Lucknow: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh for the arrest of social activist and party worker Sadaf Jafar and said that she was sent to jail by the police on “baseless allegations”.
“UP government has crossed all levels of inhumanity. In a video, Congress worker Sadaf Jafar can be clearly seen asking the police to arrest those who are indulging in violence. The police have put Sadaf in jail by levelling baseless allegations against her,” Priyanka tweeted in Hindi.
The Congress leader said that Zafar’s children are eagerly awaiting the release of their mother.
“This insensitive government has separated children from their mothers and old men from their children,” Priyanka said in a follow-up tweet.
According to reports, Jafar is currently in police custody after she was picked up by the police on December 19, during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state.
Priyanka has been vociferously criticising the Uttar Pradesh Police for the way in which it dealt with protesters during the anti-citizenship law agitations in the state.
Earlier on Saturday, she had demanded action against those who assaulted students and youth “without any reason”.
“I demand action against those who assault and put students and youth in jail without any reason. In Varanasi, those students who were peacefully protesting were put in jail. Through some videos, we have seen police personnel vandalising vehicles. I demand strict action against them,” Priyanka told reporters here.
The Congress leader also said she was against those who incite violence. “We have been fighting and will continue to fight. We will stand tall against all the injustice taking place against women, farmers and youth. It is our duty,” she added.
Protests erupted in different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.