LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh — The Uttar Pradesh Police has been accused of beating and torturing social activists who were arrested after the peaceful demonstration they had organised to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was disrupted by masked men who unleashed violence on 19 December, 2019.

Of the more than 200 people arrested in Lucknow that day, at least 30 were held at the Hazratganj Police Station in the heart of the city. Following their release on bail, at least three activists gave detailed accounts of the extreme brutality perpetrated by the police—which is in contravention of the laws and procedures of arrest and detention in the country—to HuffPost India.


In an interview with HuffPost India, Shrikant Sharma, energy minister in Yogi Adityanath’s cabinet, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in UP will not investigate these allegations of its own accord, and placed the onus on anyone alleging mistreatment to move the courts or approach the SITs (Special Investigation Teams) being set up to investigate the violence which erupted in UP in December.

Sharma, who is also the spokesperson for the state BJP government, also spoke about why the state government has readied a list of refugees even before the rules for implementing CAA are yet to be notified, and why it does not allow even peaceful protests and dissent in Lucknow.


Edited excerpts:

Activists who were arrested on 19 December say they were badly beaten in the Hazratganj thana. Their bail orders say the police have no evidence against them. Why have they been subjected to so much violence?

I have a counter-question for you. What is the reason that you have lynched the police? There is no law that says you can surround the police and burn them. (Ed: This is a claim made by the Meerut Superintendent of Police Akhilesh Narayan Singh). They burnt a bus in which women and children were sitting. What has the government done that they are doing this? Why are you taking the law in your hands?


The law prevails in this state. If anyone has any complaint against the state, go to the court and make your appeal. We have set up SITs in each state to investigate the violence. If you were not there then you can go tell the SIT.

I’m talking about the people that I have reported on and they did not do any of these things. They were peaceful protesters. Sadaf Jafar was not throwing stones at anyone. She was beaten inside the Hazratganj thana. Who will be held accountable?

The government has a clear stand…

The names of SHO Dheerendra Kushwaha and SSP Kalanidhi Naithani have been put forward by the activists.

Law prevails in this state. If anyone takes the law in their hands, the law will do its work. If anyone thinks they have faced misbehaviour and injustice, then they should go to court. They can go to the SIT and tell their side of the story. In each district, SP Crime is looking at the work of the SIT.


Activist Deepak Kabir says he was beaten in the presence of SSP Naithani. Sadaf Jafar says she was beaten by male constables. A Dalit activist Pawan Rao Ambedkar says a helmet was broken on his head. The names of the SSP and the SHO have come up. Surely, this warrants a departmental inquiry?

The investigation is going on. I’m telling you again and again that SITs are investigating this whole matter. And SP Crime is overseeing the SIT in each district. Wherever these kinds of complaints are being lodged with the SIT, the SIT is looking into it. If there has been misbehaviour against anyone in a thana or a wrongful FIR has been lodged, then they can raise the matter with the SIT.


But with respect to Hazratganj thana…

I have been quite specific about what the government is doing. I kindly request you not to repeat this question.

But does this not warrant a departmental inquiry on its own? A person will have to go to the SIT and first raise allegations against the SHO…

I’m talking to you about investigations. SIT is investigating all the issues that you are alleging.

Okay, so there is an investigation if someone goes and complains to the SIT, as you say. Why was there violence in the first place? Why was a woman beaten in custody? It was not in the heat of the moment. The violence played out for hours at Hazratganj thana. They were not even given food and water…

The government is responsible for the security of 22 crore people. To give that security, the government is responsible for the law and order. In all that, if something wrong has been done to someone, that person can complain to the SIT. That is why the SIT has been made. This is my final answer.