Updated: October 7, 2020 7:04:12 am
Flowers scattered on the funeral pyre of the 19-year-old. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
Versus questions about managing your government On the Hathras case and with some critical voices within it, Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath fought back on Tuesday invoking his crackdown on protests against the CAA to underscore his determination to counter what he called an opposition conspiracy.
“You must have seen their faces, the ones who protested the CAA; those who, during the crown pandemic, sheltered Tablighi Jamaat to try to spread the disease … who tried to sow anarchy at different levels in the state … were not only unmasked by the government but also took measures to counter these elements, ”said the Chief. Minister.
He claimed there was a plot to defame the image of his government by fostering “animosity” in society. “The opposition has no other problem to raise than to indulge in negative publicity. They are constantly trying to create divisions … they create obstacles (in development), ”said the CM.
His comments came hours after the BJP, for the first time from its national platform since the Hathras incident, accused the Opposition of selecting cases on “vote bank” considerations.
Said BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam, himself a Dalit leader: “Any crime – rape, murder – committed against a daughter, whether Dalit or poor, is abhorrent regardless of the government that is there. It’s sad when people choose a crime by looking at who is in power and to which community the murderers or rapists belong … which is the vote bank there ”.
These comments, in Lucknow and New Delhi, are part of the BJP’s campaign to underscore that the same group of protesters, from opposition political parties and civil society, flit from one issue to another (CAA or Farm Bills or Hathras ) and your target to attack. the legitimacy of an elected government cannot be counteracted politically.
But what has complicated this narrative a bit in Hathras is the fact that the woman is a Dalit and the BJP, lately, has been highlighting the tension between Dalits and Muslims – there have been several arrests in a series of clashes – and it is aware of the political cost of being seen as insensitive to Dalits. Furthermore, when Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar Azad He very visibly joined the protests.
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Not just the night cremation, the way the police handled political leaders and a section of the media has also been criticized by some party leaders.
This narrative, to link the Hathras protests with the broader rejection of opposition parties and activists, was debated at the first meeting of newly appointed national incumbents that party chairman JP Nadda took on Tuesday.
This is also meant to counteract restlessness inside the party against the way the administration handled the Hathras incidents.
“Some MPs, MLA and even ministers do not agree with how things turned out. Many of them feel that the prime minister is poorly advised by the clique of officials that surround him, ”said a senior party deputy.
Another party leader from Uttar Pradesh said: “The CM relies on bureaucratic advisers who could be helpful in crisis. But what he overlooks are political contributions. He had not received any political comment on the events (of Hathras) until the night drama of the cremation. “
At least three MPs and two members of the board of directors said that the Chief Minister was not informed about the “real” situation on the ground.
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Tight security in Hathras village on Monday. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)
Said a senior BJP leader familiar with the government’s response: “No one seemed to have told the Chief Minister that the police pushing for the cremation of a Dalit girl at night, all caught on camera, sends a very negative signal… they had convinced to the CM that was necessary to avoid any incident of public order in the morning. It was a bureaucratic response, not a political one, and it hurt us. That it was wrong was evident the next day when temperatures dropped once we lifted the blockade and allowed people to meet the family. “
Not only the night cremation, the way the police handled political leaders and media section it has also been criticized by some party leaders.
Former Union Minister Uma Bharti and Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, who is from the Dalit community, have questioned the state government’s handling of the Hathras case.
Opinion | Tavleen Singh writes: Hathras is a mirror in which we see the flaws of Indian democracy
The timing could not be more crucial, with less than three weeks until the Bihar elections, said a senior leader. A state where the support base of the Dalits / backward classes is significant and where an anti-Dalit signal can come at great political cost. “The image of the Chief Minister and our government was affected. It is not a positive event. We need to work on all fronts, legal and political, to control the damage, ”said a BJP leader. “That explains our decision to seek an IWC investigation … we have even urged the Supreme Court to oversee the investigation, there is nothing to hide.”
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