Over 10,000 Persons Arrested Under UAPA But Only 335 Convictions Between 2019-23
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Union home ministry data tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (December 2) has revealed that only 335 persons have been convicted under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2019-2023, even as there were 10,440 arrests during this period.
Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai submitted the data in a written reply to a question by Congress MP Shafi Parambil in the Lok Sabha amid the ongoing winter session of parliament, while noting that the data pertaining to the list of persons currently in prisons, charged under the UAPA, was not available state-wise.
The data presented is compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which publishes the same in its annual publication ‘Crime in India’.
At 3,662, Jammu and Kashmir had the most number of arrests under UAPA among all states and union territories, though it had only 23 convictions in the 2019-23 period.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh which followed, with 2,805 arrests, had the most number of convictions, at 222, in the same period.
Other states with a high rate of arrests include Assam, Manipur and Jharkhand.
Earlier in July, the home ministry had submitted in the parliament that only two cases filed under UAPA were quashed by courts between 2018-2022.
Over the years, many activists have raised concerns how the UAPA, enacted in 1967 and subsequently amended to expand its scope, has become a tool for the government to stifle opposition. Several journalists have also been arrested under the anti-terror law.
The 2019 amendment, in particular, which allowed for individuals to be designated as terrorists without due process, raised deeper concerns over its potential for abuse.
Among some notable persons arrested under UAPA during the 2019-2023 period include journalist Siddique Kappan (October 2020; released in February 2023), human rights activist Khurram Parvez (November 2021), Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik (May 2022), and Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj (March 2023), and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy (October 2020; died in prison in 2021).
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