Shillong: Meghalaya BJP leaders were left fumbling during a press briefing on Tuesday after mediapersons questioned the party over a controversial social media post by its Yuva Morcha state president, Mewaker Lyngdoh Pakma, in which he reportedly said protesters should be shot at.
State BJP general secretary Wankitbok Pohshna was addressing the media when he criticised the Congress, particularly Rahul Gandhi, for allegedly failing to speak about students protesting in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
“The sheer brutality with which the corrupt ‘Thug-bandhan’ (alliance of thugs) government of the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has rained batons on unarmed, innocent students peacefully protesting for their education rights and employment opportunities is highly unfortunate. No amount of condemnation is enough for this heinous and barbaric act,” Pohshna said.
He also questioned Gandhi’s remarks over alleged firing at protesters, saying, “Claiming that bullets were fired at Jantar Mantar, when no bullets were fired at all, what does this even mean? Not a single bullet was fired at Jantar Mantar! Rahul Gandhi, stop lying!”
However, when the floor was opened for questions, mediapersons confronted Pohshna over the apparent contradiction between the BJP’s criticism of the alleged use of force against protesters and the reported remarks by its own youth wing leader calling for protesters to be shot at.
Pohshna denied being aware of the matter.
“Let’s not divert from the topic. The party has issued a statement, so I don’t think we need to clarify more on that,” he said.
Pressed further on the issue, Pohshna said he had not seen Pakma’s personal social media posts and did not wish to comment on them.
“I request you, because Parliament has to function, let us concentrate on that. What is most important right now is for Parliament to function because the country needs to debate major issues. This is a small issue,” he said.
Pohshna further sought to shift the focus to the functioning of Parliament, arguing that statements made by others during the protests were also controversial.
“In the protest, even many people have made so many unwanted statements. So, let’s not keep going about what has happened. Let us look at what we can do now. Let Parliament function so that the youth and the future of the country are secure, provided we have a debate,” he said.
Asked whether the party would ensure that its leaders refrain from making social media posts that could damage the BJP’s image, Pohshna said political leaders needed to be more careful about their online activity.
“Yeah, naturally. Actually, as political leaders, we should be diligent enough about what we do in our day-to-day lives. And we request anybody who is holding an important position to kindly monitor their personal account,” he said.
Pohshna, however, also raised the possibility that social media accounts could be compromised.
“You know, nowadays, personal accounts can be hacked. Just the other day, we got another complaint that one of our state vice-presidents’ accounts was hacked. So, these kinds of issues,” he said.
When asked why no FIR had been filed over Pakma’s post, Pohshna said he was not familiar with the functioning of social media platforms and suggested that a complaint had been made to the platform.
“I don’t know how social media platforms work. I see that we have a medium of complaining to the platforms. So, I think that was done,” he said.
Pohshna then returned to the BJP’s demand that Parliament be allowed to function.
“Let’s keep this aside and keep the chief important agenda now at the front. Parliament has to function, and it has to function in the right way, in a pure democratic way,” he said.
He also appealed to the Congress to participate in parliamentary proceedings instead of taking its protests to the streets.
“Through your medium, we want to request the Congress that do not just go to the streets. Allow Parliament to function and debate there. Our Union Home Minister is willing to answer all the questions and queries that the Congress party has. So, we request Rahul Gandhiji to kindly face our Honourable Home Minister on the floor of the House,” Pohshna said.
During the questioning, the camera briefly panned towards Pakma, who was also part of the panel. Pohshna immediately intervened, saying the issue should be taken up separately on another day and that the briefing should not be diverted from its stated agenda.