Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made several stops on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh to meet the families of those who died or were injured during the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) last month.
The party’s general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh will also meet the families of those killed during protests in Meerut outside the city on December 20, as they were not allowed entry.
Congress president Meerut city unit Zahid Ansari said he would talk to the families of the five victims on the bypass road to return to Delhi.
Priyanka Gandhi reached Muzaffarnagar in the morning and met Maulana Asad Hussaini, who runs Madrasa Hoz e Ilmiya near Meenakshi Chowk, where violence erupted during anti-CA demonstrations.
After his meeting with Hussaini and other victims, he said they all accused the police of starting a reign of terror and not to blame them for their mistake. He said that the police entered the madrasa and beat Maulana and his students.
“I met Maulana Asad Hussaini, who was brutally beaten by the police. Madras students including minors were picked up by the police without any reason. Some of them have been released and some are still in custody, ”she said while speaking to reporters.
Priyanka Gandhi also went to the house of Noor Mohammad, who lost her life during the protests. He spoke with his seven-month pregnant widow and one and a half-year-old daughter.
She also met Rukaiya, who will be married on Saturday, and said that the police ransacked her house and damaged the things she had bought for her wedding.
He said that he has given a memorandum to Governor Anandiben Patel which contains the high level of police power during the protests.
“Priyanka Gandhi reiterated that she and her Congress party are committed to standing by the victims and their families and will go to every place where injustice has been done to the people,” said Harendra Tyagi, president of the district unit of Muzaffarnagar.
Priyanka and her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tried to visit the families of the victims in Meerut in the last week of December but were not allowed and forced to return from the outskirts of the city.
She is meeting the families of those injured, killed or arrested during violent protests against the Act, including Lucknow and Bijnor.
Last month, more than 20 people were killed and hundreds were injured among police and protesters in Uttar Pradesh.
