Will seize properties of those who indulge in violence: CM Yogi
NEW DELHI /LUCKNOW : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today justified his government’s crackdown on agitations against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying that the action has “shocked” every protester into silence.”Every rioter is shocked.
Every troublemaker is shocked. Everybody has fallen silent after seeing the strictness of the Yogi Adityanath government.
The Chief Minister has announced that anybody who damages public property will have to pay up. Every violent protester will cry now because there is a Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh,” read a tweet from his office.
Reacting sharply over the violence in Lucknow Chief Minister termed this an act of treason and said that rioters have been identified and the government will attach their properties for recovery of the damaged public property.
CM Yogi Adityanath today alleged that the opposition parties are inciting violence in the name of protests in state and misguiding people about citizenship amendment act.
Speaking to media in Lucknow today evening, Yogi Adityanath said that his government will not tolerate the violence at any cost and stern action will be taken against those who were involved in arson and stone-pelting during protests today
The tweet was a reference to the Yogi government’s decision to make protesters pay up for public property destroyed in Uttar Pradesh. As many as 21 people died in violent clashes that erupted in the state after the centre pushed the controversial bill through parliament earlier this month. Many of them died of gunshot injuries, although the government has denied opening fire at protesters with the exception of a single instance at Bijnore.
“People who resorted to violence and destroyed property will now have to compensate for the losses,” another tweet read, terming it as a “shining example” of how violent protests should be handled.
UP police said they have identified 498 people — with as many as 148 from Meerut alone — who will be asked to pay up for losses incurred. State officials had earlier said that steps to attach the properties of “vandals” have already been initiated in some districts, including Rampur.
On Thursday, police officers confirmed that as many as 1,113 people have been arrested from places across the state in connection with the anti-CAA protests. Another tweet from the UP CM’s office claimed that peace has returned to the state. Yogi Adityanath’s assertion comes at a time when opposition parties have accused the police of using brutal force against those protesting the controversial law.
“People have the right to protest in this country. Protests in other parts of the country were peaceful but the UP Chief Minister deliberately allowed the situation to go out of hand, creating a divide between people on the basis of religion,” Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik told news agency ANI.
The National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh police chief over complaints of rights violations in the state. The Citizenship Amendment Act, for the first time, makes religion the test of citizenship in India.
Meanwhile, The Jamia Coordination Committee that was formed after the police brutality at the institute on December 15, called for a gherao of the UP Bhawan on Friday, around 3 pm, demanding the resignation of the UP CM Yogi and held him responsible for the alleged police excesses against those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Among other demands, the JCC has asked the UP government to restore the damages caused during the violence at the educational institutions across the state, especially Banaras Hindu University and the Aligarh Muslim University. They have put forward several demands through a memorandum addressed to the UP Governor Anandiben Patel.
The JCC in their memorandum has demanded that a number of rupees one crore as compensation should be provided to kin of the deceased and the state government should provide job opportunities to a family member of the same.
“An amount of Rs 25 lakhs as compensation to those who have victims of police brutality across the state. Unconditional release of all the political prisoners who have been implicated in false and fabricated cases.
Detaching the seized properties of the locals across the state which has been illegally withheld,” the memorandum added. They also want the UP government to restore the internet facilities that have been suspended across numerous districts in the state to curb the effects of the ongoing protests. The JCC has stated that it is a clear violation of the citizens’ fundamental rights.
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The crackdown began with AMU, from where 250 people are still missing and where heavy armed forces deployment continues. BHU has witnessed the arrest of 70 students of which only a handful have been released till now.
Videos have come out showing police firing and a brutal state-sponsored crackdown on civilians, creating a situation of undeclared emergency,” the JCC said in their official statement, stating these as the reasons for the call for their gherao.
(Bureau Report from Lucknow with Agency Inputs ).
