‘Rioters have been silenced’: Yogi Adityanath on police crackdown, property seizure

The actions taken by the Yogi Adityanath-led government has “shocked” every protester into silence, the chief minister’s office has said in a series of tweets amid criticism against the crackdown during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.

“Every crazy person is thinking that they have made a big mistake by challenging Yogi ji’s power after looking at the fierce actions taken by the CM Shri @myogiadityanath ji’s government against rioters,” his office said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

“Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is astonished. Looking at the strictness of the Yogi government, everyone is silent. Do whatever you want to, but the damages will be paid by those who cause damages, this Yogi ji’s announcement. Every violent protester will cry now because there is a Yogi government in UP,” his office tweeted.

The tweets had a hashtag “TheGreat_CMYogi”.

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a circular notifying 498 people for causing damage to public property during the protests and said it will soon move to seize their property.

The action was initiated after Adityanath directed officials to identify the protesters and recover the losses. The process of assessing total losses will continue until December 30.

The initiation of proceedings to recover damages from those who allegedly destroyed public property during protests against citizenship act that claimed 18 lives on December 20 are relying on a 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment.

The Allahabad High Court judgment laid down guidelines for the government to recover damages in case protests turn violent and protestors destroy public property.

In its ruling of December 2, 2010, the bench headed by Justice Sudhir Agarwal outlined the stringent measures after noting the state had failed to implement the provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property, enacted in 1984 – a penal provision to punish those who damage public property.

The judge observed that the law had remained on paper with the state registering only 585 cases under it between 1984 and 2009.

“The process of recovery has been initiated against those who were misled and inflicted violence regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. This decision of chief minister Shri @myogiadityanath ji is exemplary and this action on miscreants will be an outstanding example in the country. Recovery will be done at any cost,” read one of the tweets by Adityanath’s office.

One of the tweets claimed that peace has returned to the state.

More than 320 cases have been registered so far, 1113 people have been arrested and 5558 taken in preventive custody, Uttar Pradesh director general of police OP Singh has said.

The police in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state has been criticised by opposition parties of using brutal force against those protesting the contentious law.

The National Human Rights Commission has also issued a notice to the chief of the Uttar Pradesh police over complaints of rights violations in the state.