Raising slogans of ‘azadi’ (freedom) “in the name of protests” will amount to sedition and invite harsh action, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday while speaking in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Addressing a rally in Kanpur, he said “people living on Indian soil will not be allowed to conspire” against the country.
“In the name of dharna and demonstration, if you raise slogans of azadi that were once raised in Kashmir, it will come under sedition and the government will take the harshest action,” said Mr. Adityanath.
The Chief Minister accused the Opposition parties in U.P. of using women and children as proxies to protest against the CAA. “They lack the courage to protest directly because they know we will seize their property if they indulge in arson and vandalism,” he said.
Mr. Adityanath also questioned the women holding sit-ins against the CAA and claimed that they did not know what they were protesting against. He claimed the women were told to gather in the streets by the men in their families while they themselves preferred to “sleep in their quilts” at home.
“Ab inhone ne apne ghar ki mahilaon ko chaurahe chaurahe par bithana prarambh kar diya hai (Now they have started to place their women at all crossroads),” Mr. Adityanath said.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s comments come at a time when protesters, mostly women, are holding sit-ins against the CAA and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens in Prayagraj and Lucknow.
‘Property will be seized’
The CM also warned those who “burn and vandalise” public property that their property will also be seized. “We will punish them in such a way that coming generations will remember how things are done,” Mr. Adityanath said.
He, however, also mentioned that holding a peaceful dharna and submitting a memorandum was everyone’s right in a democracy.
Targeting the Opposition, Mr. Adityanath also accused it of “speaking the language” of and encouraging the “enemies”.
Referring to the Congress, he said: “For them the country is not important, Hindus are not important, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains are not important. And now even Christians are not important for the Congress. And they have said in one voice that till ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] agents don’t get an entry into India, they will oppose the CAA.”
