A highly circulated video showing the Uttar Pradesh police thrashing women in Ambedkar Nagar is sparking outrage.
In the video, it reveals dozens of Uttar Pradesh police armed with sticks, violently thrashing women and giving them lewd abuses. The women run away to protect themselves from the lashings and one of them crumbles to the ground.
The viral video shows women being dragged and manhandled by police and shockingly, even women police are seen in the video, involved in attacking the women.
Politicians and activists condemned the incident and criticized Yogi Adityanath’s police policy which gives full rights to the police to brutalize the public.
Chandra Shekhar Aazad, the Bhim Army Chief condemned the incident and said, “Yogi’s police brutally lathi-charged the women protesting against the excavation of the foundation near the statue of Baba Saheb in Ambedkar Nagar.
On one hand, Modi ji talks about women’s honor, and on the other hand, the BJP government of UP respects women by beating them with sticks. The truth of words and deeds is in front.”
Video journalist, Waseem Zaidi shared the video, tweeting, “UP Police running barbaric sticks on daughters in Ambedkar Nagar, giving them lewd abuses, is this smart policing?
यूपी @Uppolice द्वारा अम्बेडकरनगर मे बेटियों पर बर्बरतापूर्ण लाठी चलाना उन्हें भद्दी गालियाँ देना क्या यही है स्मार्ट पुलिसिंग ?
Follow 👉 @Rehan_Alam3 https://t.co/e0HSlLhLYi pic.twitter.com/6QhJYdOVI8— Waseem Zaidi (@newswaseemzaidi) November 6, 2022
Professor Ashok Swain tweeted, “They say in Indian culture, women are seen as goddesses! Male Police officers in UP, India barbarically beating up Dalit women.”
They say in Indian culture, women are seen as goddesses!
Male Police officers in UP, India barbarically beating up Dalit women. pic.twitter.com/8J6pFPfaho— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) November 6, 2022
Someone tweeted: “Yogi Adityanath’s police are giving absurd evidence of manhood of himself and the government by running sticks on women.”
UP Police’s brutality shows that Indian law enforcement remains true to its past colonial heritage. The 1923 Goondas Act, which laid the foundation for legislation like the UP Gangsters Act, established a principle: No crime needs to be committed for punishment. This gives the cops the full rights to do what they want with no accountability. Even if they murdered someone, they will not be questioned because they will simply put forth they were “protecting” the State.
The Brutality and Entitlement of the UP Police
Journalists have been arrested in the dead of the night and brutally tortured. In an earlier video, a UP cop is seen sitting on top of a woman and hitting her has gone viral on social media. The Hathras Case saw the police downplaying the horrific incident. During the massive protests across the country regarding the demeaning comments made against Prophet Muhammad by former BJP functionaries Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh posted a video on Saturday, 11 June, with the caption “balvaiyon ko return gift” which translates to “a return gift to the rioters.”
The video uploaded on Twitter by the BJP legislator, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, shows two policemen in uniform whipping nine people who were allegedly involved in the riots. The visual shows the people in custody begging for mercy and pleading with the police to stop hurting them, as they continue to get whipped by the police.
In the name of curbing ‘violent protests’, the UP Police has been using brutal and excessive force, which has reportedly included firing indiscriminately into crowds, beating people, and torturing them.
The Uttar Pradesh police are entitled under the Yogi government and the situation is degenerating into barbarism.