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UP CM’s effigies burnt in Assam over post from fake Facebook account
Ten-year-old photographs of a stripped woman posted from Adiyanath’s ‘account’ has sparked a backlash in the Advasi community in Assam.
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Ten-year-old photos of a stripped woman posted from a Facebook account bearing Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s name has sparked anger among the Adivasi community in Assam.
Protesters burnt effigies of Adityanath at several places on Sunday – five days after the post appeared on the social media platform from the account Yogi Adityanath ‘Yogi’, which has over 95,000 followers.
In the post, a woman who has been stripped is shown as being chased and kicked by several men. The accompanying text in Hindi claimed the two photos were of Congress workers in West Bengal targeting a Hindu woman.
The photos in question are of an Adivasi woman from Assam who was attacked by local residents in Guwahati after a demonstration by tea garden workers in November 2007 turned violent.
Furious at the communal tinge of the post and use of the photos without blurring the woman’s face, Adivasi organizations burnt effigies of Adityanath and also of Tezpur BJP MP RP Sharma who shared the post on his Facebook page.
More demonstrations against Adityanath and Sharma are planned on Monday as well all over Assam.
“It is shameful that the UP chief minister posted an old photo of Assam and tried to show it as an event from West Bengal. He also gave communal colour to the event and didn’t respect the woman’s dignity,” said Deben Orang, a central committee member of All Adivasi Students Association of Assam.
On Sunday, Orang lodged an FIR at the Moranhat police station in Charaideo district against Adityanath. But the police are yet to register a case.
“We have received an FIR against the UP chief minister. But since it involves a chief minister and is a sensitive issue, we have sent the matter to senior officials and are awaiting advice before registering a case,” NN Barik, in-charge of Moranhat police station told HT.
