Exposed, UP CM Yogi Adityanath resorts to authoritarianism

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, which completely mishandled the horrifying crime in Hathras district, is now employing a diversionary ploy by slapping serious charges against those who criticised it and protested against its conduct in the case. It has found in the protests an international conspiracy to create caste conflict in the state and to destabilise the government.

Adityanath has called the protesters “anarchists” and conspirators “who want to incite caste and communal riots’’ in the state. The police have filed a number of cases against the protesters under provisions relating to criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between groups, violation of Section 144 and clauses of the IT Act. A journalist who went to Hathras to report is facing sedition charges, and hundreds of others are facing other serious charges. The UP police have also seen the hand of an extremist group, Popular Front of India (PFI), in the protests. The claim that there is an international conspiracy to destabilise the government is laughable. There is no evidence for any of these charges, and none has been seen in the public realm.

The heinous crime against the 19-year-old girl has evoked strong emotions all over the country. The police and the administration were callous and insensitive in their handling of it. They destroyed evidence and are now trying to dilute the crime. The state government was seen to be eager to cover it up, though it took some delayed actions against some errant police personnel.

Citizens and political parties have the right to protest against atrocities and the failure of a government to handle them in a way that ensures justice for the victims. In the Hathras case, the victims belonged to the weakest sections of society and so the government had a special responsibility to act justly and correctly. But it gave the impression that it was not on the victim’s side. The heavy-handed action against protesters merely confirms it.

The Adityanath government has not shown any respect for democratic rights and for the law in dealing with critics and protesters in the past. It is now acting in the same intolerant and authoritarian manner in which it responded to the anti-CAA protests some months ago. It has sought to criminalise any protest against it. The trend is seen in other parts of the country, too, but UP leads in the suppression of dissent.

The government wants to deflect attention from the Hathras outrage and send out the message that any protest and dissent would be crushed with the heaviest hand. But it will only succeed in keeping the incident in public focus and in demonstrating to the world how authoritarian and undemocratic it is.