look news india
India Gate and the wide corridors of Dutva Path of New Delhi, which are called the heart of the country’s democracy, last night saw the scene of pain, helplessness and the immense struggle of a parent against the system, which shook the soul of every sensitive citizen. Ankita Bhandari, the 19-year-old daughter of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, whose screams were buried in the silent depths of the Chila Canal in September 2022, her elderly father Virendra Singh Bhandari and mother Soni Devi came straight to the center of power in the country pleading for justice. With a smiling photo of their daughter in their hands, ‘Justice for Ankita’ placards around their neck and tears in their eyes, this helpless family sat on a dharna under the open sky in front of the India Gate memorial late on Wednesday night. Along with him, many students of Delhi universities, social workers and people from the migrant community of Uttarakhand also started raising their voice against the system by lighting candles. Amidst the cold air of the capital, when mother Soni Devi sobbed and said, ‘Two years have passed, but why is the name of my daughter’s real murderer and that white-collared VIP being hidden till date?’, the steps of the soldiers deployed on security duty on the duty path also stopped for a few moments.
As the protest started peacefully in the dark of night and entered the morning hours, the security personnel of Delhi Police swung into action. Since India Gate and the entire duty path area around it falls in the high-security no-protest zone under Section 144, security agencies feared that thousands of people might gather here in the morning. At around 4 am, when the protesters were sitting on the ground exhausted, dozens of Delhi Police men and women policemen cordoned off the entire area. Police officials appealed to the protesters on loudspeakers to vacate the area, but Ankita’s parents clearly said that they will not step back even a step from here until they get the assurance of meeting the top leadership of the country. After this, the police took forceful action and detained Ankita’s father Virendra Singh Bhandari, mother Soni Devi and dozens of supporters present with them. They were forcibly taken in Delhi Police buses to Mandir Marg and Tilak Marg police stations in New Delhi district. In the morning, when the news spread like wildfire on social media that the victim’s parents demanding justice have been taken into custody by the police, there was tremendous anger in the civil society and political circles. Considering the sensitivity of the situation and the increasing pressure from all sides, finally in the afternoon the police completed the formal paperwork and released the parents and their supporters from the police station.
This question is flashing in the mind of every Indian that despite the ongoing case in the courts of Uttarakhand, why a victim’s family was forced to spend the night on the streets of Delhi. The biggest reason for this outrage is that mysterious ‘VIP’, whose mention has remained an unsolved mystery since the beginning of this entire massacre. It is alleged that Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at Rishikesh’s famous Vanantara Resort, was being pressurized by Pulkit Arya, son of the resort owner and leader of the then ruling party, to provide ‘extra service’ (illegal prostitution) to a ‘special VIP guest’. Ankita rejected this immoral demand for the sake of her self-respect, after which she was pushed into the canal and killed. Ankita’s parents have a direct and bitter allegation that the SIT of Uttarakhand Police arrested Pulkit Arya and his two associates, but the entire investigation was deliberately diverted to save the influential face of the VIP for whom their daughter’s life was taken. Immediately after the incident, the bulldozers that were used overnight on the rooms of the resort to destroy the evidence had also raised serious questions on the intentions of the investigating agencies, the pain of which is burning in the heart of the family even today.
When top officials of Delhi Police were asked questions on the detention action taken at 4 am, they called it a completely legal step taken as per security protocol. According to the police, New Delhi district, especially the area of India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House, comes under ultra-sensitive security cordon. Under the clear guidelines of the Supreme Court, Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan has been designated as the venue for any kind of protest, dharna or meeting in the national capital. Officials said that the protest was started at India Gate at midnight without any prior administrative permission, which was a blatant violation of security rules. The police clarified that they had full human sympathy towards the parents and that they were not arrested in any criminal case, but were taken into preventive detention to maintain law and order and remove them from the restricted area. He was later released after counseling and legal formalities in a safe environment. However, human rights activists say that such a display of police power at 4 am on the constitutional rights and peaceful expression of a family that has lost their innocent daughter is extremely insensitive and embarrassing to democracy.
Immediately after being released from the police station, Ankita’s father Virendra Singh Bhandari made his intentions clear while talking to the media. With a trembling voice but steely intentions, he said that he would not keep quiet until his daughter’s murderers were brought to the gallows and the face of the VIP hidden behind that curtain was exposed. He directly sought the intervention of the country’s Supreme Court and reiterated that he had completely lost faith in the Uttarakhand Police and the state agencies. The only demand of the family is that the investigation of the entire case should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the direct supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme Court, so that the truth about the influential faces of power can be revealed to the country. The parents have announced that they will now camp at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and their Satyagraha will continue unabated until the Central Government gives concrete and written assurance on their demands. Organizations of Uttarakhandi community living in Delhi have also united and called for turning this movement into a big mass movement.
Ankita Bhandari was not just the daughter of a small village in Uttarakhand, but she was a symbol of the hope of crores of middle class families of India who dream of making their daughters self-reliant by educating them. The brutality meted out to that innocent child and the subsequent alleged tampering with the evidence has put a big mirror in front of the country’s criminal justice system. Today, when his old parents are stumbling on the streets of the country’s capital with the help of their sticks, the question is no longer just about a case, but becomes about the trust that the general public places on the laws and Constitution of this country. Will the clutches of impartial investigation and law also reach those white-collared people whose hands are behind the scenes in suppressing this matter? Amidst the ongoing testimonies and dates in the Kotdwar court, this sob of Ankita’s parents, echoing from India Gate to Jantar Mantar, will continue to haunt the system until the truth immersed in the cold water of that Chilla canal becomes completely clear like sunlight.