An FIR was lodged against Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav under the Epidemic Act on Monday, 7 December. He had been detained for about 5 hours by the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), after he defied the administration’s efforts to put him under house arrest.
He had stepped outside his Lucknow residence to lead a sit-in protest on the road in support of the farmers, news agency PTI reported.
Yadav broke through the barriers outside his home, faced resistance from the police for stepping out and sat in ‘dharna’ in the heart of Lucknow, before he was forced inside the police van.
The SP chief has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker, stating he is being stopped from exercising his democratic rights.
After mentioning that the UP Police seized his vehicles, barricaded his home and stopped him from going to the protest that was planned at Janpad Kannauj, he urged the speaker to intervene and ensure that his right to peaceful protest is protected.
An anti-riot team was stationed outside Samajwadi Party leader Yadav’s residence to prevent him from taking out a Kisan Yatra and keep him under house arrest. Heavy police was also deployed at the Samajwadi Party’s headquarters on Vikramaditya Marg, and several SP leaders were detained.
Last week, Yadav had announced a statewide Kisan Yatra to Kannauj on foot, bicycles, motorcycles and tractors as a symbol of resistance towards the government’s new agriculture laws.
SP state spokesperson and former UP minister Rajendra Chaudhary called the SP leader’s house arrest “anti-democratic”.
‘This Government Is So Scared of Akhilesh Ji’
“This government is so scared of Akhilesh ji taking to streets. He has to go there to participate in the farmers’ protest and drive a tractor along with the farmers to raise their issue. First the central government introduced draconian farm laws and now the state government is preventing our party from protesting,” he said.
On Monday, Yadav tweeted “Kadam kadam badhaye jaa, dambh ka sar jhukaye jaa, yeh jung hai zameen ki, apni jaan bhi lagaye jaa” (you must march on, the head of arrogance must be lowered, this is the fight for land, put your life at stake).
While a senior official has said that they “cannot allow any congregation of people to take place” during the COVID-19 medical emergency, the SP chief has maintained his stance on the demonstration, saying “Our workers have protested at several locations. They (Police) can put us in jail if they want. They've stopped our vehicles. We'll walk,” ANI UP reported.
Thousands of farmers in and around the national capital have been protesting against the Modi-government’s agriculture laws. Several political parties, including the Congress, the BSP, and now the SP, have voiced their support for the agitating farmers.
(with inputs from Hindustan Times, ANI, PTI, IANS and NDTV)
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