Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – The Uttar Pradesh police lathi-charged and used tear gas on women peacefully protesting against the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in the wee hours — around 3-4am — and arrested scores of people in Azamgarh’s Bilaryaganj, on Wednesday.
Several people, including elderly women and children, were injured in the police crackdown at Moulana Johar Ali park.
“At midnight, the police came, surrounded the park and chased down the men present there. Only women protesters had stayed back in the park. The women were told to go away. But they ignored the order and continued talking about the need to protect the Constitution and democracy. Then, the police resorted to a lathi-charge, and they also fired rubber-bullets and indiscriminately used water-cannon,” said Azamgarh’s social activist Rajiv Yadav.
He said the police sprayed water at the protest site and detained even people entering into their own houses. Cops also snatched the mobile phones from the arrested. Hence, they lost connection with their families. The police action created an atmosphere of fear.
Yadav said the crackdown happened in the presence of the Azamgarh district magistrate and the SP who reached the protest site long before the crackdown. The police arrested around 18 people. Local people have started a protest in front of the Azamgarh SP office, thereafter, demanding release of the detainees. He said an elderly woman, Sarwari, was seriously injured and admitted to a local hospital after blood clotted in her head.
According to Yadav, the police objected to the sit-in, saying this was taking place on the main road and it created traffic jams in the town. Yadav countered the police’s claim, saying the sit-in was not done on the main road but the link-road. The police were also claiming that the NRC has been “taken back” by the government, and hence there was no need for continuation of the protest, which, Yadav pointed out, was a lie.
He said that the district magistrate reached the protest site at 12 am with the preparations for carrying out the crackdown. When the crowd thinned around 4 o’clock, the cops started the crackdown.
Holding Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath responsible for the crackdown against the women and the children, Yadav’s human rights group Rihai Manch demanded action against the cops and the Azamgarh DM. “The incident is shameful and inhuman. The Rihai Manch condemns the incident and demands the release of the detainees. We also demand a high-level inquiry into the incident,” said Rihai manch in a press statement.
The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawrat (AIMMM) has also condemned the police crackdown. AIMMM president Naved Hamid said the police action was undemocratic. He demanded the release of the detainees including local political leader Moulana Tahir Madni.
Uttar Pradesh police under CM Yogi has been facing massive criticism for the brutal crackdown against the anti-CAA protesters in recent wees, in which 23 Muslims lost their lives in December alone. The CM justified the killings of the protesters by raising the allegations of arson and violence by the protesters. However, a local court has slammed the state police for failing to provide the evidence of the arson and violence against the protesters.