Saffron belongs to India's religious spirit, no place for revenge in religion: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday cited India's deep-rooted connection with the saffron while cornering Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over his 'revenge' remark.

"Yogi Ji wears 'bhagwa' (saffron). It is not his personal. Saffron belongs to this country's religious and spiritual spirit. It is a symbol of the Hindu religion. He should follow that religion. There is no place for revenge and violence in that religion," Gandhi told reporters here.

"The Chief Minister said they will take revenge. The police and the administration follow that. It is for the first time when a chief minister said that revenge will be taken from the people and damages will be recovered," she added.

After protests against the citizenship law turned violent in Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath had said the properties of people will be confiscated who were involved in arson.

"Property of all those involved in this violence will be confiscated and damage done to the public property would be recovered from them. Their faces are captured in videos and CCTV footage. We will confiscate their property and will take its revenge from them," he had said.

Gandhi demanded that there should an inquiry into the cases registered against those who were doing 'peaceful' protests.

"Violent, illegal and criminal action by the police and the government should be stopped. There should be an inquiry into the cases registered against those who were doing peaceful protests. The inquiry should be conducted under the supervision of a serving or a retired High Court judge," said Gandhi.

"Without any judiciary process, recovery of damage and other action should be stopped. No action should be taken against the students," she said.

The Congress leader alleged that Adityanath-led government and the police have taken several steps, which do not have any 'legal' basis and have led to 'anarchy' in the state.

"We have submitted a letter to the Governor. The letter is a complete documentation of chaos in the state caused by Uttar Pradesh government, administration, and police. They have taken such steps which do not have any legal basis..." Gandhi said.

"I went to the house in Bijnor where two students died. One of them was shot outside his home ... In the evening, the police threatened them not to take any legal action ... According to media and official reports, 5,500 people were detained and 1,100 were arrested. Unofficially, the number is higher," she added.

Earlier in the day, a Congress delegation met Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and submitted a memorandum demanding an inquiry into the role of the police during clashes with protesters in the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 across the state.

( With inputs from ANI )