New Delhi: A video has emerged showing a senior police officer in Meerut district telling local residents to inform anti-Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens protestors to “go to Pakistan”.
The Superintendent of Policy (City) Akhilesh N. Singh has not disputed the authenticity of the video. Instead, he has alleged that “anti-social elements were making pro-Pakistan statements” – as he first told the Indian Express.
“We had come to the area to see who all were making pro-Pakistan statements. When we arrived with force, they had run away. We found out that there were three-four such people who wanted to create an issue. We had discussions with locals,” the SP said.
He repeated this same line to other media later in the day. “Boys had ‘Pakistan zindabad’ slogans so I told them to go to Pakistan”.
WATCH: Meerut SP Akhilesh N Singh tells protesters: “Go to Pakistan if you don’t want to live here. Khaoge Yahan ka, gaoge kahin aur ka?”
Is Gali ko theek kar doonga main, he tells the protestors at a Muslim-dominated locality.
Video via: @thejugnukhan pic.twitter.com/grtu3LGm0n
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) December 28, 2019
However, Singh does not refer to any slogans in the 40-second video.
In the video, Singh, wearing a flak jacket, is seen accompanied by other police men and walking down to Lisari Gate, where a couple of Muslim men are seen standing.
“Kahan jaoge, is gali ko theek kar doonga (Where will they go. I will sort out this lane),” he is heard saying about protestors that they are chasing.
The officer then turns to the three men and tells them to tell the people wearing yellow and black armbands that they should “go to Pakistan”. He then warns the men that he now has an eye on the residents of this lane.
“Yeh jo kaali aur peeli patti baande huye hain inse keh do Pakistan chale jao. Khaoge yahan ka, gaoge kahin aur ka. Yeh gali mujhe yaad ho gayi hai. Aur jab mujhe yaad ho jaata hai toh mein naani tak pahunch jaata hun. (The ones tying black and yellow bands, tell them to go to Pakistan. You eat here but sing praises of another place… This lane is now familiar to me. And once I remember, I can even reach your grandmother)”.
Also read: UP Police Arrest Muslim Lawyer Offering Legal Aid to Protestors, Claim Militant Links
Singh also tells the three men that if anything happens, he will put every man from each home in prison. “Agar kuch ho gaya toh tum log keemat chukaoge… Har ek-ek aadmi ko jail mein bandh karoonga (If something happens, you guys will pay the price. Every man from each house will be arrested).”
Over a thousand people have been arrested and five times more are in preventive detention as per police officers in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state by population. The death toll currently stands at 19.