Minors at rally: Complaint against Barkha
NEW DELHI: The controversy surrounding Mahila Congress workers involving minor girls at a protest rally outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence last week has reached the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
A south Delhi resident, Anuj Bhati filed a complaint against Mahila Congress chief Barkha Singh and others who participated in the protest for “involving children in political protest”.
The complainant urged the Delhi government body to take cognisance of the issue under the provision of Child Rights Protection Act 2005 and initiate a comprehensive inquiry into the matter as “there are chances of payment of money”.
In the complaint, Bhati, a law student, alleged that around two dozen minors were brought to the protest rally and were “forced to sit in the middle of the road and made to raise slogans against their will”.
The presence of minors in the protest over the issue of women safety courted controversy, with both BJP and AAP hitting out at the Congress leaders for bringing minors into the protest.
Denying any political affiliation, Bhati said it was “unethical and illegal to use innocent children for cheap political stunts”.
“These kids had no understanding of the issue they were brought for. Girls could be seen in school uniform. So the question arises who brought them to the protest venue. Dragging innocent minds into the system of politics is absolutely uncalled for. It’s illegal if any child below the age of 14 years has to work for you and that too for political reasons,” Bhati said.
Terming the complaint as an attempt to ‘create unnecessary controversy’, Barkha Singh, who recently retired as Delhi Commission of Women chairperson, said: “I am well aware that kids can’t be included in such protests. I didn’t call them to the venue or directed anybody to bring them for protest. They might be children of some party workers who joined the protest.”