The Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday moved a local court in Lucknow city, seeking to cancel the bail of three activists accused of vandalism during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens in December, The Hindu reported.

Additional Sessions Judge Amarjeet Singh has issued summons to Congress leader and activist Sadaf Jafar, theatre personality Deepak Kabir and advocate Mohammad Shoaib. District government counsel (Criminal) Manoj Tripathi sought cancellation of bail of the accused, claiming that they violated the bail conditions, according to PTI.

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Jafar told the newspaper that her lawyer appeared on her behalf and sought time to file an objection and accused the state government of harassing activists to polarise communities and distract people from its failures. “The situation is very grim in Uttar Pradesh when it comes to law and order,” she said. “And every day there is an atrocity against women and Dalits. They have nothing to show to the people, so they are trying to go after anti-CAA protesters to polarise communities by portraying the anti-CAA protest as Muslims against the government and harass us.”

Shoaib said he had not violated any bail conditions and dismissed Tripathi’s application that he would “enkindle the protestors” and participate in illegal protests.

The court listed the matter for next hearing on September 5.

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In March, the Lucknow administration had put up hoardings with photographs and addresses of those accused of indulging in violence during the Citizenship Act protests. The three activists were among the 57 people whose photographs were displayed across the city.

The Citizenship Amendment Act provides citizenship to refugees from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The Act, passed on December 11, has been criticised for excluding Muslims. In December, at least 28 people died in protests against the Act, 19 of them in Uttar Pradesh itself. Most of those who died had suffered bullet-inflicted wounds.