RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, April 4: A day after matter of workers of the BJP and the Congress clashed at Birsa Munda Airport in the Jharkhand capital, a common opinion among Ranchiites surfaced suggesting that a ban on the crowding of hooligans at the airport.
“Crowding the airport by such hooligans should be banned. They not only create trouble for others but send a wrong message to visitors about the culture of Jharkhand,” a senior citizen said while others in different parts of the state capital supported him.
Prominent among those remained Prabhakar, a senior Congress party leader having the status of Jharkhand Andolankari.
“I had also staged demonstrations at Birsa Munda Airport in February 2000 and in order to show black flag to the then union forest and environment minister Babulal Marandi in order to press for demand for Jharkhand separate state. In that agitation I had a police stick on my head and was admitted in the hospital following a head injury. Now after Jharkhand has got the status of a separate state, I realise the crowding of political party supporters, especially hooligans, should not be allowed. It sends a wrong message to visitors about the culture of a state,” Prabhakar, who also runs a company for different types of civil works.
Arvind Lall, a high court advocate and a President Scout, echoed the same saying ‘if political party workers want to welcome their leaders they can do the same at the exit point of parking instead of exit gate.’ “The Airport is a high security zone and its sanctity should be maintained. At the place where national and international guests keep on landing should be properly protected and away from the reach of hooligans as far as possible,” advocate Lall said.
Airport director Vinod Sharma also liked the idea.
“Something must be done to prevent repetition of such incidents in future. Such hooliganism presents a wrong image of the state and its people. We do not allow crowds inside the airport but the outer area is not under our control,” Sharma said.
Earlier Sharma expressed his concern over yesterday’s incident.
“It was for the first time during my tenure I have faced this situation. Though police reached on time and managed the situation, something must be done to prevent such a situation in the future again,” Sharma said.
The clash broke out between Congress and BJP leaders at Birsa Munda Airport when the President of Congress Yuva Morcha was about to reach Ranchi on Sunday and at the same time BJP MP Jayant Sinha was also going to reach Ranchi airport. The party workers had already reached the airport to receive both the leaders. During this, there was a clash between the two party workers and slogans were raised fiercely.
According to the information, a dispute started between the workers of both the parties at the airport over a joke. Sloganeering started from both sides. When BJP workers shouted slogans of Modi and Yogi, Congress workers raised slogans of ‘Chowkidar Chor’. However, after a while, the matter calmed down.
