As protests against Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 refuses to subside and rather has spread across the state of Uttar Pradesh over the past few weeks with women taking the lead now at many places including the capital Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday accused the opposition parties for using women as “shield” to fuel the agitations.
”The opposition lacks the courage to hold protest demonstrations…hence they have decided to use women and children as a shield. Women are holding dharnas while men are relaxing at home under the blanket,” Adityanath said in Kanpur at a public meeting organised to garner support for the CAA.
Kanpur and other parts of the state are witnessing severe cold, fog and intermittent rains over the last few days with night temperature often falling below 10-degree centigrade.
Yogi claimed, “These women don’t even know what they are protesting for” and warned, “We would take such strict action against those, who damaged public properties, that their future generations would not be able to forget it.”
Uttar Pradesh had witnessed worst violence mid-December soon after the passage of the CAA by the parliament. Over 20 protesters were killed, including two in Lucknow, and hundreds were injured in the clashes.
More than 5,000 people were arrested across the state put up in jail including activists many of them even accused of torture in the police lockup.
Despite police excesses, protests led mostly by women have spread across the state over the past 10 days.
In Lucknow, the police seized blankets, eatables, switched off the street lights and locked the public toilet near the venue to force women to leave. Over 150 women have been booked for rioting since the protest started last Friday.