Indian Americans Call on Modi Government to Step in to Ensure Justice for Hathras Family

Date:

Student burn Effigy of UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Dehradun on Friday while protesting over Hathras alleged gangrape case. — WhatsApp image

‘The fact that the perpetrators of this brutal and horrendous act belong to the same cast as Adityanath’s, gives a clue as to why his government failed to protect the girl and why he is yet to ensure swift justice in the case’

Clarion India

NEW YORK – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has expressed its shock at the bizarre incident that has unfolded in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh where a 19-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped who later died because of administration’s neglect. She was hurriedly cremated in the dead of night by the police while her family members were allegedly not allowed to come out of their hut.

In a statement issued here Monday, IAMC President Ahsan Khan has demanded from the Indian government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi must step in to ensure justice to the aggrieved family.

“The Uttar Pradesh government led by Adityanath should be ashamed that it failed to protect the girl. Barricading the village of a grieving family, locking the family in a room and cremating the girl’s body without consent of her family, shows how insecure the Adityanath government is,” said the president of IAMC, an advocacy group committed to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos.

Uttar Pradesh is ruled by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who belongs to Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The fact that the perpetrators of this brutal and horrendous act belong to the same cast as Adityanath’s, gives a clue as to why his government failed to protect the girl and why he is yet to ensure swift justice in the case,” Khan added.

This is not an isolated incident. Another Dalit woman, aged 22, was raped and killed in the most shocking manner just few hundred miles away from Hathras last week. She was cremated the very next day. More than 500 Dalit women were raped in Uttar Pradesh under Adityanath regime in 2019. Of total 32,033 cases of rape reported in India in 2019, Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for about ten percent of the cases.

“The Adityanath government has refused to accept that the Dalit girl was raped, despite medical and legal experts confirming the crime. It would be naive and preposterous to expect him to ensure justice,” Khan said.

According to The Wire news portal, the UP government has hired a public relations firm to push the narrative in foreign media that the ‘Hathras dalit girl was not raped’.

“It is outrageous that Adityanath government wants to force the victim’s family to take narco and polygraph test along with the perpetrators. It is evident that the state is not serious about bringing culprits to book but wants to punish the victim’s family and those protesting against the crime,” said Mohammed Jawad, the national general secretary of the IAMC.

“The statements of the police and Adityanath made it clear that they will focus less on the Hathras crime and its perpetrators, and more on the alleged “conspiracy to push the state into caste turmoil,” added Jawad.

“Police brutality in this case is very much sanctioned by the Yogi government which encouraged and provided impunity to the state police in killing members of Muslim and lower caste in illegal encounters. There is no distinction if the police is the protector or the oppressor of the people it is supposed to protect” said Khan.

IAMC is dedicated to promoting the common values of pluralism, tolerance, and respect for human rights that form the basis of the world’s two largest secular democracies – the United States and India.

theclarionindia
theclarionindiahttps://clarionindia.net
Clarion India - News, Views and Insights about Indian Muslims, Dalits, Minorities, Women and Other Marginalised and Dispossessed Communities.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

Centre for Policy Research Faces Tax Demand of Rs 10.16 Crore; Chief Executive to Resign

The think tank grapples with financial blow as tax...

UP: No Attempted Murder Charge, But 3 Get Jail Terms for Attack on Labourers 

Rampur court verdict raises debate over intent and justice...

Rift in Samajwadi Party’s Muslim Leadership Comes to the Fore

Discontent among SP's Muslim leaders surfaces as Azam Khan...