Congress leaders on Monday met the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to file a complaint ‘against the action of Uttar Pradesh police on the protesters’ during demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) last month.
At least 19 people were killed in alleged police firing during protests in Uttar Pradesh in December last year. While state police initially denied firing any bullets on protesters, it later conceded but has maintained that it was not responsible for any deaths.
Top Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, were part of the delegation that met the NHRC on Monday.
During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said, “We can’t become a country where the leadership brutalises its own people. You (NHRC) are the appropriate institution to safeguard Human Rights. If NHRC goes into details of what is submitted, you will be convinced that something terribly wrong has happened in UP.”
“There is a systematic process being put in place across the country. They are inducting Police mitras to brutalise people. What is taking place is against the idea of India and the Constitution,” he added.
Massive protests have emerged across the country following the introduction of the new citizenship law. The new law promises citizenship to members of 6 non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014.
Critics say that the new law is against the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and clubbed with the proposed NRC may be misused to strip away some Muslims’ citizenship in the country. The BJP, however, has argued that the law has nothing to do with India’s Muslims and only helps those who fled religious persecution in the neighbouring countries.
Source: dnaindia.com