Violence is wrong, weakens democracy: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader on Sanjay Raut’s Albania protest remarks
New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, Priyanka Chaturvedi, on Tuesday criticised her party MP Sanjay Raut’s remarks referring to the burning of Albania’s Supreme Court, saying that suggesting India should learn a lesson from such incidents was inappropriate and undermined the country’s democracy and Constitution.
Chaturvedi stressed that violence could not achieve anything and was against the interests of the country. She urged people to express their grievances through peaceful protests rather than taking the law into their own hands.
Raut, in a post on X, had said, “The people of Albania have burned down the Supreme Court. The people were enraged because the Supreme Court was helping corrupt prime ministers. The protesting public has also attacked the parliament and government offices, as well as the ministers’ homes. All countries should learn a lesson from these events. Especially India.”
Reacting to his remarks while speaking to IANS, Chaturvedi said the lesson to be drawn from such incidents was the importance of respecting the judicial system and maintaining law and order, rather than encouraging violent demonstrations.
“The only lesson we should learn is that we must not take the justice system and law and order into our own hands and should avoid such violent protests. Violence achieves nothing and goes against the interests of the country. Whether in Bangladesh, Nepal, Albania or France, these incidents begin with student protests, after which bad-faith actors get involved, leading to such incidents,” she said.
Chaturvedi also cited the protests undertaken by her party over political and electoral issues, arguing that constitutional and democratic concerns should be pursued through peaceful and lawful means.
“This fight is for our country’s Constitution and democracy. The way we removed Dharmendra Pradhan from the post through a peaceful protest. Now, our fight to ensure that the Election Commission is not undermined and to seek the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar is being pursued in the Supreme Court,” she said.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader maintained that political disagreements and demands for accountability should not be used to justify or encourage violence.
“Despite this, suggesting that we should learn from such incidents and that violence could happen is wrong, and it weakens our democracy and Constitution,” Chaturvedi added.
Her remarks came amid a debate over Raut’s comments on the unrest in Albania and his suggestion that India should take lessons from the protests there.
BJP leaders criticised Raut, accusing him of promoting anarchy and demanding an apology.
–IANS
sd/rad
