BSP chief Mayawati slams Uttar Pradesh government over arrest of CAA protesters, seeks judicial inquiry

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Sunday (January 5) launched a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh government for arresting anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters without thorough investigation.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday (January 5) launched a scathing attack on Uttar Pradesh government for arresting anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters without a proper probe and said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state should give financial assistance to those killed in the protest.

"In Uttar Pradesh, especially in Bijnor, Sambhal, Muzzafarnagar, Meerut, Firozabad and other districts, innocent people have been sent to jail for protesting against the CAA/NRC without an investigation. This issue has also been raised by the media and is very shameful and condemnable," Mayawati tweeted.

1. यू.पी. में CAA/NRC के विरोध में किये गये प्रदर्शनों में बिना जाँच-पड़ताल के ही विशेषकर बिजनौर, सम्भल, मुजफ्फरनगर, मेरठ, फिरोज़ाबाद व अन्य और ज़िलों में भी जिन निर्दोषों को जेल भेज दिया है, जिसे मीडिया ने भी उजागर किया है, यह अति-शर्मनाक व निन्दनीय है। — Mayawati (@Mayawati) January 5, 2020

The BSP supremo demanded that the police must release the innocent people who have been arrested for their alleged involvement in causing violence during the anti-CAA stir in different parts of Uttar Pradesh and urged the state government to "provide justifiable financial assistance to the kin of those who have died during the protests."

Mayawati also said that the Uttar Pradesh government must apologise from the public for arresting innocent people.

2. यूपी सरकार इनको तुरन्त छोड़े व इसके लिए सरकार को अपनी गलती की माफी भी मांगनी चाहिये। साथ ही, इसमें जिन निर्दोषों की मृत्यु हो गई है, राज्य सरकार को उन परिवारों की न्यायोचित आर्थिक मदद भी जरूर करनी चाहिये। बी.एस.पी. की यह माँग है। — Mayawati (@Mayawati) January 5, 2020

She added that the BSP will send a letter to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on Monday (January 6) seeking a judicial inquiry into this matter. "A delegation would give the letter of our demands to the Governor at Raj Bhavan on January 6 at 11 am," she said in another tweet.

3. लेकिन ऐसे में अब इस पूरे राज्य-स्तरीय प्रकरण की न्यायिक जाँच होना बहुत जरूरी है। इसकी माँग हेतु माननीया गर्वनर को एक लिखित ज्ञापन भी बी.एस.पी. प्रतिनिधिमण्डल द्वारा कल दिनांक 6 जनवरी को प्रातः 11 बजे राजभवन में दिया जायेगा। — Mayawati (@Mayawati) January 5, 2020

It may be recalled that 1,246 people have been arrested by Uttar Pradesh police in connection with the violence which erupted in several districts of the state during the anti-CAA protests. 

The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.