Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday defended government crackdown on protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) saying that the action taken by authorities has “shocked” every demonstrator into silence.
“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,” the chief minister’s office said in a series of tweets.
“Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is shocked. Everybody has fallen silent after seeing the strictness of the Yogi Adityanath government. The Chief Minister has announced that anybody who damages public property will have to pay up. Every violent protester will cry now because there is a Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh,” another tweet read.
हर दंगाई हतप्रभ है।
हर उपद्रवी हैरान है।
देख कर योगी सरकार की सख्ती मंसूबे सभी के शांत हैं।
कुछ भी कर लो अब, क्षतिपूर्ति तो क्षति करने वाले से ही होगी, ये योगी जी का ऐलान है।
हर हिंसक गतिविधि अब रोयेगी क्योंकि यूपी में योगी सरकार है। #TheGreat_CmYogi
— Yogi Adityanath Office (@myogioffice) December 27, 2019
“People who resorted to violence and destroyed property will now have to compensate for the losses,” read a third tweet.
The CMO added that the action taken by the Yogi Adityanath government against the ‘rioters’ has set an example for the entire country.
The tweets were hashtagged #TheGreat_CMYogi.
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has notified as many as 498 people for causing damage to public property during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests which turned violent last week.
According to a circular, the state government has identified these people as anti-socials who caused damage to public and private property while taking part in anti-CAA protests in different parts of the state.
The state government will now move to seize the property of these identified ‘anti-socials’ and has informed the respective district magistrates.
According to official sources, the list includes at least 82 people from Lucknow, 148 from Meerut, 26 from Sambhal, 79 from Rampur, 13 from Ferozabad, 50 from Kanpur, 73 from Muzaffarnagar, eight from Mau and 19 from Bulandshahr.
A number of those identified persons are presently in jail.
More than 1,100 people have been arrested and 5,558 kept in preventive detention following violence related to anti-CAA protests in the past one week.
At least 124 people have been arrested in the last one week for posting “inciting content” on social media.
Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will probe cases of violence during the recent protests against the CAA.
The violence that broke out in many parts of the state between December 19 and 21 has claimed as many as 21 lives.
However, the Uttar Pradesh Police has only accepted that firing took place in Bijnor. But video clips that have surfaced suggest firing took place at many places in the state.
Although many of the bodies of those killed in violence bore gunshot wounds, the state police insisted that they did not shoot anything other than plastic pellets and rubber bullets.
In an attempt to justify its action, the state police has released a series of photographs and videos showing two men firing at cops during protests against the controversial law.