The state of UP is facing lawlessness and extended rates of illegal activities, a day after several disorders were seen across the state- India awakened to full-page advertisements in leading newspapers on the achievements of the Yogi- run government.
The New Leam Staff
The state of UP is facing a serious law and order crisis and there are few who can deny it. On 6th March, four heinous incidences took place in the state and this unleashed the lawlessness within the state. These reports were printed in newspapers and reported in many online platforms but the state government chose not to give any immediate response to it. Instead of delivering any cogent response to it, the government came up with full page newspaper ads about how the state’s administration had a ‘zero tolerance; towards crime in UP.
Right wingers attack Kashmiris seeling dry fruits on footpath at #Daliganj Bridge in #Lucknow on Wednesday, just coz they were ‘Kashmiris’@ipsnaithani @lkopolice Plz take strict action
This is shameful & unacceptable@PMOIndia what is happening in your @BJP4India state @BJP4UP ? pic.twitter.com/hWZrLk2BKm— Ankush Prashar🇮🇳 (@ankush_prashar) March 6, 2019
On Wednesday, two Kahsmiri roadside vendors in Lucknow were attacked by a group of men who not only attacked them in broad daylight but also filmed and uploaded its video. The state of law and order in UP can be estimated by the fact that the assault took place in daylight and those who assaulted the street vendors themselves made it into a video. The video of the assault was widely distributed on social media.
On the same day another tragic event broke out in Muzzafarnagar when BJP workers assaulted a young man who dared to question the government’s claims over politics and education. It was on the same day that in Sant Kabir district, an altercation between a BJP MP and MLA culminated in blows.
It happened when BJP MP Sharad Tripathi demanded to know why his image was not included on the foundation stone for a road. The argument heated up between the two and eventually led to a huge argument when Tripathi took off his shoe and whacking Baghel multiple times on his head with it. The supporters of Baghel then went to ransack the office of the district magistrate. In Meerut, clashes broke out between residents and police in Meerut. The residents alleged that the police also burnt their homes. The rioting mobs set fire to the private vehicles and buses and the altercation with police worsened.
The day was an example of the heightened sense of lawlessness in the state. It was more expected of the state to take action on these matters and address the matter. The visible response to this extreme lawlessness was advertisements by the state. On Thursday, the state government had ads in major newspapers across states about how the status quo in UP had improved and how the state government had zero tolerance towards crime. The advertisements carried many bullet points such as-
- Zero tolerance towards crime in place
- 7043 criminals have been arrested and 69 neutralised during the encounters with police teams
- As many as 11981 criminals got their bails cancelled and surrendered to courts realising the change in policy.
One of the arguments that can be given in defence of the advertisement is that the advertisements may have been planned in advance and not necessarily as a response to the crimes. But what one does wonder at this juncture is how the ‘achievements’ of the UP government would benefit people living in other states of the nation or why the state thought it would be necessary to spend money to advertise about its achievements in newspapers meant for states other than UP? Would this advertisement help the people of UP or make their lives less miserable? Would spending extensively on advertisement campaigns solve the state’s lawlessness? It is high time that the state’s treasures were utilised to fixing law and order within the state and not utilised for advertisement and public relation operations.
