With the brazen politicisation of the Hathras incident, the mainstream media and the opposition parties, most notably the Congress party, have finally succeeded in their nefarious pursuit of throwing Uttar Pradesh into a state of chaos and disorder. Incidents of stone-pelting have been reported from the city of Agra where members of Valmiki community hurled stones against the police personnel.
Skirmishes broke out in Agra between Valmiki community members and police officials over the brutality meted out to the 20-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras district. While police personnel equipped with riot gear tried to restore law and order, a wave of angry protesters took to streets to fling stones at them.
#Agra: Valmiki Samaj members pelt stones at police in protest demonstration against alleged Hathras rape
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 3, 2020
“Police’s monitoring situation. Our cyber teams also checking social media for objectionable posts. I appeal to all people to maintain peace,” says BR Pramod, SP, City Agra pic.twitter.com/zUO1eS8B3l
“Police’s monitoring situation. Our cyber teams also checking social media for objectionable posts. I appeal to all people to maintain peace,” said BR Pramod, SP, City Agra.
The protesting members of the Valmiki community also called for a boycott of cleaning works across the city. Heaps of waste and garbage were seen strewn on the sides of busy roads in the city.
The protests that swept across Agra came in the aftermath of the death of a 19-year-old Dalit girl on Tuesday at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital. The victim had suffered fractures, paralysis and a spinal injury after a brutal assault by the assailants.
Opposition politicians politicise the Hathras incident to settle scores with Yogi government
The incident sent a shockwave across the nation, providing an opportunity to galvanise the opposition political parties, including Congress. The parties showed a remarkable alacrity in exploiting the incident to mount an attack and settle their scores against the Yogi Adityanath government in the state. Scores of politicians tried to politicise the unfortunate death of the girl by marching to the village despite Section 144 in place.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi tried to revive his dwindling political fortunes by stoking the protest against the UP government. In his march to Hathras, Gandhi even pulled off a dramatic fall to reap political mileage and garner sympathy from the public. However, his meticulously planned fall on lush green grasses, aided by his supporters flanking him, had the Internet world in splits, with many pitting him against the Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr, who is known for feigning fake falls during his soccer matches.
After failed attempt to reach Hathras in the first go, Rahul Gandhi, along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi, were today on their way to visit the village. In a video of the siblings visiting Hathras, Rahul Gandhi was seen sitting in front of the car with his sister driving. Great laughter can also be heard in the video that was shared. This has enraged social media users who have criticised the Gandhi siblings for being callous on their way to meet the bereaved family in Hathras.
India Today activates panic mode after OpIndia reported leaked conversation between its journalist and Hathras victim’s brother
Likewise, the media’s role in the coverage of the incident has also been under scanner after conflicting reports emerged bringing forth multiple discrepancies in the case. OpIndia had yesterday reported a leaked conversation between India Today journalist and the Hathras victim’s brother where the journalist, Tanushree Pandey, was seen pleading with the victim’s brother to shoot and send a video of the father alleging that the UP administration was putting pressure on his.
OpIndia’s report prompted India Today to activate the panic mode and release an “Important and Urgent” statement where they admitted the authenticity of the tapes. In their statement, India Today was hyperventilating after creating an imaginary story about their journalist’s or the victim’s brother’s phone being tapped. They demanded to know why and under what law were their phones being tapped.
It is worthy to note here that India Today is not aware of the source of this audio and the audio itself could have been leaked from any quarter. However, India Today has jumped to the conclusion of phone tapping.
