Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that all deaths during anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh were caused by police bullets and said the BJP’s campaign in support of the Act was to “mislead” people.
Mr. Yadav, who visited the residence of Mohammad Wakil killed during an anti-CAA protest in the State capital, said, “He [Wakil] was not involved in the agitation. The government should probe as to whose bullet hit him. They [police] have the post-mortem report now.”
“All the deaths during the agitation in the State were caused by police bullets,” he said.
Mr. Yadav also demanded compensation, a house and jobs for Wakil’s family, currently living in a rented accommodation.
He said families of those killed during the protests should be given adequate compensation.
The U.P. police initially claimed that none of the deaths were caused by police firing, but subsequently admitted some casualties when cops fired in “self defence”. Officials have put the death toll at 19 in widespread clashes in the State, though opposition parties claim a higher figure.
Mr. Yadav said that if the government wanted to make persons from another country its citizens, then why not give this same “right” to Muslims. “This is because you [BJP] want to divide the society and play politics. Every Indian is against the CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019] and the NRC [National Register of Citizens]. When Aadhaar has all the information, why the NPR [National Population Register]?” he asked.
“In a village, who has papers? From where will I bring the date of birth paper of my mother. The government wants the people to only search for papers and not do daily chores,” he said.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s disobedience movement, Mr. Yadav said they will use a similar strategy of “Satyagraha” by refusing to fill the form.
Noting that people from all castes and religions were coming out against the CAA and the NPR, Mr. Yadav said, “The BJP knows its decision is wrong and against the Constitution.”
Asked to comment on the BJP’s campaign in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, he said it was to “mislead” people. “The BJP is misleading the people. What will they tell the people now? They could not convince us in Parliament. Now, they have come out to mislead the people,” he said.
His remarks came hours after the BJP launched a 10-day campaign to dispel doubts about the law and also inform people on “how the Congress and other Opposition parties were spreading lies about the CAA and inciting rebellion and anarchy in the country for their politics of appeasement”.
