Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday demanded the immediate release of party spokesperson Sadaf Jafar, the only woman activist arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police following the Lucknow violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act.
“Our female activist Sadaf Zafar was asking the police to catch the miscreants. Instead, the U.P. police beat her up and arrested her. She is the mother of two young children. This is sheer excess. Such repression is unacceptable,” tweeted Ms. Vadra in Hindi, and added, “Immediately release our woman party worker.”
Ms. Jafar was arrested on December 19 along with 150 others when the protests against the CAA in Lucknow turned violent. At that moment, she was streaming a live video on Facebook Live, and could be heard asking the police to act against stone pelters. The Uttar Pradesh police have charged her with serious offences under the Indian Penal Code, including inciting violence and damaging public property.
Ms. Jafar’s arrest came to light after her sister Naheed Varma wrote a Facebook post. “My sister Sadaf has been arrested yesterday from Parivartan Chowk. Totally uncalled for and cowardly action of the police! They have slapped charges like sabotage and attempt to murder on her while she was reporting live on how police was complicit in sabotage at the dharna!” she wrote on Friday.
U.P. Congress leader Rajiv Tyagi told The Hindu that the party would offer all possible assistance to Ms. Jafar.
