Prashant Bhushan and Sanjay Hegde criticise Delhi Police for harassing APCR activist
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Prominent Supreme Court lawyers and noted human rights activists have slammed the FIR filed by the Delhi Police against activist Nadeem Khan urging the police to act against the perpetrators of hate crimes instead of targeting those documenting such wrongdoings.
They were addressing a press conference here on Tuesday on the police action against APCR (Association for Protection of Civil Rights) general secretary Khan. Earlier, an FIR was filed against him after he had put up an exhibition chronicling the incident of hate crimes and speeches at a recent event in Hyderabad.
According to the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the police officers from Delhi even went to arrest Khan in Bengaluru hours after registering the FIR. The police actions were criticised widely by human rights groups and activists.
Addressing the press conference, renowned Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that action is not taken against those who lynch people, demolish houses, incite communal violence and make hate speeches. Instead, FIRs are filed by the police against people like Nadeem Khan who report these crimes. He said such things are happening especially in the BJP-ruled states.
Lauding the activism of Khan and his APCR organisation, Bhushan described Khan as the most active civil liberties activist right now.
“Now, an FIR has been filed against him. Read the FIR filed against Khan. There is no crime mentioned in the FIR. If you highlight crimes like hate speeches and mob lynching, it does not come under the commission of crime. Yet, an FIR was registered and the police went to Bengaluru to arrest him within four hours. This shows that even the police are involved in such crimes,” he said.
He asserted that wherever hate crimes are committed in the BJP-ruled states, the police play a role in such crimes. Strict action should be taken against those police officers who file FIRs against activists.
“It’s unfortunate that the judiciary is watching all this but not taking action in this regard. The court gives relief and bail sometimes and quashes cases. But action is not taken against those police officers who filed false FIRs and made arrests. Strong action must be taken. Then only, the intimidation of activists and the arbitrariness of the police will be stopped,” said Bhushan.
Another eminent Supreme Court lawyer, Sanjay Hegde, said that he had attended several press conferences at the invitation of Nadeem Khan. Whenever any incident happened in the country, Khan used to come up with reports shedding light on the incidents. He never thought that a day would come when the press conference would be held for Khan himself.
“We are some people who stood up to say that there is a constitution and the law in this country. And, the arbitrariness of the police will not be allowed. Authoritarianism will not be allowed,” he said.
Hegde said that if the police and government want that there should not be a discussion over the issues related to lynchings, they are wrong. “We will discuss them. We will talk about lynching, demolitions and Nadeem himself. We will fight and win whether at this place or in the court,” he said.
