Catalonia\u2019s regional government declared a landslide win for the \u201cyes\u201d side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into ugly scenes of mayhem on Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots.<\/p>\n
Catalonia has \u201cwon the right to become an independent state,\u201d Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally from Spain if the \u201cyes\u201d side wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia,\u201d Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote.<\/p>\n
Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 90 per cent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the \u201cyes\u201d side in favor of independence. He said nearly 8 per cent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.<\/p>\n
Registered voters<\/p>\n
The region has 5.3 million registered voters, and Turull said the number of ballots didn\u2019t include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote.<\/p>\n
No one knows precisely what will happen if Catalan officials actually follow through on their pledge to use the vote chaotic as it was as a basis for declaring the northeastern region independent, a provocative move that would threaten Spain with the possible loss of one of its most prosperous regions, including the popular coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital.<\/p>\n
Police were acting on a judge\u2019s orders to stop the referendum, which the Spanish government had declared illegal and unconstitutional and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said going forward with the vote only served to sow divisions.<\/p>\n
In a televised address after the majority of polls closed Sunday, he thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with \u201cfirmness and serenity\u201d comments sure to anger Catalans.<\/p>\n
Violence \u2018unfortunate\u2019<\/p>\n
Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while \u201cunfortunate\u201d and \u201cunpleasant\u201d was \u201cproportionate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law,\u201d Dastis told The Associated Press in an interview.<\/p>\n
Catalans favoring a break with Spain have long wanted more than the limited autonomy they now enjoy, arguing that they contribute far more than they receive from the central government, which controls key areas including taxes and infrastructure. The police aggression on Sunday was likely to only fuel the passion for independence, and the main separatist group urged the regional government to declare independence after the violent crackdown.<\/p>\n
By day\u2019s end, Catalan health services said 844 civilians had been treated in hospitals for injuries, including two in serious condition and another person who was being treated for an eye injury that fit the profile of having been hit by a rubber bullet. Thirty-three police officers were also injured.<\/p>\n
Officials planning the police operation may have failed to take into account the ubiquitous use of smart phones with video recorders as violent images were broadcast across the world.<\/p>\n
Police rough up unarmed people<\/p>\n
At the Pau Claris School in Barcelona, amateur footage filmed by one voter showed police roughing up unarmed people standing in their way. Amateur video from other locations showed similar tactics, with people seen being hit, kicked and thrown around by police, including elderly people with their dogs, young girls and regular citizens of all stripes. Many tried to shield themselves from being smacked on the head.<\/p>\n
There were also some signs of provocation by activists. In footage released by the Spanish Interior Ministry, some protesters were seen throwing objects and metal barriers at riot police.<\/p>\n
Elisa Arouca, who was waiting to vote outside the Estel school in central Barcelona, reacted with anger when national police agents yanked her and other prospective voters out of the way, then smashed the door open and confiscated the ballot boxes.<\/p>\n
She had been planning to vote in favor of keeping Catalonia part of Spain, but decided instead to join the march for independence. She moved to another polling station to try and cast her vote in favor of breaking away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always against independence, but what the Spanish state is doing is making me change my mind,\u201d she said. \u201cThe national police and civil guard are treating us like criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no organized campaign for the \u201cno\u201d side in the vote, which most national political parties boycotted because it lacked legal guarantees and was suspended by the courts. Polls in recent years have shown roughly half of the 7.5 million residents of the region want to remain a part of Spain.<\/p>\n
Mari Martinez, a 43-year-old waitress, said she didn\u2019t vote in Sunday\u2019s referendum. \u201cI don\u2019t lean toward independence, because we are part of Spain,\u201d she said. \u201cToday\u2019s violence is not good for anybody. We never should have gotten to this point. Politicians haven\u2019t done their job, and they should have reached an agreement a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
A member of the Israeli parliament, sent in as an observer of the vote, said she was shocked by the use of rubber bullets by Spanish police against crowds of unarmed voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did expect a normal democratic process,\u201d said Ksenia Svetlova, part of a delegation of 33 people invited by Catalan officials to observe the voting process. \u201cWe knew that a lot of police were here but still, you know, there should be a respect for the will of the people to vote regardless of what you think of the referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tensions run high<\/p>\n
Tensions were running so high that Barcelona played its soccer game against Las Palmas without fans after the team announced the match would be played behind closed doors shortly before kickoff, with thousands of soccer fans already outside the stadium. Barcelona wanted to postpone the game but said the Spanish league refused the request.<\/p>\n
Manuel Condeminas, a 48-year-old IT manager who tried to block police from driving away with ballot boxes on Sunday, said police had kicked him and others before using their batons and firing the rubber bullets.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, civil guard officers, wearing helmets and carrying shields, used a hammer to break the glass of the front door and a lock cutter to break into the Sant Julia de Ramis sports center near the city of Girona that was being used as a polling station. At least one woman was injured outside the building, wheeled away on a stretcher by paramedics.<\/p>\n
Clashes broke out less than an hour after polls opened, and not long before Puigdemont, the Catalan regional president, was expected to turn up to vote at the sports center. Polling station workers reacted peacefully and broke out into songs and chants challenging the officers\u2019 presence. Puigdemont was forced to vote in Cornella de Terri, near the northern city of Girona, his spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Courtesy: The Hindu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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