Fact Check: Were there no riots in Uttar Pradesh in the past five years, as Adityanath claims?

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, while addressing a gathering in Bijnor last week, claimed that no riots had occurred in the state in the past five years. But, that’s not true.

“There was a time when Uttar Pradesh was known for riots… On the basis of the recently released NCRB report, it has been observed that no riots have occurred in the state in the past five years, UP has become danga-mukt [riot-free],” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

According to Asian News International, the chief minister also said no “communal riots” took place under his regime. FactChecker looked at the National Crime Record Bureau’s Crime in India reports from the past five years to verify these claims.

Fact check

According to latest National Crime Record Bureau data, Uttar Pradesh saw 35,040 cases of rioting during 2017-’21, which refutes Adityanath’s claim. Although 5,302 riots were reported in 2021 itself, it has reduced by 41% from 8,990 in 2017. In the past five years, the number of people who fell victim to these riots also dipped by 49% to 5,846 in 2021.

Factchecker has, on many occasions, checked similar untrue claims by Adityanath and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

Yogi also claimed that the state had not witnessed any communal riots either during his regime. According to the National Crime Record Bureau, Uttar Pradesh recorded 35 cases of communal riots between 2017 and 2021 in Uttar Pradesh. The Adityanath government had already come into power in March 2017.

Communal riots in the state have seen a downward trend though – a decrease of 97% from 2017 to 2021. In fact, the National Crime Record Bureau report shows that in the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 Uttar Pradesh did not see any communal riot.

The National Crime Record Bureau classifies incidents of rioting into 15 different categories — communal, sectarian, caste conflict, agrarian, industrial, and political, among others.

Uttar Pradesh recorded a decline in all categories of riots during the incumbent BJP government, except rioting related to enmity or rivalry, which went up by 55%.

Factchecker has written to the chief minister’s office via email regarding comment and clarification. We also tried calling Prathamesh Kumar, Special Secretary at the Chief Minister’s Office in Lucknow but the call did not get through. If and when we receive a response, we will update it here.

This article first appeared on FactChecker.in, a fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life.