Dehradun: Carrying smoke canisters into the Lok Sabha building, is simply wrong, says Mohan Pathak, one of the two protesters from Uttarakhand arrested 30 years ago for breaching the Parliament security which was similar to the December 13 wherein two intruders jumped from the visitor's gallery into the newly inaugurated Lower House.
The duo was part of the Uttarakhand Statehood Movement, one of the two protesters who sought a separate Hill State, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh six years later in 2000.
The difference between the two instances is that neither of the protesters from three decades ago were thrashed by the members of the then House and the former incident did not involve any smoke canisters. The protesters were armed with handbills which they had thrown down on the well of Lok Sabha, on both occasions.
How did they do it? Here is what happened on August 24, 1994. The duo, active in student politics, entered the visitor's gallery of Parliament and started raising slogans. The other youth identified as Manmohan Tiwari continued to raise slogans from the visitor's chamber. Mohan Pathak then jumped into the chamber and started sloganeering with the protesting MPs.
Manmohan Tiwari threw leaflets from the gallery itself, raising slogans demanding a separate state of Uttarakhand. Both of them were immediately arrested and were later sent to Tihar jail.
ETV Bharat managed to trace Mohan Pathak who shared his experience, which he holds to his heart as a memorabilia.
What does he say? "I participated in the Uttarakhand state protest. At that time, I was actively involved in the students union, which were among others spearheading the protests," Pathak said.
“I jumped from the visitor's gallery (of Lok Sabha) and reached the then Speaker Shivraj Patil's seat and handed him our petition,” he said adding, "We also raised slogans of 'Aaj do, abhi do, Uttarakhand Rajya do'."
It’s wrong-"The way we pressed our demands was completely non-violent. We didn't take any kind of harmful substance with us into the Parliament. Taking smoke canisters into Parliament is completely wrong," Pathak said.
Youth want their voice heard-Another agitator Pradeep Kukreti said, "In 1994 as well, youths entered Parliament during the Uttarakhand state protest. They also threw leaflets and raised slogans inside Parliament. The youths feel that they are unable to make their voices reach Parliament and they take such steps."
The Delhi Police has arrested both the trespassers into the Parliament from the December 13 incident. They had reportedly sneaked in the smoke canisters using a specially designed cavity of a custom-made sports shoe supported by thick rubber layers. The duo identified as – Manoranjan D and Sagar Sharma – also carried leaflets, posters having the picture of a fist against the backdrop of a tricolour, a slogan in Hindi and a slogan in English on the Manipur ethnic-strife.
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