LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has rebuffed accusations from rights groups of police abuses during protests against a new citizenship law, crediting his tough stand with restoring calm to the streets.
Uttar Pradesh, a north Indian state has seen the most violent turmoil over BJP Government promulgated most controversial law Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which activists say is discriminatory towards the Muslim community, which makes up some 14 per cent of India’s population.
Out of 26 people who have been killed since the protests began this month, 19 were in Uttar Pradesh, India’s highly populous state.
The clashes in the state appear to have eased over the past week, however, though small-scale demonstrations continue.
Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, a hardcore Hindu priest who belongs to Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, said his tough policies had ended the trouble.
“Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is astonished. Looking at the strictness of the Yogi government, everyone is silent,” one of Adityanath’s verified official accounts on Twitter said.
“Do whatever you want to, but the damages will be paid by those who cause damages,” it added.
Last week, his government said it was demanding millions of rupees from more than 200 people, threatening to confiscate their property to pay for damage during the protests.
‘Excessive force’
Rights groups have decried what they say have been mass detentions and excessive force in the state, where officers have arrested more than 1,000 people.
The citizenship legislation makes it easier for members of religious minorities from India’s Muslim-majority neighbours — Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan — who settled in India before 2015 get citizenship but does not offer the same concession to Muslims.
The government has said no citizen will be affected and there is no imminent plan for a register.
Later on Saturday, the general secretary of the opposition Congress party, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, added to criticism of UP police.
Vadra told reporters she was in a group driving to the home of a former police officer arrested in connection with the protests when a police vehicle blocked the way, so Vadra decided to continue on foot.
“(Police officers) encircled me, strangulated me, grabbed me … and pushed me. I fell,” Vadra said. “I took a two-wheeler. They stopped me again and then I came here by walking.”
Meanwhile, Hindu activists linked to Modi’s party conducted workshops in slums in an effort to ease public discontent.
Read more: Indian police officer tells anti-citizenship law protesters to ‘go to Pakistan’
