Yogi Adityanath claimed “people do not have the courage to participate in the protests on their own”. Express Photo Yogi Adityanath claimed “people do not have the courage to participate in the protests on their own”. Express Photo

Calling the chanting of ‘azadi’ slogan by anti-CAA protesters “deshdroh (treason)”, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said his government will take “very strict action” against those raising it. Criticising the ongoing protests further, he said it is “shameful” that men sit in the comfort of their homes and send women and children out on the streets to agitate.

Addressing a BJP rally in support of CAA in Kanpur, the Chief Minister said, “Uttar Pradesh ki dharti pe main ish baat ko kahunga.. dharna pradarshan ke naam par Kashmir mein jo kabhi azadi ke naare lagte they… agar is prakaar ke naare lagaane ka karya karoge to yeh deshdroh ki shreni mein aayega aur phir… Ispe kathortam kaarwai sarkar karegi (I want to say that if in the name of protest, anyone raises slogans of azadi like in Kashmir, then it would be considered an act of treason, and the government will take very strict action).” (Click here to read this story in Malayalam)

Women have been holding protests in different parts of country against the new citizenship law. In Uttar Pradesh, they are holding protests at Ghantaghar and Gomti Nagar in Lucknow and Mansoor Ali Park in Prayagraj.

“These people do not have the courage to participate in the protests on their own. They know if they indulge in vandalism, their properties will be attached. Now, they have started making women and children of their house sit on roads. Itna bada apradh ki purush ghar mein so raha hai rajai odh ke, aur mahilaon ko aage karke chaurahe-chaurahe baithaya ja raha hai (It’s such a crime that the men are sleeping under quilts and women are made to sit on street corners.)

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He also asked people to go to the protest sites and ask the woman protesters why they are protesting. “They would tell you that the men of their homes told them that they failed to do anything and have asked them to sit on roads instead,” the CM said.

The BJP leader also hit out at the Opposition SP, Congress and Left. “How shameful is this for the Congress, SP and Left to do politics putting the country at stake and adopting such methods of protest where women are put in the front, who do not even know about CAA,” he said. “For them, the country is not important. The Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis are not important. Now, for the Congress, even the Christians are not important. And they have said the protests will continue against the CAA until the ISI agents are given entry into India.”

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