The Congress on Wednesday expressed astonishment at the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to invoke charges ranging from sedition to riot incitement against protesters against the Hathras atrocity, saying such a response to a rape-and-murder case had no parallel in India’s history.
“The response of the Yogi government is unprecedented and totally weird. In other words, Orwellian and Kafkaesque,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
“The FIRs against third parties (21) far outnumber the FIRs filed against the accused, with the charges ranging from hatching conspiracy to destabilise and derail the government (to plots to) trigger communal riots, create enmity among social groups and even sedition. Never saw such a reaction to a rape incident even from any other BJP government.”
Singhvi added: “As if the rape and the burning of the body without the family’s consent were not bad enough, the government ordered a clampdown on the victim’s family and barred the media and those trying to meet them to express condolences. Can you imagine expressing condolences for the victim of a heinous crime attracting sedition charges?
“The government also said a conspiracy to defame it had been hatched because UP was a model of good governance, because he (Adityanath) had cracked down on anti-CAA protesters. This would have been comical if it were not tragic.
“It’s absurd that the chief minister is blaming the entire world to defend his failures. Instead of looking within, he brands everybody a conspirator.”Singhvi recalled how several BJP politicians had denied rape and alleged a plot to start caste wars.
“What will the world think of us if they hear that a BJP (politician) said, ‘Why are these kinds of girls always found in sugarcane and millet fields, and not paddy or wheat fields?’,” he said.
Asked about the government’s inaction against those who had supported the accused and warned Opposition politicians against visiting Hathras, Singhvi said: “If you are with them, nothing will happen to you; there are thousands of examples to show this over the last six years.”
Congress spokespersons highlighted the inconsistencies and “lies” in the state government’s affidavit to the Supreme Court, where it has claimed the police cremated the victim with all the rituals and in the presence of her family.
At a news conference in Lucknow, Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev said: “This is contempt of court; the government is lying on oath. The entire country has seen how the body was burnt using kerosene or diesel without the consent of the parents. The government said in the affidavit that the body was burnt following all the rituals.”
