"Not A Single Riot In Last 2 Yrs, UP Model For Other States," Says Yogi Adityanath

While presenting a report card on the completion of two years of his government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath said that his government has changed the image of Uttar Pradesh. He added that the state’s law and order model has become a model for the country. Moreover, Adityanath said that not one incident of rioting happened under his watch.

“UP-example for other states”: Yogi

Adityanath said that before he assumed office in March 2017, debt-ridden farmers were committing suicides and the law and order condition was subpar. “Mafia was looting the state’s resources under political patronage. Mafia was rampant in SP, BSP rule,” he alleged. He said that the present state of governance in Uttar Pradesh will stand as an example for the rest of the country.

He hit out against the earlier governments and said, “In 2012, there were 227 major communal riots. In 2013, there were 247 such riots. In 2014, there were 242 riots. And 219 riots in 2015 and more than 100 in 2016 – in which properties worth crores were lost.” He claimed that during the BJP rule, not a single riot has taken place in Uttar Pradesh and cases of acid attacks or kidnappings were also zero.

While no major cases of communal violence have taken place in Uttar Pradesh during the past year, in 2018, mob violence in Bilandshahr left two people dead. In January of 2018, a 22-year-old youth was shot dead during a “Tiranga Yatra” when clashes broke out in Kasganj. The state government even denied permission for any such processions on Independence Day.

He said that the confidence in the state police system has gone up considerably as he said, “There is zero tolerance for crime and criminals and 73 criminals have been killed in police encounters. Unfortunately, half-a-dozen police jawans also attained martyrdom in the encounters.”

On cases of police encounters

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Adityanath said that not a single one of the encounters which were conducted in Uttar Pradesh were fake. “If the criminal opens fire, the police will not keep their hands tied. Earlier, the police used to run and criminals used to chase them,” he said. The daily reported that around 80 people have been killed in police encounters since Adityanath took over in March 2017. “The Supreme Court and the Human Rights Commission have laid down norms to be followed, and those have been adhered to in each case,” he added.

On January 2019, United Nations officials had written to the Indian government with regard to 15 cases of possible extra-judicial killings by the Uttar Pradesh police. They have also taken into consideration 59 cases of possible fake encounters.

According to The Wire, “We are extremely concerned about the pattern of events: individuals allegedly being abducted or arrested before their killing, and their bodies bearing injuries indicative of torture,” said UN experts.

Information released by Uttar Pradesh Police stated that there were 1142 police encounter in Uttar Pradesh between March 20, 2017, and January 31, 2018. The numbers have risen ever since.

An India Today expose revealed that police personnel in UP are ready to stage shootouts and kill innocent people in exchange for money and promotions. After the expose, the office of the DGP in a tweet said the DGP has taken a serious note of the matter and that three policemen have been suspended too.

Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary UP-East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Bhadohi, on completion of two years of Yogi govt, says, “Report card, promotions, all of it sounds good but there’s nothing on the ground, I’m meeting people every day, all the people are in distress.”

#WATCH Congress General Secretary UP-East Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Bhadohi, on completion of 2 years of Yogi govt, says, 'Report card, promotions, all of it sounds good but there's nothing on ground, I'm meeting people everyday, all the people are in distress. pic.twitter.com/rr6KYbJByT

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 19, 2019

Cases of violence and crime have gone unabated in Uttar Pradesh and the case was not different over the last two years as well. While situations may have improved in certain contexts, it has not certainly changed for all and absolutely.

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