air” protest here, has distanced itself from certain groups that allegedly raised slogans unrelated to the protest’s central theme of air pollution.In a statement issued on Monday, the SFS said it had joined the protest “solely on the issue of pollution” and emphasised that the primary objective of the demonstration was to highlight Delhi’s severe air quality crisis, educate citizens, and question what they described as the government’s “failure and unwillingness” to act.