Atiq Ahmad, the politician from Uttar Pradesh with a criminal background and under trial for murder, did not die in an ‘encounter’. His and his brother’s murders were exceptional in a state that has a remarkable record of encounter killings. They died while in police custody on the day of the funeral of Ahmad’s son, who was indeed killed in a police encounter. The coincidences are like a fairy tale: the UP government either believes in people’s fathomless credulity or is convinced of its own impunity. Ahmad’s son was a suspect in the murder of a prosecution witness against Ahmad, and was, according to police claims, speeding away on a bike. He shot at the pursuing police and was killed in retaliatory fire. As was an aide with him. This is the format of most encounters in UP, surreal in the similarity of detail. Since 2017, when Yogi Adityanath took over as chief minister, there have been 10,900 police encounters in which 183 alleged criminals have been shot dead. Encounters save the police from investigation; it may be another coincidence that a noticeable percentage of encounters are with members of the minority community. The data are easily available since the government takes pride in defying the justice system. It is an indicator of the fear — of criminals, politicians and the government — among the people that they apparently welcome this overturning of constitutional rights and principles of justice.
In the murder of Ahmad and his brother, three apparent strangers with guns and journalistic equipment walked up to the two being taken for a medical check-up after 10 at night under heavy police guard, shot them repeatedly and waited to be arrested. Was Ahmad’s son’s killing too recent for an encounter? Or did the murderers represent another source of power? Perhaps they just wanted fame, as they claimed. Anything goes in UP, and is welcome. The Centre’s silence on police action in UP can mean only one thing. But a government that ignores the law and the Constitution and gets away with it is a danger to the whole country. Surely the power to resist its lawlessness does not lie with the Centre alone? Asserting the power of justice lies with all the people of the country, with the Opposition, and with the justice system too.
