Protests in MP against amendments to SC/St Act

Several people Thursday held protests in different parts of the state against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill 2018 which was passed by Parliament in August.

The Supreme Court, on March 20 this year, had placed safeguards on the provisions for immediate arrest under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The amendment bill, however, restored some stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act.

Bramha Samagam Sawarna Jankalyan Samaj convener Prahlad Shukla Thursday said protesters took out a rally from Ganesh Mandir near Habibganj Railway Station, on their way to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's residence, but the police stopped them midway.

He said that protesters lay down on the roads and shouted slogans against the amendments, adding that there was a minor scuffle between police and some of the protesters.

He claimed that several protesters managed to get to the gates of the BJP and Congress offices and waved black flags.

Shukla claimed that Bramha Samagam Sawarna Jankalyan Samaj president Dharmendra Sharma was manhandled by police and suffered injuries outside PWD Minister Rampal Singh's home.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Bhopal South, Rahul Kumar Lodha, however, denied the allegations and stated that no person was arrested in connection with the protests.