Govt using UAPA to suppress voices against it: RLD's Jayant Chaudhary

The Centre is using the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to ''suppress'' the voices of people who speak against the government, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary alleged on Wednesday.

He also hit out at the Centre for not taking action against Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra 'Teni', whose son has been arrested as an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that left eight people, including four farmers, dead.

The RLD leader lashed out at the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government, both led by the BJP, during public programmes in Hathras and Bulandshahr on Wednesday as part of his ongoing 'Ashirwad Path' campaign ahead of state assembly polls.

''The prime minister (Narendra Modi) should have got the Union MoS Home arrested but he was not arrested and instead called to Delhi where the Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) made him sit by his side and sent him back with his blessings to continue his work which is to crush the farmers, suppress the voices being raised against them,'' he told the gatherings, according to an RLD statement.

''There is a law, UAPA, which is used for the prevention of terrorist incidents. Today the same law is used by the government to stop the voices being raised against it. Since Modi ji has come to power, 8,300 cases have been registered under UAPA. This law is being used against those who speak against the government,'' he alleged.

Claiming that journalists who are "exposing" the government have been sent to jail under UAPA, he wondered why the same stringent law is not invoked against people who are ''oppressing'' farmers.

''Are such people (who oppress farmers) not terrorists?'' he asked the crowds.

''There is only one solution to such cruel thinking. They should be sent back in the same way in which they came to power in this democracy,'' Chaudhary said.

In a jibe at Modi, Chaudhary said, ''Our prime minister would tweet on everything and would even wish Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on his birthdays but is yet to tweet about the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.'' During the Wednesday events, the RLD chief promised to increase MSP on crops to farmers, starting new incentives and schemes for the farming community and implementing police reforms if his party comes to power in the state in next elections, due in 2022.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)