Yogi Adityanath: The “Forgetful Monk Chief Minister” of Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Ajay Singh Bisht, the monk Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, famously known as Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday, March 19, claimed that law and order in the state has become a “model condition” for the rest of the country.  

The CM was addressing the press on the completion of two years of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in UP. He repeatedly claimed that the condition of law and order has improved a lot in his tenure of two years and not even a single riot took place.

It seems that he was not aware of the deadly clashes in Kasganj and Bulandshahr which rocked the state during his tenure. According to an answer given in the Lok Sabha on communal riots in India, UP has witnessed the maximum incidents with 155 communal riots in 2015, 162 in 2016 and 195 in 2017. It may be noted that Yogi Adityanath came to power in 2017 and in the same year 195 communal incidents were recorded.

Bulandshahr Incident

A mob went on rampage in Bulandhshar district of Uttar Pradesh after they found bovine carcass in a field. The mob led by Hindu youth leader and office bearer of Bajrang Dal, Yogesh Raj, brought the piece of meat to the state highway and protested by torching many vehicles.

Also Read: Bulandshahr Violence: Blatant Misuse of NSA?

Two persons, including a police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, were killed in this incident.

This happened in December 2018 and the police had taken more than two weeks to arrest the main accused and several innocent people were falsely booked in the case.

Kasganj Riots

The saffron robe clad CM also seems to have forgot about the Kasganj riots in which several worshiping places were damaged and curfew like situation continued for several days when violence between the two communities broke out over a road.

Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi reacting to the claims of UP CM said, “BJP is not a political party but a propaganda machine like its parent body RSS.”

He further added, “In UP, crimes have increased. Policemen are committing dacoity in Lucknow. There is a sharp rise in the crimes against women. In the shoe-beating case by BJP MP Sharad Tripathi, only an unnamed FIR has been registered. This is the reality of law and order in the state. Fake encounters are being carried out under 'Thonk do niti of CM Yogi' (Shoot them policy). Murders are happening in jails.”

According to a report published in The Hindu, information available in the public domain shows that over 1100 encounters have happened in the last one year in which 49 people were killed and over 37 were injured. However, the figures given by the Uttar Pradesh police to the national human rights commission shows that only 45 people have died in the encounters between January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

It may also be mentioned that even the Supreme Court had said that encounter deaths in Uttar Pradesh have become a serious issue.

Read More: Mockery of Justice: Kasganj Riots Accused Made Government Witness