It’s been a month and three days since Yogi Adityanath has assumed the post of the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, and it’s been like a doomsday for the complex network of criminals, who were enjoying their time in UP before his ascent to power. Today, it looks like where Modi stops Yogi rises and shines. From clamping down extremely hard on illegal slaughterhouses, to making sure that the native Hindu community from Kairana start returning to their homes, Yogi Adityanath has completed that much of work as required from him, what his predecessors couldn’t even do in the last 15 years.
But this is not all. Taking cue from the reformative stance adopted by Madhya Pradesh police, ever since 8 dreaded SIMI terrorists fled from the Bhopal Jail, Yogi Adityanath, in a press statement, issued after a thorough meeting with the state’s Home, Vigilance and Jails department, said the following:-
“At the meeting on Wednesday, the new chief minister said the same food should be given to all convicts — petty criminals or mafia dons — lodged in jails and ordered installation of mobile phone jammers, a government spokesperson said.
In the meeting, the chief minister also stressed on effective checks on corruption in all divisions of the police force and identification of staff members having links with criminals and “anti-social elements”, the spokesperson said.
Yes, irrespective of the status of the criminal, especially those convicted of their offences, the treatment will be same, a major overhaul from the archaic jail manuals that were being prescribed for prisoners, as per the whims and fancies of autocratic despots, whether they were British or Indians.
Discriminatory treatment, regardless of the offence, is not new to the prisons of India. Introduced by the British imperialists, many a prisoner, including Bhagat Singh, had to resort to hunger strikes to make their voices heard, while on the other hand, if a criminal, no matter how despicable, no matter how cruel and sadistic, had some sources, or was powerful, he / she would be in heaven.
Be it Manu Sharma, or Suresh Kalmadi, prisoners with power or sources lived a life of luxury even in prisons. Even Charles Sobhraj, who was a notorious serial killer, owing to his magnetic personality, as well as a wad of notes present regularly in his pocket, was surprisingly promoted in his prison facilities from 3C Class to B Class.
But not anymore, at least in Uttar Pradesh.
While many might castigate me for praising Yogi Adityanath, it won’t be without solid hard facts. Ever since he has ascended over the post of Chief Minister, it seems that the days for the corrupt and the criminals are over.
Clamping down on illegal slaughterhouses isn’t the only achievement; Yogi also conducts surprise checks on any government establishment, from schools to police stations. Ask anyone in Hazratganj Police Station, where Yogi conducted his surprise inspection. He spared nothing, mind you, not even the arsenals.
This isn’t all. Yogi Adityanath has also accelerated the action in terms of law and order. Whether it is delivering justice, or making sure that the guilty are behind the bars, Yogi has upped the ante in a way that will surely put his predecessors to shame. Maybe his move of introducing a volunteers’ corps against molestation named Anti Romeo Dal might have brought mixed results, but Yogi has also managed to prevent the making of another Kashmir by giving a free hand to the police, who have finally managed to nab notorious don cum sharpshooter Furqan, who was one of the single biggest man behind the mass exodus of Hindus from Kairana.
So if such a bold and fearless Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath says that the convicts, whether petty criminals or powerful mafia, should receive the same treatment, he actually means it, verbatim.
Yogi Adityanath has also warned that if, by any chance, he receives information of the jail authorities being lenient to the powerful criminals in any respect, he shall take strict action against them on a personal basis. This comes exclusively in context of using medical treatment as an excuse for enjoying luxuries, as has been the norm in the case of prisoners like Amarmani Tripathi, Vikas Yadav etc.
An attack on VIP culture in jails by Yogi Adityanath is quite timely, because such treatment has mostly led to disastrous consequences. Remember the Bhopal escapade? The 8 SIMI terrorists accused of terrorism, who had made weapons from the prison cutlery, and escaped after slitting the throat of one constable. They had access to almost everything, including switched off surveillance cameras. That is the VIP culture, the culture of giving undue privileges to prisoners who can be dangerous to the security and integrity of the nation, irrespective of their ideologies.
In this context, for the first time, Uttar Pradesh is actually leading the way, and we have to thank the brilliant coterie of administrators, led by Yogi Adityanath for that.