Clarion India
NEW DELHI — In an open letter to public, titled “In defence of Harsh Mander,” around 100 retired civil servants have expressed fear that the Delhi Police is building up a case to frame noted social activist and former bureaucrat Harsh Mander in the North East Delhi riots case by accusing him of inciting violence through `hate speech’ during anti-CAA protests in Delhi, reports The Asian Age.
94 former civil servants, part of the Constitutional Conduct Group, have released a statement in the form of open letter in support of Harsh Mander calling attention to the “continued misrepresentation and mischaracterisation” of his speech at Jamia Millia Islamia on December 16 last year.
The civil servants, who have been prominent IAS, IPS, diplomats, IFS, IRS, accounts and audit, postal, customs and excise services officers, showed their concern and fear that the Delhi Police may make Mander a co-accused in the Delhi riots case along with Sharjeel Imam (former JNU student) and Chandra Shekhar Azad (of Bheem Army) in addition to building up a larger conspiracy case against him.
They also feared “possible misuse of law” against Mander and said that “those political leaders who publicly used hate speech and incited violence roam free with impunity.”
Their statement comes at a time when Delhi Police in its chargesheet filed in the murder of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma, killed during the Delhi riots in February, 2020, has mentioned the names of Mander, Sharjeel and Azad accusing them of inciting violence.
Harsh Mander was a prominent face during the anti-CAA protests in Delhi. His speeches were allegedly partially quoted by the Delhi Police in the Supreme Court while trying to build up a case against him.
Mander had also filed a petition before the Supreme Court in connection with the registering of FIRs against certain political leaders for using hate speech and inciting violence that resulted in the deaths of more than 50 people in Delhi.
“Instead of responding to those specific allegations, the Solicitor General of India alleged that Harsh had both incited violence and been contemptuous of the Supreme Court (SC) in that speech…A selectively edited video was used in the affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner of Police filed before the SC…If the full video had been presented, it would have proved that neither had he incited violence nor had he been contemptuous of the SC,” the letter reads.
