The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will launch a ‘Jail Bharo’ movement to protest against the Yogi government’s failure in addressing farmers’ woes and ordering encounters in the state.
This was informed by member of CPI (M) polit bureau Subhasini Ali during her interaction with media persons at state CPI headquarters in lucknow on Tuesday.
Ali said that the public angst against the BJP government was brewing and this was evident as the ruling party faced poll drubbings in recent Assembly and lok Sabha bypolls.
“The BJP did nothing for farmers benefit nor did it clear their arrears. Canals are drying up this summer and farmers are passing through a harrowing time. I heard from some officials that the state government was planning to stop water to canals to meet the water supply for Kumbha,” she said.
Welcoming the Apex court decision to seek reply from UP government on encounters, she said that the Yogi government claimed that they would lower the crime rate by intimidating criminals.
“The dossiers on the crime, however tells a different story. The data showed that overall crime had increased by 85 per cent in UP while crime against women witnessed a spurt of 71 per cent with large number of rape cases being reported in the last one year. One will seldom agree that the order to carry out encounters had lessened crime in the state,” Ali hit out at the state government.
She went on to say that most encounters which took place in UP were staged and conducted out of personal enmity.
“We have heard that police used to terrorize innocents by threatening to send them to jail. Some of those killed in encounters might havehad animosity with policemen and they were killed over this,” she said.
The CPI (M) leader said her party condemned the encounters which were taking place in UP and said it was violation of human rights of a person.
She highlighted police highhandedness saying that the police challaned and sent to jail minors treating them as adult in some districts of west UP.
“Four minor Dalits were jailed under National Security Act for voicing concern during ‘Bharat Bandh’ in Meerut on May 2. A dozen of Dalits including four minors were sent to jail and were put along with adult criminals which is a gross violation of rights of children,” she pointed out.
She also spoke on GST and said that the Union government was celebrating the successful passing of one year of GST.
“Contrary to this, the public at large is not happy with the GST. Small time shop owners are the worst hit. The GST is so confusing that most vendors had wound up businesses,” she said.
About united opposition and alliance partners during the 2019 elections, Ali said that she was not an astrologer to foretell but one thing was sure that the BJP was not coming to power at the Centre again.