LUCKNOW: India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state is demanding millions of rupees from over 200 people and threatening to confiscate their property as a penalty for damage done to public property during protests against the new citizenship law.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has suffered some of the most violent protests against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, which gives minorities who have
migrated from three neighbouring countries a path to citizenship but doesn’t make the same concessions for Muslims.
At least 15 of the 21 people killed in the protests have been in Uttar Pradesh, a state that has been a tinder box for tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities.
At least 230 such notices have been issued, and most of the people they had been issued to were Muslims, state government officials said on Thursday. The claims are likely to run into tens of millions of rupees, they said.
It was unclear how many of them have been charged with rioting or other crimes, and none have been convicted.
In the town of Rampur, the family of Mohammad Faheem, whose brother-in-law Mohammad Mehmood is in police custody, has received one such notice. “Mehmood did not participate in a protest and was at home that day but police still arrested him,” Faheem said.
Mehmood, sells spices on a cart and cannot even afford a lawyer to get bail, Faheem said. “How will we pay the fine?” he asked.
Authorities have followed the legal procedure in assessing damage to public property as well as in issuing the notices, said Mrityunjay Kumar, a spokesman for the Uttar Pradesh government. Critics, however, said such notices are premature. — Reuters
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