People’s tribunal on State action in Uttar Pradesh: Jury’s observations

Since 2 January 2020 a team of specialists from the fields of law, higher education, social activism and non-profit organizations have keenly documented statements and testimonies of people in Uttar Pradesh, where violent state action against anti-CAA protestors has claim 25 lives since December 2019. The People’s Tribunal for State Action in Uttar Pradesh consists of the following partner organizations: All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Anhad, Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reform (CJAR), Delhi Science Forum, Karwan-E-Mohabbat, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), Not in My Name Campaign, and the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS). The first part of this collective effort, a report on the violence in Sambhal, was published by The Polis Project here. The Jury’s Observations of the People’s Tribunal are published below.

A protest in UP that turned violent. Introduction As peaceful protests were organized around the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) and the National Population Register (NPR), the state of Uttar Pradesh stands out for the intense harshness of state action to crush the voices of dissent. As in most corners of the country, people, especially women in large numbers, spilled onto the streets to protest the amended citizenship law. It is only in UP [Uttar Pradesh] (and coastal Karnataka) that these protests have turned violent; in both significantly, it is the Bhartiya Janata Party which is at the helm of government. What unfolded was not in the nature of customary state action to control public protests if they turn violent. The statements of the Chief Minister [Ajay Bisht/Yogi Adityanath] were highly intemperate and entirely inappropriate for an elected leader of the most…


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