New Delhi: Stepping up the attack on the BJP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made an unscheduled visit to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh to visit the victims of the alleged police atrocities. She met the families of those who bore the brunt of the recent violent protests against the amended Citizenship Act (CAA).
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed Priyanka’s visit as part of “appeasement politics” and questioned her “sympathy for rioters”.
“Why so much sympathy to those who burn, vandalise your property? Why are they standing with rioters and hooligans who harm peace, security and public property of the country. People are watching and they understand. Despite being rejected repeatedly, they are not desisting from politics of appeasement. They will never succeed in their designs,” a tweet from Yogi Adityanath Office said.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said all the injured persons have accused the police of unleashing a reign of terror and thrashing them for no fault of theirs. She claimed the police entered the madarsa and beat up the maulana and his students.
“I met Maulana Asad Hussaini, who was brutally thrashed by the police. Students of the madarsa, including minors, were picked up by the police without any reason. Some of them some have been released and some are still in custody,” she said while speaking to reporters.
Priyanka Gandhi also went to the house of Noor Mohammad who lost his life during the protests. She spoke with his seven-month pregnant widow and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. She also met Rukaiya, who will be getting married on Saturday, and said the police vandalised her house and damaged things bought for her wedding.
The Congress leaders had last week visited Lucknow and met the kin of those injured or killed during the violent protests against the CAA. Earlier, she had gone to Bijnor and met the families of those killed in the violent clashes there. But she and her brother Rahul Gandhi were not allowed to enter Meerut in December last week when the protests were on peak in UP.
Meanwhile, former IAS officer Kannan Gopikrishnan was detained in UP on Saturday while he was on his way to Aligarh Muslim university to address a gathering on CAA, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.
In Mumbai, a group of artists held a protest by creating paintings around the theme of ‘Save Constitution’. The protest was organised by the Secular Movement and the Secular Artist Movement at the Azad Maidan in south Mumnbai.
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha announced that his political action group — Rashtra Manch — will take out a ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra 2020’ from Mumbai to Delhi to demand withdrawal of the CAA.
