A Congress delegation that included Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi on Monday pleaded with the National Human Rights Commission to rein in the Yogi Adityanath government, which it said had “gone to war against its own people” in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress submitted a petition that gave case-by-case details of how police violence had followed the chief minister’s threat of “revenge” on the citizenship protesters.
It alleged that the “police mitras (friends)” recruited from fringe outfits had guided the security forces in attacking innocent citizens. The “police mitras” are local young volunteers whom police stations have been drafting for decades to assist them in their duties, but in effect function as a militia for the ruling party.
The report was prepared on Priyanka’s instructions and is based on eyewitness accounts and conversations with affected families, civil society members and political workers. Senior legal luminaries and Congress leaders from Uttar Pradesh were part of the delegation.
Rahul tweeted after the meeting: “A delegation of Congress leaders presented the NHRC with evidence of the atrocities against the citizens of Uttar Pradesh by the state government, which has gone to war against its own people. The NHRC must act decisively to protect the idea of India & the constitutional rights of our citizens.”
Rahul told the commission members that a process had systematically been put in place across the country to terrorise the people.
“They are inducting police mitras to brutalise the people. What is taking place is against the idea of India and the Constitution. We cannot become a country where the leadership brutalises its own people,” he was quoted as saying.
“You are the appropriate institution to safeguard human rights. If the NHRC goes into details of what is submitted, you will be convinced that something terribly wrong has happened in Uttar Pradesh.”
The petition said: “An atmosphere of suppression and violence had been created by the words of the chief minister himself when he made a heinous and distasteful public declaration that the government would take ‘revenge’ against the protesters.
“It was following this statement that a violent police crackdown on the protesters was reported from across the state. Anywhere else, by virtue of the doctrine of command responsibility, the chief minister would have been held directly responsible and would have had to face strict action.”
It added: “Contradictory statements of the police (on whether the force had fired on the protesters) warrant a detailed investigation of their actions by an independent agency.”
Referring to the alleged arming of the “police mitras” with batons, shields and helmets, it said: “Reports from the ground imply that a large number of such recruitments were made from fringe elements and other organisations directly or indirectly affiliated to the ruling BJP. The direct involvement of members affiliated to a ruling political party acting in connivance with armed police is a clear indicator of state-sponsored terror and oppression.”
The petition objected to the Adityanath government’s move of punishing citizens for damage to public property without a court conviction.
“In another action devoid of due legal process and designed to silence dissent, the UP government sent many civilians notices of confiscation of property as punishment for participating in peaceful protests. Such arbitrary action by the state taken with the proclaimed intent to curb people from expressing dissent in a democracy requires examination,” the petition said.
It demanded: “Impartial assessment of cases filed against peaceful protesters and their validity be ascertained by an independent commission under a sitting or retired judge of (a) high court and bail be granted to those who have been wrongly charged; the notices for confiscation of properties and sealing properties as well as other punitive actions be suspended till determination of liability through due process and an appropriate enquiry by a competent authority is completed, and students participating in peaceful protests be assured that they will not face academic or legal repercussions.”
The petition detailed a large number of individual cases of violence, mentioned hate speeches by BJP leaders, listed police officers in whose areas illegal acts were carried out, and cited copies of FIRs, images and videos shared by families and eyewitnesses and media reports on the widespread violence and torture.
The Congress will raise the matter in Parliament and may approach the courts for redress.