THREAD: CM of Uttar Pradesh has replaced rule of law & due process with encounters. This isn't just a formality. It's the very basis of protecting us from a tyrannical govt. Cops don't have power to punish anyone. Except in UP, where encounters are carried out without any proof 
Till December 2019, UP police had conducted 5200 encounters. Apart from people who have been killed, many have been subjected to half encounters-shot in the legs. With bullet injuries and imprisonment, they have been denied treatment and dealing with septesimia among others.
Most of the people subjected to half encounters are also Muslim, Dalit & OBC. All of them are from working class background. Most of them between the age of 17-40 ( the prime age for working men). Instead of gathering evidence & going to court - cops have used encounters.
These encounters are a way of instilling fear in these communities & strengthening Hindutva ideology. Let's not forget that Dalits & Muslims are over represented in India's prisons. But in UP it's especially bad. 27% of undertrials - people who're innocent before law - are Muslim
Very often, they are facing trials for petty offences. They have been treated as dreaded criminals when in fact most of them have not even been convicted of the crimes they have been accused of. In some instances, the "encountered" person had no criminal record at all!
In many instances, encounter victims' families were too afraid to even challenge the police's narrative out of fear. In some instances, UP Police allegedly participated in reprisals against the victims' families, including vandalism of the victim's homes. thewire.in/rights/chronic…
UP police has shown how communal & casteist an institution it has become. It has become a ready tool in the hands of the govt to further its ideological agenda of Hindutva.
On a related note, I hope Govt of Telangana will comply with NHRC award on Aler Encounter. By an order dated July 29 NHRC directed compensation of INR 5L within four weeks to the kin of those killed in the encounter. AIMIM MLAs had repeatedly raised this issue in Assembly as well
