UP activists allege Yogi govt wants to curtail dissent by wrongful prosecutions, false charges

The Rihai Manch also said it has taken up the cases of alleged killings of Dalits, Muslims, and OBC youth in encounters

The Adityanath government wants to curtail the voices of dissent through wrongful prosecutions and false charges, activist Mohd Shoaib, who was arrested after violence during an anti-CAA protest in Lucknow and came out on bail after a month, alleged on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference here, along with senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Rihai Manch general secretary Rajiv Yadav, Shoiab also alleged he was "mentally tortured" by police, and expressed apprehension about the security of Yadav and other activists.

"I was mentally tortured by the UP police after the arrest. They even questioned me about Rajiv Yadav. I have serious doubts on the intentions of the UP police, that they want to kill Rajiv Yadav. The UP government wants to curtail the voices of dissent through false charges and wrongful prosecutions and the police want to kill activists," the 76-year-old alleged.

Shoaib was granted bail by a Lucknow court last week in connection with the violence in Lucknow during anti-CAA protests on December 19. He was among the over 1,200 people arrested over the violent protests in the state which left nearly 20 people dead.

Shoaib and Yadav also alleged the crackdown on activists was a planned "vendetta" by the government which was "systematically targeting groups which have opposed it".

The Rihai Manch, which Shoaib heads and which provides legal aid to those arrested on alleged "false" charges, claimed that their activist Robin Verma has been sacked as a college teacher, and the police are trying to frame their organisation.

The Rihai Manch, a UP-based organisation, has also raised questions on the encounters carried out by the state police and approached the National Human Rights Commission over such killings.

Prashant Bhushan alleged the UP police is the "largest organised criminal gang in the country".

The activists also alleged there is an effort to colour the anti-CAA protestors in UP as "radicals" and "extremists".

"They say that we have brought boys from Jammu and Kashmir to throw stones during protests and workers from Bengal to be part of them. This is an attempt to give a radical colour to our peaceful protests," said Yadav, whose documentary on hate speech was used to file case against the UP CM.