A fact-finding report, published by a team comprising activist Yogendra Yadav, CPI’s Kavita Krishnan, and Riad Azam, claims that Uttar Pradesh is under a "reign of terror" following the state government's "unlawful and lethal tactics" to harass citizens protesting peacefully against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The report, which cites district-wise statistics and several personal testimonies, accuses the government of “brazenly targeting” Muslims and social activists.
It also holds the government guilty of unlawful arrests, stifling free speech and peaceful protests, custodial torture, destruction of property and intimidation, among others.
According to the report, 613 were arrested, 750 named and 28,750 unidentified persons were booked by the police across 9 districts in UP.
Speaking to The Quint, after the launch of the report, social activist and Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav said that the thing which struck him the most while he was in UP, was the “enmity with which the police treated citizens” of the state. Through this fact-finding report, he appealed to the judiciary, the UP state government and the human rights commissions to take cognisance of the police action in Uttar Pradesh.
In Meerut, Family Not Allowed to Bury the Dead in Their Localities
The three-member fact-finding team of Yogendra Yadav, Kavita Krishnan and Riaz Azam visited Meerut on 25 December 2019, visiting hospitals and meeting family members of the deceased. The report details the team’s meeting with Idul Hassan, the father of Asif, a 20-year-old e-rickshaw driver who was reportedly shot dead near City Hospital in Hapur. According to the family, they were not allowed to see Asif’s body at night. The report alleges that the police didn’t allow the family to bury Asif in their locality, and concludes that there is an “urgent need to provide both legal help and financial help to families” affected.
The report also puts forth district-specific statistics on people killed, injured and arrested. These include three dead in Kanpur, nearly 3,000 people booked in Bijnor, 72 people arrested in Muzaffarnagar and 43 arrested in Meerut. However, The Quint is unable to independently verify these numbers.
The report goes on to demand the government stop its attack, release innocent detainees and quash the FIRs against anonymous individuals. It recommends that an independent probe be launched by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Supreme Court and that police officers complicit in the atrocities be immediately suspended.
As a final demand, it also calls for the Government of India to announce that it is not proceeding with the NRC and NRC-linked-NPR and make way for “meaningful dialogue”.
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