The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Tuesday criticised the Congress government for the obstruction of fact-finding committees, civil rights activists and curbing democratic freedom to visit Lagacherla in Kodangal constituency. The party found fault with the police high-handedness in stopping women’s rights groups and civil rights activists seeking to investigate the incident where tribal women were assaulted and their family members were arrested during midnight raids by the police last week.
In a statement, BRS working president KT Rama Rao criticised the Congress for restricting access to the affected areas, questioning why Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s government was suppressing the truth. “Is Kodangal on the borders of Pakistan or is Lagacherla a turbulent area on the Indo-China border?” he asked.
He condemned the unprecedented move to suspend internet services
and deploy heavy police security in the area. He called the restrictions a blatant attempt to cover up the government’s failures and demanded the Chief Minister to tender an apology for stopping women civil rights activists’ fact-finding teams.
Rama Rao urged the government to lift restrictions immediately and allow transparency, asserting that the truth about the Lagacherla incident cannot be hidden forever. The issue has now grabbeed national attention, sparking debates in Delhi about the Congress’s misuse of power, he added.
Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao also lambasted the Congress regime as tyrannical. “Is this the seventh guarantee of democratic governance that Revanth Reddy promised – a regime of oppression and restrictions?” he asked. He charged the Chief Minister with stifling dissent, detaining journalists, and filing false cases against civil rights activists.