Leaders, activists appeal Supreme Court for urgent intervention
Abdul Bari Masoud | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – As several parts of the country witness peaceful demonstrations and shut down in protests against the police excesses and atrocities, a number of social organisations, and political parties and activist groups on Saturday appealed to the Supreme Court of India for immediate intervention to direct the Central and State governments not to use brutal force and firepower against peaceful protesters. Strongly condemning the killing of innocent people in the police firing, they expressed grave concern over the use of firepower in the BJP ruled states.
Meanwhile protesting against the Delhi Police’s brutal assault on the demonstrators at Daryaganj on Friday evening, old Delhi’s many areas including Jama Masjid, Ballimaran, Chnadni chowk etc observed complete shutdown while parts of the East Delhi, Okhla’s Shaheen Bagh and other localities and Jamia Millia Islamia also witnessed the protest demonstrations.
Aslam Qureshi, a journalist from old Delhi, told ‘Caravan Daily’ that police personnel were pelting stones on the peaceful protesters from the roofs of some buildings in Drayaganj area. He alleged that police were resorting to violence and brutal tactics against unarmed civilians and did not even spare minors.
Meanwhile the Delhi Police continued indiscriminate arrests of people in connection with the Daryaganj violence and so far more than 15 people have been arrested and they have been sent for two days judicial custody by a local court. Eleven people arrested in Seemapuri violence were also sent to 14-day judicial custody.
A team of lawyers and activists waited outside the Daryaganj police station demanding the release of those detained. Advocate and activist, Suroor Mander told Caravan Daily that the people were picked up from the nearby areas of Jama Masjid and they have still not let any lawyer go in or not even released the list of detainees.
The details about violent events at Daryaganj and Delhi Gate still remain unclear. Delhi police claimed they were “outsiders” who set ablaze a car outside the police station near Delhi Gate which resulted in the protesters being lath charged. Contradicting Police claims, the protesters and eyewitnesses said the situation got intense once the police used water cannons to disperse the crowd that had started gathering around 3 PM.
To register their protest against CAA and growing police atrocities on protesters, people from all walks of life gathered at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, at the Rajghat in the biting cold Saturday morning. Students, activists, social and religious leaders held silent protest against new citizenship law and police brutalities on the protesters across the country.
Rights activists Ravi Nair and Charu Lata, Ashok Bharti, Ayush Jain, Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat president Navaid Hamid, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind leaders Mohammad Salim Engineer, Malik Motasim Khan and Mujtaba Farooq also spoke on the occasion.
Deploring the new citizenship law and NRC, Ravi Nair told Caravan Daily that the government and its mentor RSS must see the writing on the wall as the whole country has been erupted against their nefarious designs.
Engineer Salim decried the divisive politics alleging that the government is pushing India on Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse’s path. “We cannot allow them to do that and that’s why we have gathered at the Rajghat, to tell world India belongs to Gandhi and Constitution’’ he added.
The protest at the Jamia Millia Islamia which had witnessed brutal police assault on the students on last Sunday is continued. In in solidarity with the Jamai students, lawyers held a joint peaceful Dharna in the evening at Jamia campus which witnessed a heavy turnout. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the government and the police.
As this report is being filed, a silent protest is being observed at the India Gate too.
Concerned with the growing police highhandedness and use of fire power, political and civil society groups held press conferences to condemn the government and police.
At a joint press conference here at ND Tiwari Bhawan, leaders and activists said it was heartening to see that more and more people are joining the ongoing protests against the new act of citizenship in all parts of country. Asserting that it is people’s democratic right to protest peacefully, they blamed the ruling BJP and its mentor RSS for turning it into violent.
What happened in the national capital was well highlighted, many brutal incidents in different states were not reaching media because of information blockade there, they said.
More reports of unreported police violence are coming from states likes Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Assam through various sources. At least 12 deaths in police firing have come to light so far.
“The agitations are peaceful in all states with exception of some states that are under BJP government. The onus of turning the agitations violent is only on the respective state governments because no untoward incidents are being reported from non-BJP states, though the protests are equally strong there also”.
Welfare party president Dr S Q R Ilyas pointed out that the reports coming in from different BJP ruled states show that they have decided to suppress the peaceful agitations by use of brutal police force including use of fire power.
The protesters killed in police firing were from the BJP ruled states, he said.
Communist Gadara party leader Bijou Naik also said that in the BJP ruled states, an atmosphere of terror is created, curfew is imposed, raids are conducted and local leaders and activists are taken into custody.
He further alleged that the police in collusion with infiltrated RSS-BJP agents are creating provocations, beating the protesters without reason and even resorting to indiscriminate firing on the crowds.
“The BJP-led state governments’ uniformly violent approach in suppressing the democratic struggle points to the fact that they are implementing the decision of the Modi-Shah government and the RSS-BJP leadership.”
Giving details of atrocities in BJP-ruled UP, leaders and activists said they have information that at least 9 people in Meerut and 12 people in Kanpur were severely injured in firing.
“Contrary to the official denial of any police firing, there are such reports from more places. In Bijnore alone about 400 people were arrested. In Meerut 24 activists are in police custody for days. There are reports of police crackdown and mass arrests from cities like Lucknow and Banaras also. Unlike other places those who are taken into custody while protesting are not released later. In some places Hindutva communal goons also roam free with police targeting minorities. Thus Uttar Pradesh is converted into a police state by the Yogi Adityanath government,” claimed a activist.
In Karnataka the police crossed all limits and fired at peaceful protesters causing 2 deaths and injury to many people in Mangalore. The police have taken hundreds of Muslim youth to illegal custody out of political vengeance.
In Assam also, activists and leaders belonging to Muslims community are beign particularly targeted by police though the lead role in agitation is played by Assamese ethnic groups.
Condemning the UP CM’s statement of taking revenge, the activists said all the repressive measures resorted by the BJP’s central and state governments would not succeed in suppressing the people’s movement.
Prof Nadia Das, Dr Tailem Rehmani, and other addressed the media on the issue.
They urged the top judiciary to fulfill its constitutional obligation in this situation.
“At this time when people’s unrest and opposition is at an unprecedented level, the Supreme Court of India and respective High Courts, instead of clinching to technical and procedural matters, should fulfill their constitutional obligation by effective and immediate intervention.”
They also demanded BJP-led state government to stop repressive measures against the peaceful protest demonstrations.
“The central and state governments run by BJP must urgently stop all forms of repression including police brutalities, withdraw all false cases, release all detained persons and stop obstructing democratic protests against CAA and NRC.”
They also demanded the withdrawal of the new law and NRC announcement.
“As it is better late than never, the BJP government by realizing their folly has to abandon the new Citizenship Amendment Act and withdraw their plan to implement nationwide NRC.”
They called upon all civil society groups that lead these agitations and all citizens who are in the forefront to take every care to see that they are peaceful and not turning violent either due to hyper emotions or by purposeful infiltration.
