Irfan Elahi | Clarion India
LUCKNOW — The poster-war in Lucknow, capital city of northern Indian state Uttar Pradesh, took a new turn when Congress Party workers put up posters of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and some other leaders of the ruling BJP, including deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, accusing them of inciting violence.
Prior to this, a leader from the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) put up posters of two former BJP leaders, Chinmayanand and Kuldeep Sengar, who have been accused of rape. One of them had been sentenced by a court.
The posters put up by Congress workers had pictures of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CM Maurya, BJP leaders Sangeet Som, Suresh Rana, Umesh Malik, Sanjeev Baliyan and Sadhvi Prachi, and it read: “Janta Maange Jawab, in Dangaayion se wasooli kab?” (People want to know when recovery would be done from these rioters? The question was posed in the context of the ‘recovery’ proceedings launched by the state police against anti-CAA protesters in recent weeks.
Lucknow police, in a swift action, removed these posters and registered an FIR against Congress leaders Sudhanshu Bajpai, Lalu Kanaujiya, an unknown printer and some other unknown people, for putting up these posters. The FIR was filed under Section 505 (1) (b) of IPC, section 12/3 of Press and Registration of Books Act and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act 1984. Sudhanshu Bajpai and Lalu have been arrested.
Hoardings put up by police of the people and civil rights activists accused of indulging in violence and damaging public property during anti-CAA protests, is still on display at some major intersections in the city. For this, the state government has faced flake from the Allahabad High Court and has been pulled up by the Supreme Court too.
The posters by Congress workers have reminded one of the Muzaffarnagar riots in which BJP leaders Sangeet Singh Som, Sanjeev Baliyan and Suresh Rana were the accused.
Samajwadi Party leader IP Singh who was behind the posters of Kuldeep Sengar and Chinmayanand says, “When the government is not removing the hoardings of anti-CAA protesters even after the court rebuke, I thought of putting up posters of Chinmayanand and Sengar, so that our daughters remain on alert from such people.” IP Singh not only put up the posters but also tweeted about them, which alerted the police.
The BJP government, on the other hand, is adamant and has promulgated The Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Ordinance 2020”, which was approved by the state governor on Monday. The ordinance aims to recover damages to public and private properties from the miscreants during any protest and violent demonstrations in the state.
Notably, the UP government faced an embarrassing situation in the Supreme Court when its appeal in the anti-CAA protesters’ hoarding case came up for hearing. “Where is the law?” asked the court. Now, the government wants to fill the gap and bring a suitable law so that it can legally defend its action.
The Allahabad High Court had ordered the removal of the hoardings featuring the names, pictures and addresses of anti-CAA protesters. The state government has approached the apex court against the High Court’s order.
Meanwhile, the Congress has reacted sharply on the arrest of its leaders for putting up posters against the CM and his party leaders. On Sunday, they sat on dharna at Gandhi statue near the main crossing at Hazrat Ganj in the city, demanding release of their colleagues. UP state Congress president said, “BJP leaders have declared cases against them in the affidavit while filing their nomination papers during the elections. Our workers have made that public. Why are they now ashamed and afraid that common people will come to know of their misdeeds and double speak?”
SR Darapuri, ex IPS officer whose name and photo are also there on the hoarding of anti-CAA protesters, says that the action of the state government is akin to killing democracy. “Putting up posters is unconstitutional and mischievous and it has created danger to their lives.” he said. “The government seems to have no regard for law and the Constitution” said Akhilendra Pratap Singh, convener of the “Save the Democracy Campaign”.
Darapuri is hopeful that he will get justice from the Supreme Court when the case comes up for hearing before a larger bench of the court.
