The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday demanded that the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government withdraw the cases lodged against “innocent” persons who participated in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and release them immediately from jail.
At least 19 persons died, most of them due to bullet injuries, and over 1,240 arrested across the State in the violence during the protests.
In a memorandum submitted to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, BSP chief Mayawati also reiterated her demand that a high-level judicial probe be conducted into the violence as well as the police action against protesters.
Ms. Mayawati said a judicial probe would ensure that the culprits behind the violence got punished while the “atrocities” and “excesses” committed by the police and administration, would also be exposed. The police had acted in a “barbaric, vindictive and partisan” manner instead of carrying out their duty with honesty.
Satish Mishra, BSP MP, who handed over the memorandum to the Governor, said innocent persons were being unnecessarily “harassed” and such people should be released immediately and action taken against the guilty police and administrative officials.
The BSP also demanded that the State provide suitable compensation to the kin of those killed in the violence and to the victims of ‘police brutality’.
Meanwhile, Congress activist Sadaf Jafar and retired IPS officer S. R Darapuri, who were granted bail on Saturday along with a dozen others in Lucknow, are expected to be released on Tuesday.
