Justifying the Uttar Pradesh crackdown on protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took to Twitter on Friday, 27 December, and wrote that the state government’s actions have “shocked every protester.”
The official Twitter handle of the office of chief minister tweeted, “Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is shocked. Seeing the strictness of the Yogi government, everyone is silent. Do anything, now the compensation will be from the one who did the damage, this is Yogi ji's announcement. Every violent protester will cry now because there is a Yogi government in UP.”
He ended his tweet with the hashtag ‘#TheGreat_CmYogi’.
The state on Friday was placed under a thick security cover with deployment of central paramilitary forces in sensitive areas. Internet services were suspended in many places to check ‘rumour-mongering’, officials said. Drones were also used to keep a vigil, particularly in areas where violence had broken out last week after Friday prayers.
Protesters had hurled stones at policemen and set vehicles on fire. Police used lathis, lobbed tear-gas and have admitted to opening fire in some places, they say in self-defence. The Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police OP Singh told PTI that the death toll in the clashes last week remained at 19.
As a precautionary measure, Internet services which were resumed after nearly a week, were suspended again in over 20 of the 75 UP districts including Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Agra.
‘An Example for the Country’: UP Govt on Handling Protests
In a series of tweets, Yogi mentioned that the situation in the state is peaceful now, and that the manner in which the state government has dealt with the protesters is an example for the entire country.
One of the tweets read, "People who resorted to violence and destroyed property will now have to compensate for the losses."
UP Police Faced Backlash for Heavy-Handedness
Police have faced flak over the manner in which they handled last week's violent protests, with human rights activists accusing them of using excessive force and targeting innocent people.
Most of the deaths during the violence had taken place due to firearm injuries. Officials claimed there was firing at some places by protesters but police opened fire at a couple of places only in self-defence.
Meanwhile, the process to confiscate the property of those involved in damaging public assets during the protests gained momentum as 372 people were served notices in different districts until Thursday.
The maximum of 200 notices were issued in Moradabad, followed by 110 in Lucknow, 34 in Gorakhpur and 29 in Firozabad, an official spokesman said.
In the entire state, 1,113 people have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in violence. A Home Department spokesperson said the violence left 288 policemen injured, including 61 with firearm injuries. He said 327 FIRs have been registered and 5,558 preventive arrests made so far.
Further, the NHRC has issued a notice to the police chief of Uttar Pradesh after receiving various complaints that allege "violation of human rights" in police action undertaken during the ongoing anti-CAA protests in the state.
Twitter Questions #TheGreat_CmYogi
(With inputs from PTI)
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