In yet another embarrassing display of power, Uttar Pradesh cops were caught on camera chasing and raining blows with their batons on women protesting in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on Tuesday.
Several video clips shot on mobile phones have gone viral on social media as they showed policemen chasing women, caning them and also barging into shops to force their closure.
The clip shows cops chasing women into the narrow lane of Pachraha area.
In a 17-second clip, the women can be heard shouting and asking the police why they are being assaulted. The police are also seen lathi-charging men who had gathered in the area.
It seems, these are the brave jawans of #UPPolice under the able guidance of Maryada Purshottam @myogiadityanath , lathi charging women at #CAA_NRC_Protests in #Etawah . #CAA_NPR_NRC pic.twitter.com/aFWqzfwz4a
— thakursahab (@65thakursahab) January 22, 2020
In another video, cops are seen entering a roadside eatery and hitting the employees inside and forcing its closure. Cops are further seen hitting a roadside vendor and asking him to shut shop. A cop is also heard abusing protesters.
According to reports, the protest had taken place in Pachraha on Tuesday with about 150 women sitting on dharna. The numbers swelled by evening and more than 500 women were present when the police crackdown began.
Meanwhile, the Etawah police said in a tweet that the protesters had first pelted stones at the cops.
This comes as hundreds of women continue to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Lucknow’s iconic Clock Tower.
The ongoing protest against CAA in Lucknow, on the lines of New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protest, has gathered momentum and despite efforts by the police, the women have refused to budge from the site.
About 50 women began the sit-in demonstration on Friday but the crowds swelled on Saturday and the protest became ‘indefinite’. Women, children and senior citizens joined the protest and several organisations also came out in their support.
Meanwhile, the police have identified and named around a dozen people and registered three criminal cases against the protesters.
The protesters, mostly women, have been booked for “rioting, unlawful assembly, disobedience to order and obstruction in public way”.
The women, most of them elderly, have claimed that the policemen snatched their blankets and poured water on the bonfire that they lit to keep themselves warm.
In visuals captured on mobile phones, policemen were seen taking away blankets and boxes of what appeared to be food packets from the protest site on Saturday night amidst chaos.
The cops, some of them wearing helmets, were also seen taking away Styrofoam sheets meant to be spread on the ground for those who were to spend the night there.
Protests are going on in various parts of the country over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which the government says will help minorities from Muslim-dominated Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to get citizenship if they have fled to India because of religious persecution.
Critics of the law, among whom are students, activists, politicians, women and a number of celebrities, say the CAA, along with the National Register of Citizens, the other controversial process meant to flush out illegal migrants, would be used to target Muslims.
Lucknow has been the epicentre of anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing a rally in support of CAA on Tuesday in Lucknow, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the citizenship law would not be withdrawn come what may.