Spare the rogues and hit at the handicapped

Police turn blind eye to protestors’ rights

Deccan Herald

Cubbon Park police took a group of visually challenged persons into custody when they tried to block traffic at the MG Statue junction on Tuesday morning. Four protesters sustained injuries when the cops forced them out of the road.

The visually challenged persons under the aegis of Akhila Karnataka Andhara Samyuktha Kriya Samiti are on an indefinite dharna in front of MG Statue from Monday pressing for their various demands including appointment of visually challenged persons to the posts of music teachers in all primary and high schools and aided schools.

The protestors who were denied permission to pitch a tent the previous night were upset when the police stopped them from using the public address system on Tuesday.

In protest against the police behaviour, they went on the road to block traffic. But the police pulled them out of the road, huddled them into police vans and took them to Adugodi grounds. However, later, the police brought them back to the venue of the protest and freed them.

Some of the demands of the protestors are as follows - to filling up of posts identified for visually challenged persons in 99 departments of the government; provide reservation of at least one post under D group in all Zilla Panchayats and Taluk Panchayats; and TCH and BEd courses for blind should be treated on par with the general DEd and BEd courses.