The state of Uttar Pradesh has been one of the worst affected in terms of anti-CAA violence. The death toll in the state went up to 19, and the police have also suffered injuries in large numbers, including dozens of bullet injuries owing to arson, vandalism and rioting against the Amendment legislation. The state had to suffer such communal violence only because a particular political class indulged in rumouring and fear-mongering for political gains.
In such circumstances, the former Uttar Pradesh CM, Akhilesh Yadav has made a shameful remark that is only going to encourage and instigate rioters to indulge in even more violence. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has assured that cases filed against “protesters” taking part in the anti CAA agitation will be withdrawn once the SP comes back into power.
Akhilesh Yadav said, “Samajwadis are not afraid of FIRs. When the CM himself withdraws cases against him, then I assure you that all cases against you (protesters) will be withdrawn once SP forms the government.”
Akhilesh Yadav’s statement however shameful does not come as a surprise. Even during his tenure, Uttar Pradesh had got reduced into an Islamist communal tinderbox with the Akhilesh Yadav led government unabashedly indulging in Muslim appeasement. The SP government had given a free run to rioting Islamists and Muslim goons.
Akhilesh Yadav has played the gambit of withdrawing cases against rioters and terror accused in the past as well. During his Chief Ministerial tenure, Akhilesh Yadav had assured Muslim leaders of withdrawing terror cases against “innocent Muslims”. This appeasement tactic had however failed with the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court stating that the Uttar Pradesh government could not withdraw such terror cases without Centre’s consent as most of the terror accused were booked under Central Acts.
In another such blatant attempt to appease the Islamists and Muslim radicals at an exorbitant cost of imperilling law and order in the state, Akhilesh Yadav had also withdrawn cases relating to the Muzaffarnagar riots against 16 Muslim leaders, including BSP leader Qader Rana. Owing to such blatant and unabashed Muslim appeasement, Uttar Pradesh has become the hotbed of rioting. In 2012, the meteoric rise in rioting due to the policies of the Akhilesh Yadav government had led to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) getting alarmed and informing the Centre about the “volatile situation” in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
In the year 2013, maximum riots had taken place in the state of Uttar Pradesh under Akhilesh Yadav’s watch. There were a total of 247 riots, claiming 77 lives that year. Maharashtra followed UP with 88 riots. Akhilesh Yadav had thus given a free hand to the Islamist rioters to imperil the lives of the ordinary citizens in Uttar Pradesh for mere political gains. The fact that the state witnessed such intense rioting a year before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls manifests clear malice on the part of Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party.
With his statement about withdrawing cases against anti CAA “protests” (read ‘rioters’), Akhilesh Yadav had made a treacherous attempt to take the state back to the days of Islamist radicalism and communal rioting which the Samajwadi Party had unleashed during its tenure. Withdrawal of cases against rioters and Islamists is the reason why Akhilesh Yadav was thrown out of power in the most impassionate manner by the people of Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh Yadav threatens to take the state back to those days when it was at the mercy of Islamist goons and rioters. Thus, it is all the more necessary that the party is kept out of power in 2022 as well. The people of Uttar Pradesh must remain very careful of such political outfits which unabashedly follow the politics of minority appeasement and giving a free hand to rioters by withdrawing cases against them.