Saffron scarves a licence to attack police in UP: Akhilesh
LUCKNOW: Calling law and order a ‘serious issue’, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said a new colour saffron, wrapped around one’s neck, had become a licence to beat up policemen, go on the rampage inside a police station and vandalise vehicles in Uttar Pradesh.
“Post Independence, such attacks on the police never happened before,” Akhilesh Yadav said at a press conference here.
The former chief minister’s comments came in the backdrop of right-wing activists beating up policemen in Agra and Saharanpur.
Calling law and order a ‘serious issue’, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said a new colour saffron, wrapped around one’s neck, had become a licence to beat up policemen, go on the rampage inside a police station and vandalise vehicles in Uttar Pradesh.
“Post Independence, such attacks on the police never happened before,” Akhilesh Yadav said at a press conference here.
The former chief minister’s comments came in the backdrop of right-wing activists beating up policemen in Agra and Saharanpur.
“In Kannauj, policemen were bashed up and people (wearing saffron scarves) in Agra clashed with the police. In Allahabad, four of a family were killed,” he said. Yadav said crime incidents were blown out of proportion in his regime. Some of these, like the Badaun rape, never took place he said.
Whenever the Samajwadi Party seeks re-election, the law and order situation invariably became one of the main poll planks and the Akhilesh Yadav government too faced it with the SP going on to lose the recently concluded assembly election.
“The Badaun incident of alleged rape and murder of two sisters during our regime was raked up by the media. All political parties raised a hue and cry over it. But does the Allahabad incident not need any attention?” he asked.
He was referring to the murder of a middle-aged couple and their two young daughters at Nawabganj in Allahabad on Monday. “We will present the SP delegation’s report on the Saharanpur incident tomorrow. Our team has returned and is preparing the report on the Saharanpur incident, where clashes and stone-pelting took place between two communities over the taking out of a procession.”
Asked about former minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, a rape accused, getting bail, Akhilesh said: “It is good that he got bail. Is getting bail wrong?”.
On his dream project, the Agra-Lucknow expressway, which is under the Yogi Adityanath government’s scanner, Akhilesh Yadav said: “If the new government has a problem, they should cancel previous tenders and float fresh ones.”
Reacting to Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Krishna-Sudama’ comment in reference to cashless transactions, Akhilesh Yadav said: “Was there a digital age in the times of Krishna-Sudama? I would love to have Lord Krishna’s email ID.”