Senior official defends Meerut SP’s ‘go to Pak’ remark during anti-CAA protest
Better words could have been chosen if situation was normal but it wasn’t. Cops showed a lot of patience, says ADG
LUCKNOW/MEERUT: The situation in Meerut was very tense during the protests against the amended citizenship law, a senior police official said after a video showing an officer of the force using communal language in the sensitive town went viral.
The response from the additional director general of police (Meerut Zone), Prashant Kumar, came after a video showing superintendent of police (city), Akhilesh Narayan Singh, telling a group of Muslims to go to Pakistan was widely circulated on social media on Friday.
Kumar said that some people were raising pro-Pakistan slogans and distributing objectionable pamphlets in support of Popular Front of India and Social Democratic Party of India. The PFI is allegedly influenced by the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned terror outfit.
Kumar said after receiving information about the sloganshouting, SP City and DM City went to the spot and told the people that they can leave if they want to. He said the video, which has triggered a controversy, was part of a conspiracy, as it was being circulated a week after the incident and when the situation was turning peaceful in the area.
“We were pelted with stones and anti-nationals slogans were being shouted despite our appeals,” Kumar said. “Better words could have been chosen if the situation was normal. But the situation wasn’t normal and cops showed a lot of patience and restraint,” he added.
The video seemed to have been shot inside a narrow lane where locals had clashed with police and shouted slogans during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in Meerut on December 20 that turned violent.
At least five people were killed in the city during violent protests against the new citizenship law that favours non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Protestors had set over two dozen police vehicles on fire and pelted stones. In the video, Singh is heard telling a group of Muslim men to go to Pakistan. Singh was seen expressing his anger at the people who were wearing black and green bands.
Singh said while speaking to Hindustan Times on Friday said that whatever was heard in the video was his response to a group of protesters who shouted proPakistan slogans and said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. “In response, I advised them to better go to Pakistan in whose support they were shouting slogans,” he explained.
He questioned the reason behind people shouting slogans only in support of Pakistan. “I believe anyone who loves his country can’t tolerate such slogans,” he said.
After Samajwadi Party’s legislator from Meerut City area Rafeeq Ansari condemned Singh’s comments, the state police came under attack from Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“The Constitution of India does not allow anyone to use such language against any citizen and if you are an official holding a responsible post, your responsibility is more,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi on Saturday.
“The BJP has poisoned the institutions with communalism to such an extent that none of the officials respects the oath of the Constitution they take,” she added. (WITH PTI INPUTS)