On Sunday evening, while on the one hand PM Modi was giving long, flowery speeches about how he belonged to Lucknow, UP and how he will “return the love of people with an interest” (pyaar byaj samet lataunga) during a ceremony of investment projects worth Rs. 60000 crores, on the other, UP police continued its harassment tactic in order to ‘pre-empt’ any kind of protests which could be a bad PR for the PM. Taking their cue from the Allahabad protest, in which two girls were beaten up brutally, their hair pulled for showing black flags to Amit Shah’s caravan, the Lucknow police literally kidnapped the 23 year old student leader Pooja Shukla on Saturday evening, July 28. She was let off only around night 9 pm after hours of harassment, mental and physical torture and also attempts to misguide her family and acquaintances about her whereabouts.
As if this wasn’t enough, they raided Pooja Shukla’s residence in Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow several times on Sunday, July 29 in a bid to threaten and intimidate her family. Reportedly, they told Pooja’s father, “Why don’t you tell your daughter to leave all this [her protests on refusal of admission]? Why don’t you all make her understand not to do these things?” Since Pooja had decided to stay back at her friend’s place in the Polytechnic area apprehending (foreseeing) such intimidation, her father answered the police, “How can we tell her anything, we haven’t spoken a word with her since Saturday evening”
Shukla feels, “Woh haemin nahi torture kar pa rahe na isliye ab ghar walon ko ja jakar pareshan kar rahe hainI” (Since they aren’t able to break my will by their torture, the easier thing for them to do is to target my parents, people from the Mohalla where I stay. This is to create pressures on me. Now the Mohalla people aren’t talking to us properly”
The 23 year old student leader had gone on a hunger strike when the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Lucknow University (LU) withheld her entrance exam results, barring her from taking admission in a master’s course. The 23 year old firebrand activist who had raised black flags against Chief Minister Adityanath in June last year. Subsequently, Shukla along with fellow protesters was brutalised by UP police, lathi-charged, her clothes torn, though there was FIR lodged against her. Due to the police torture she had fainted and suffered hypotension and dehydration. During this time, police also forced her to break her fast, stop the strike and take back her demands. Since then there has been constant threat to her life because of her peaceful movement against the irregularities in admission procedure of LU.
Not only the raids at her own house, the police kept a vigil at her friend’s house since Saturday evening till yesterday, Sunday evening- till the time all planned public event/s of PM’s weren’t over. Her friend who is also a school teacher and activist in from the area, says, “We were so scared of them, we didn’t step out of our house all day. I am a working woman, I had to finish household chores yesterday, but I was practically rendered immobile because of such patrolling and vigilance.” Her friend who was exhausted following up on Pooja since Saturday as she was Pooja’s main contact person added, “We are living in great stress and fear. I fail to understand. What does this giant establishment have to fear from this harmless, 23 year old girl. Why are they harassing her and all of us so much.” She also added that some other young activists were called to police stations and made to sit for hours just so that nobody “can indulge in any form of protest.”
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), sister concern of Sabrang, had written to the NHRC demanding an end to police brutality on peaceful protesters. Significantly, CJP heard from NHRC on the very day that Pooja got abducted, that it has asked the concerned authorities to submit a report within four weeks in cases of police violence in cases such as those of Pooja Shukla, Richa Singh from UP and other protesters in New Delhi and other parts of India. Despite such a development, the authorities unleashed a reign of terror and allegedly abducted Pooja Shukla.
It is bizarre that Yogi Adityanath led BJP government fears a 23 year old student activist so much that they have to resort to abduction, intimidation, raids and mental torture of this level. However, it is not utterly unsurprising considering the low tolerance of the central government for dissent and freedom of expression. But by indulging in such intimidation tactics against youth leader, the government may just be digging its own grave.
Related:
Student leaders express anger over beating and arrest of Pooja Shukla and others
Stop Police Excesses on Peaceful Protesters
Student leader Richa Singh arrested for protesting against exam paper mix-up