Indian-American Congresswoman arrested in Washington anti-immigration protest
Washington, June 29: Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal was arrested along with 575 other women during a protest staged here against US President Donald Trump's border and immigration policy.
Jayapal said she was asked to speak at the demonstration called by women at the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday, reports The Seattle Times.
The civil disobedience was a reaction to the Trump administration's crackdown at the US-Mexico border, including separation of thousands of children from their parents in recent months.
"I decided that I, too, would sit down with them and submit to arrest," Jayapal said. "We chanted and sang and talked about the need to reunite these families and to end the President's zero-tolerance policy."
The women were arrested and charged with unlawfully demonstrating in the Senate office atrium, said Eva Malecki, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police.
Jayapal was issued a $50 fine for "crowding, obstructing, or incommoding". It was her third arrest at a protest, the other two occurring years before her 2016 election to Congress.
A longtime immigration-rights leader who founded OneAmerica before running for elected office, Jayapal said she has been outraged and unable to sleep over Trump's "zero tolerance" prosecutions of people crossing the US-Mexico border, The Seattle Times reported.
"I think that every American, Republican and Democrat, just has to try and imagine what that looks like, to have a six-month-old baby taken from your breast," she said.
Jayapal has also helped organise "Families Belong Together" protests set for Saturday, with demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and other cities across the nation.
The Trump Administration launched the so-called "zero tolerance" policy in April, which considers illegal border crossing as a criminal offence, meaning that immigrant minors will be separated from their families, reports Efe news.
Last week, Trump penned an executive order to end family separations at the border due to harsh criticism.
Since then, the US government has reunited 538 children with their relatives, but more than 2,000 minors still remain separated, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.
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Surjewala slams Pratap Simha’s ‘vile’ remarks on CM Siddaramaiah, demands apology from BJP
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over alleged disparaging remarks made by former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during an assembly bypoll campaign in Bagalkote.
Simha made the remarks while campaigning for BJP candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, triggering a political row ahead of the by-elections scheduled for April 9.
Congress has fielded Umesh Meti, son of former MLA late M Y Meti, whose death necessitated the bye-election.
"Pratap Simha's vile remarks about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bagalkot have exposed the BJP's despicable politics once again," Surjewala said in a social media post.
Alleging a larger political design, he added, "It is increasingly evident that Pratap Simha’s outburst is driven by desperation," and accused the BJP of using such remarks to target backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and minorities.
The Rajya Sabha member further claimed that the incident reflects a pattern within the party. "This is not one man's madness—it is the BJP’s political culture," he said, adding that the remarks were aimed at "denigrating leaders from marginalised communities".
Referring to past incidents, Surjewala said, "CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar have received death threats in the past, including one from BJP leaders who warned that their bodies would be stuffed into a refrigerator."
The Congress leader also criticised the BJP’s bypoll campaign strategy, alleging "internal contradictions".
He pointed to the party’s use of expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in campaigning despite earlier disciplinary action against him, accusing the BJP of resorting to "abuses and indignities" against opposition leaders.
Surjewala demanded immediate action from the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, state president B Y Vijayendra, and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka.
He said they must tender a public apology to Kannadigas, particularly to OBCs, SCs, and minorities, over the remarks, and urged the party to expel Simha if it does not repudiate his statements.
Surjewala also called for legal action, demanding that an FIR be registered against Simha and that strict measures be taken.
Warning of "political consequences", he said the electorate in the bypoll-bound constituencies would respond decisively if the BJP failed to apologise, asserting that voters would "teach the BJP a befitting lesson" in the elections.
There has been no immediate reaction from the saffron party yet.
