Protests were held in many districts of Uttar Pradesh on 16 November demanding women’s safety under Modi-Yogi regime, dignity and justice for dalits and instituting GSCASH as well as SC-ST cells in universities in the state.
On the night of 1 November, a female student of IIT-BHU was sexually assaulted and recorded by three men in the campus and on October 17, Allahabad University Chief Proctor Rakesh Singh brutally assaulted AISA unit president and dalit student Vivek for standing up for the rights of the students. In both the incidents perpetrators are roaming free while the victims and those speaking out demanding justice are being punished and harassed by the Yogi administration.
Krishna Adhikari, president of UP AIPWA, while addressing the protesters at Parivartan Chowk in state capital Lucknow condemned the Yogi government for increasing incidents of attacks on women and dalits in the state. Women are nowhere safe, not even inside the campuses and universities. The police in the state have turned into protectors of rapists and oppressors which is a serious concern for all of us.
AISA state secretary Ayush said decreasing democratic spaces in the universities owing to the New Education Policy has resulted in the increased attacks and insecurity of women students in campuses. Now any democratic intellectual discourse and expression of dissent is being criminalised while feudal mindset and regressive values are being encouraged. The caste oppression in campuses has increased shamefully. Girls are more insecure and vulnerable inside campuses.
A protest demonstration was held at Shastri Ghat in Banaras. A similar protest in Mirzapur was led by CPIML UP Secretary Sudhakar Yadav. Protest was also held in front of the Chandauli district magistrate office. Memorandums were sent to the state government demanding arrests of rapists of BHU and stern action against the Allahabad University Proctor Rakesh Singh who assaulted Vivek Kumar with lathis.
CPIML central committee member Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha said that the law and order in Uttar Pradesh is now in the hands of criminals and anti-socials. He addressed the demonstration and dharna at Saryu Pandey Park in Gazipur. The police are so incompetent that after fifteen days the police in Banaras have no clue about the rapist criminals who attacked a girl student. On the contrary, the same police are punishing the protesting students and filing FIRs under criminal sections in spite of the fact that incidents of sexual harassment and assaults have taken place earlier too inside the same campus.
This is shameful that the Yogi government let loose all out repression on people seeking justice for the victims, attacks on women and vulnerable sections of society continues in all parts of the state. A dalit minor girl was raped and then brutally stabbed multiple times with the intention to kill on 11 November at Tauvan village under Ravatipur PS in Gazipur district. Her critically injured body was recovered from a paddy field after three days. She is now admitted in the hospital in BHU and is struggling for her life.
Gorakhpur district secretary of CPIML Rajesh Sahni criticised the administration for trying to silence the protesting students in BHU by falsely implicating them under criminal charges. RYA leader Rakesh Singh said the Yogi government has no moral right to rule the state.
Protests were held at Balia, Mau, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Basti, Allahabad, Sonbhadra, Raebareli, Ayodhya and many other districts.
Increasing assaults against women in Yogi Adityanath's regime
The brutal murder of a rape survivor in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district serves as a stark reminder of the rampant violence and lack of safety for women in the state. This heinous crime, committed under the very watch of the Yogi Adityanath administration, once again exposes the deep-rooted flaws in the state's law and order machinery.
Despite Yogi Adityanath's claims of UP being a model for law and order, the reality is far from it. Women in the state continue to live in fear, their lives marred by the constant threat of violence. The brutal murder of the Kaushambi rape survivor is not an isolated incident; it is a reflection of the systemic failures that allow such crimes to happen with impunity.
Weeks have passed since a student of IIT-BHU was gang raped inside the campus premises and till now no concrete action has been taken by UP police to ensure justice for the survivor. The rapists continue to roam free.
