UP encounters: Not only people are being killed with impunity, killings are being glorified, supported by authorities

By Sheshu Babu*
In Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand , Odisha or North Eastern states encounters are common, but in Utter Pradesh, the UP government and its police have taken a step further by allowing to 'film' of an encounter live. A few journalists were asked by cops if they were interested in 'watching and filming a real encounter' in Machua village under Harduagunj police station limits.
The news spread like wildfire, and within 15 minutes, a large number of local and national media lined up at the site 25 km from the district headquarters. On their arrival, journalists saw a team of policemen, some of them armed with bulletproof jackets, a few others in their uniforms, and a few even in T-shirts, initially corner and then gun down two men -- Mustakim and Naushad -- "armed and hiding" in an abandoned irrigation department building.

Among others, a Times of India photojournalist was part of the group that witnessed what must be India's first encounter, where media persons were invited.
According to information released by the UP police, there a were 1,142 encounters in UP between March 20, 2017 and January 31, 2018 . The killing of Vivek Tiwari, a 38-year-old salesman of Apple gadgets, who was killed at close range by an on-duty policeman, comes as the latest in the multiple cases of encounters since Yogi Adityanath took over as UP chief minister in 2017.
In fact, Utter Pradesh has recorded at least 1,500 encounters since January 2017 since the right-wing took office. In these 66 criminals are said to have been killed.
Not only people are being killed with impunity, the killings are being glorified and supported by the authorities. The chief minister declared last February in the state assembly that encounters would not stop. Speaking in the zero hour, he accused the opposition of supporting criminals, adding the crackdown would continue.
After assuming the post of chief minister, Adityanath has given police full freedom to deal with rising crime. The police launched "operation clean". The government evej allowed district police chiefs to announce reward of Rs1 lakh to the team that carries out an encounter. Thus, money is also playing it's part in rise of encounter killings.
As a journalist, Neena Vyas, opined, the nexus between police officials and the ruling authorities cannot be ruled out. ("Media Bol: Police Encounters in UP and Surgical Strike Celebrations", October 1, 2018, thewire.in).
On September 2, 2017, a day after the wanted criminal Sunil Sharma succumbed to injuries, sustained in an encounter on the outskirts of Lucknow, public relations officer Rahul Srivastav tweeted "#uppolice encounter express halts in the capital ...miles to go" . The tweet was accompanied by a news clipping of the encounter. This indicates the brazenness with which police have been implementing encounter killings.
Despite Supreme Court intervention, seeking report on the encounters, the killing spree continues. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by People's Union for Civil Librrties (PUCL stated that over 1,100 encounters had taken place last year. Till now, very little has been done to uphold human rights.
The impunity with which encounters are taking place endorsed by the state chief minister on several occasions, as PUCL rightly observed, is a cause of concern. Those who are being attacked are Muslims and Dalits. They have little legal help. The relatives of these people are being harassed.
The situation may soon turn graver unless drastic steps are taken to stop such inhuman killings without proper investigation and fair trial.
---
*The writer from anywhere and everywhere, supports human rights and feels that encounters are not a solution to socio-economic problems

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.

Civil society flags widespread violations of land acquisition Act before Parliamentary panel

By Jag Jivan Civil society organisations and stakeholders from across India have presented stark evidence before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj , alleging systemic violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 , particularly in Scheduled Areas and tribal regions.

Ecologist Dr. S. Faizi urges UN intervention to save 35 million Gulf migrants

By A Representative Renowned ecologist and veteran United Nations negotiator Dr. S. Faizi has issued an urgent appeal to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, calling for immediate diplomatic intervention to halt escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf. In a formal letter copied to several UN missions, Faizi warned that the lives and livelihoods of 35 million migrant workers—who comprise the vast majority of the population in many Gulf cities—are facing an unprecedented existential crisis.

Search This Blog