
Abdul Bari Masoud | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Popular Front of India on Monday alleged that Police in Delhi and UP have been targeting and harassing Muslim youths for running peaceful campaigns against mob lynching and hate crimes since last week. They said the UP police even arrested some members and labelled false charges against them while the Delhi Police has been frequenting the Front office in the name of inquiry.
In the wake of growing attacks on Muslims and weaker sections, Popular Front last week launched a nationwide campaign ‘Live without Fear; Live with Dignity’ and under this, it was decided to conduct poster campaigns, handbill distribution, street corner meetings, seminars and public meetings all over the country. The campaign will conclude on August 31, 2019.
Calling the police action as anti-democratic and unconstitutional, Front leaders of UP and Delhi units told the media persons here at the Press Club of India that the BJP-led governments at the Center and in states have failed to protect the lives of citizens and their law and order machinery is obstructing democratic rights of people who want to safeguard the Constitution.
Muhammad Pervez Ahmad, Delhi State President, condemned the police attitude saying “the harassment is nothing but the strangulation of constitutional rights and taking away democratic liberty of the citizens.”
As the posters campaign started in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, police have started harassing Muslim youths and members of Popular Front. UP police even foisted false cases in Shamli and Meerut and arrested two persons, Pervez Ahmad said adding that the Delhi police is coming to our office frequently in the name of inquiry.
When we filed the bail application before the Shamli SDM court after one person was arrested for campaigning, the SDM didn’t hear the matter so far and dragged on the proceedings and likewise in Meerut, sec 295 of IPC invoked for the poster message, he informed and wondered whose religious sentiments were hurt by this poster message?
“What is the illegality in our poster message? Is it a crime to ask people to live without fear with live with dignity?”
Ahmad underlined that after Modi government came to power at the centre for the second time and Amit Shah took over as Union Home Minister, the street violence has turned more loathsome.
It is deplorable that after BJP came to power in 2014 around 180 major and 33 minor crowd assaults have taken place in the country mostly in BJP ruled states and more than 50 people have been killed in broad day-light. Some met with a horrible death like burning alive and about 56% of them were poor Muslims, he said.
Recently, in the BJP-ruled tribal state of Jharkhand, a young man Tabrez Ansari was brutally murdered by Hindutva gangs and earlier Maloom Ansari, Alimuddin Ansari, Marlaja Ansari, Wali Khan were killed as the list goes on. Tabrez Ansari was attacked by the mob, beaten mercilessly for hours and was forced to chant Jai Shri Ram and Jai Hanuman.
He stressed that even the Supreme Court had issued strict guidelines for curbing the mob-lynching violence but the Center still did not swing into action.
Mohammad Iliyas, PFI Delhi State General Secretary, Mohammad Sajid Qasmi, and Mufti Mohammad Shazad also addressed the media.