New Delhi, December 15, 2021 (PPI-OT):More than 50 per cent of people arrested under the draconian law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in the past three years were below the age of 30 years, and says the data placed by the Indian government in the parliament.

The data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, says that the highest number of people arrested under the law were from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

As per official data, a total of 4,690 people were arrested under the UAPA between 2018 and 2002, of these 2,501 or 53.32 per cent were under the age of 30. The data was provided by Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

According to the data, Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of arrest in past three year at 1,338. Of this, 931 people were below 30 years of age. Following close behind UP, Manipur accounts for a total of 943 arrests under the black law in past three years. In Manipur, of the total arrests, 499 were below the age of 30 years. In Jammu and Kashmir a total of 750 arrests were made under UAPA in the same time, and 366 among them were of people under 30 years of age.

In the past, the Opposition parties have blamed the government of allegedly using the controversial law to muzzle the voices of dissent in the country. Several student leaders were arrested under the law during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the country. Recently, 102 people were charged under the law in Tripura in connection with social media posts relating to anti-Muslim violence in the state.

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