Yogi govt puts up 'name-shame posters' of anti-CAA agitators again; cash reward on arrest

On Thursday, Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government declared 14 anti-CAA, anti-NRC protesters as absconders and announced cash rewards for their arrest. Yogi government has resstarted its attempt to nab those who opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last year. Earlier, eight of these 14 protesters were declared wanted under the Gangster Act. The UP government officials also pasted notices outside their houses and all 14 were accused of arson, spreading communal disharmony and causing damage to public properties during the anti-CAA, NRC protest in Lucknow that turned violent. 

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Moreover, posters with pictures of 12 people who allegedly took part in a violent protest against the citizenship law last year and are absconding have cropped up again in Lucknow's Hazratganj. Earlier, the administration had put up hoardings with photographs, names and addresses of those accused of vandalism during protests in December last year, leading to a major controversy. The Allahabad high court had on March 9 directed the Lucknow administration to remove posters displaying pictures.

Later, the Supreme Court told the Uttar Pradesh government that as of now, there was no law that could back their action of putting up the names of protesters. An apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 Allahabad High Court order directing the Yogi Adityanath administration to remove the posters. 

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Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and anti-CAA protests

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014. The Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill on December 11, 2019, and President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on December 12.

READ | Posters of absconding anti-CAA agitators come up again in Lucknow

After the bill was passed by the Parliament, the widespread protest began opposing the Act. The protest took a violent turn when clashes erupted between Delhi Police and Jamia Millia Islamia students. While students allege that Police used brutal force against them and Police allege that students stone-pelted. Thereafter, nationwide protests began against the implementation of CAA and against Police brutality with Delhi's Shaheen Bagh being the most prominent place. On February 24, clashes also broke out between CAA supporters and opposers and soon turned into a riot, killing 53 people and injuring over 200, as per official records. 

Demanding to scrap the contentious law, Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have passed a resolution against CAA. Several other states like Maharashtra have openly opposed CAA-NRC-NPR and Bihar has passed a resolution in favour of old format of NPR.

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