Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has once rustled feathers making yet another controversial remark regarding protestors who lost their lives in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the UP State Assembly.
At the Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow he denied that there had been any deaths due to police firing. He said, “Agar koi marne ke liye aa hi raha hai, toh woh zinda kahaan se ho jaayega (if someone is deliberately coming to die, then how can that person remain alive).”
Alleging that the 22 people who died in the protest had died due to bullets from the rioters’ gun he said, “Upadravi, upadravi ki goli se marey hain (the trouble-makers died from bullets of other trouble-makers).”
This is in clear contradiction to the statement of the Bijnor police who admitted to having opened fire during the protests that had turned violent. However, they said that they had fired the bullets in ‘self defence’.
“People who had opened fire at Ram bhaksts in Ayodhya and polluted the city, today they are asking us questions on the action against rioters,” he added.
In his almost hour-long speech he also mentioned the ‘azaadi’ slogans that have become the clarion-call in the ongoing protests. He hailed the work of the contentious UP police who resorted to violent excesses against protestors and said, “Azaadi (freedom) slogans are being raised. What ‘azaadi’? Do we have to work towards Jinnah’s dream or do we have to work towards Gandhi’s dream? The police should be praised for their work after the December violence. There were no riots in the state.”
Stating that his government had no issues with democratic protests, but those indulging in violence would not be spared he said that if there is violence, “woh jis bhaasha mein samjhega, us bhaasha mein samjhayenge (we will reply in their language)”.
Taking a dig at the Opposition he mention, “One has the full right to hold his views, but it should be within the boundaries of the Constitution. If someone tries to disturb the peace by hiding behind the tricolour, they won’t be spared. Opposition parties today are supporting rioters instead of talking about farmers, women’s safety and other issues. The Opposition parties are simply not interested in the welfare of the people of the state.”
The official figure of people who died in the anti-CAA protests in UP has been pegged at 22. The unofficial number however, seems to be more. There have been accounts of the UP police indiscriminately attacking protestors and even children during the agitation. Reports of sexual assault by the UP police on minors in detention have also come forth.
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Did UP police sexually torture minors in custody?