PANJIM: A group of parents, a majority of them whose children were detained on December 19 from the Panjim Church steps, have condemned the police action against the youth.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, the parents also accused the police of detaining minors, who were a part of the protest.
“We condemn the attitude of the police to detain the children without any reason. In fact, the children were terrified. There were anxious moments even after they were released. Their parents too underwent the trauma,” said one of the parents, who had his daughter detained from the Panjim Church premises.
Several people, including youth and children, supporting the Save Mollem campaign were detained before the peaceful protest on Goa’s Liberation Day. President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind were invitees for the State’s 60th liberation year.
The detainees, besides two of their leaders who were arrested under Section 151 of the CrPC, were released only after the government function concluded.
The upset parents questioned under what law their children were detained and vehicles stopped even before they entered the city. “The most unwarranted part was when the youth started singing. The police pulled them away into their vans. The vehicles which were approaching Panjim Church from Patto Plaza were also stopped. The children and youth were detained. They didn’t know why? Under what law were they detained,” asked one of them.
A mother, also addressing the media alleged that the Save Mollem crusaders were not given an appointment to meet the President. “Is this the future of Liberated Goa?” she questioned.
Parents also questioned the wisdom of the police to detain minors, as young as seven years old, with no rules being followed.
