What the publicity blitz to observe four years of Yogi as CM will not tell

Important sidewalks of the major cities of Uttar Pradesh are dotted with hoardings eulogising the achievements of the government. A 64-page booklet titled 'Chunautiyon main talaashe avsar' (Challenges were turned into opportunities) is being distributed to the media. Chief Secretary R K Tiwari has asked District Magistrates to celebrate the CM’s four years in office with six-day long celebrations to apprise people about the measures taken by the Yogi government for "reform, perform and transform" during the last four years.

Amid the media blitz and glitz, pain of the people has been brushed aside, buried under bureaucratic and political apathy and insensitivity. Ironically even BJP lawmakers in the just concluded state working committee meeting of the party recently did give voice to some of them. The voices of dissent inside the party shows all is not well in the state or with the government, notwithstanding the propaganda offensive by the state government.

Sample this:

∙ BJP law maker Ram Iqbal Singh on March 15 said that tehsils and police stations had become centres of extortion and corruption. No work is done there without a bribe, he alleged.

∙ BJP MLA Surendra Singh said that corruption in Yogi’s tenure is higher than during Akhilesh Yadav’s time.

∙   BJP MLC Umesh Dwivedi wrote a letter to the Chief Minister saying the police is harassing the distant family members of Vikas Dubey only because they happen to be Brahmins; that UP Police are taking caste into consideration before taking any action.

∙ IPS officer Amitabh Thakur questioned police handling of Vishal Saini suicide case. Vishal Saini had committed suicide alleging that he was falsely implicated in SPA sex racket case. The family’s attempt to lodge FIR against policemen yielded no result. Amitabh Thakur says that police should file a case and enquire whether family members are telling the truth or not.

∙ Two dozen DMs and SSPs did not respond to calls from the CM’s office last week. Notices were issued against them by the government’s own admission.

The biggest casualty in Yogi Raj has been law and order. Crime against women have gone up sharply. Father of a rape victim was crushed under the wheels of a speeding truck. Earlier on March 2, father of a girl who had lodged a complaint against eve teasing was shot dead in broad daylight in Hathras. The boy was pressurizing the family to withdraw the sexual harassment case.

On March 4, a rape victim committed suicide in Sambhal after she was pressurised by the accused to withdraw the case. The girl in her suicide note wrote that she could not take the humiliation anymore and was ending her life so that her family could live in peace.

How do these perpetrators of crime in most cases manage to silence or intimidate victims and their families is a question that remains unanswered; as does the question why police fail protect victims and their family members.

According to the NCRB's "Crime in India" 2019 report, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of crimes against women (59,853), accounting for 14.7 percent of such cases across the country. UP also had the highest number of crimes against girl children under the POCSO Act and ranked second in terms of rapes committed.

The Yogi Government however claims that crime has come down in UP in the last four years. Government says that there is almost 66 % decline in cases of loot, 19 % in murders and more than 45 % in the incidents of rape and molestation.

It says in 1535 police thanas, women help desks have been set up. Besides, 135 criminals have been killed in the last four years in 7791 encounters.

Take your pick on what you want to believe in Yogi’s Ram Rajya.