The Trans Yamuna region of the national capital (Northeast Delhi) had witnessed a bloody communal violence following a nationwide protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which claimed 53 lives and left hundreds injured. Majority of those killed were Muslims.

Three years after the worst communal violence in the national capital since Partition, courts in the city have continued to come down heavily on the police — making stinging remarks on the shabby investigation and booking mostly Muslims for the violence that took place in February 2020, on the basis of concocted evidence.

A SAGA OF CONCOCTION, FABRICATION

On August 16, Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachala at Karkardooma Court discharged three men — Aqeel Ahmed alias Papad, Rayees Khan and Irshad — in a case related to the violence as the judge suspected that the investigating officer had “falsified and manipulated the evidence” and charge sheeted the accused in a “predetermined, mechanical and erroneous manner, with subsequent actions to only cover up the initial wrong actions”.

The court ordered, “… instead of having grave suspicion against accused persons for their involvement in the alleged incidents, I am having suspicion for IO (investigating officer) having manipulated the evidence in the case, without actually investigating the reported incidents properly.”

On August 24, ASJ Pramachala acquitted a Muslim man who was an accused in a case related to the violence, describing the police statement against him as “artificial”. Also in this order, the court concluded that the police had filed its chargesheet in a “mechanical manner without actually investigating the incidents properly”.

On August 28, the same judge accused the Delhi Police of “befooling” the court by relying on a video for evidence when such a video did not exist, “stalling” the trial and adopting “double standards” in two cases.

Acquitting Noor Mohammed, a resident of Sonia Vihar, on May 30, Metropolitan Magistrate Shirish Aggarwal had said that it appeared that the statement of a prosecution witness (a head constable) was “procured and prepared falsely and belatedly to solve this case.… The police was already aware that its case was fabricated…”.

The above mentioned orders are a few sample of a string of judgments in cases related to the violence, faulting the Delhi Police for planting false evidence and carrying out shabby probes.

Let’s revisit some more cases in which the court discharged or acquitted or gave bail to those accused of violence.

On September 20, 2022, ASJ Pramachala acquitted Noor in another case, observing that his identification as an accused was “probably an outcome of an afterthought development” by the police.

The acquittal was also based on the contradictory statements of the investigation officer.

In the same month, the court also acquitted Mohammad Shoaib, Shahrukh, Rashid and Mohammad Shahnawaz in a case. The court, while acquitting the said accused, found that the sole testimony of the constable (prosecution witness), who said that he had seen the accused in the crowd, was not found sufficient to admit their presence in the crowd.

Another contradictory statement by an assistant sub-inspector and a head constable prompted Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav to observe in October 2021 that the “police witnesses are lying on oath”.

The head constable had claimed before the judge that he had identified three of the four rioters as Rinku Subziwala, Golu Kashyap and Vikas Kashyap. He had said that he knew the three men as he had been deployed in the area as a beat constable since 2019.

However, another prosecution witness, the assistant sub-inspector, on the contrary, told the court that the three accused — despite being named by the head constable — could not be identified during the investigation.

The judge then noted, “… there is no material on record that efforts were made by the IO to apprehend the said accused persons. Prima facie, one of the police witnesses is lying on oath (that is) punishable under section 193 of the IPC.”

“This is a very sorry state of affairs,” Yadav had said, seeking a report in that regard from the deputy commissioner of police (Northeast Delhi).

In September 2021, ASJ Yadav, while discharging three men, including Shah Alam, brother of former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain, who were accused of rioting, arson and various offences, had pulled up Delhi Police for measurably failing to conduct a proper investigation.

The judge observed in his order that the police “made no effort” to investigate the case and were “merely filing chargesheets without any real effort being made to trace out the eye witnesses, real accused persons and technical evidence”.

Observing that the “investigating agency has merely tried to pull the wool over the court’s eyes” and expressing suspicion that a constable — a witness in the case — had been “planted”, the court had said, “I am not able to restrain myself from observing that when history looks back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi, it is the failure of the investigating agency to conduct proper investigation by using the latest scientific methods, that will surely torment the sentinels of democracy.”

However, months later, the judge, who had passed several orders against the flawed investigation, was transferred.

NewsClick analysed the judgments passed by courts in Delhi adjudicating on matters relating to the riots between 2020 till date. In over 10 orders, the courts have raised serious doubts on the credibility of witness statements. In most of the cases, the prosecution witnesses were police personnel.

In some cases, the statements of the prosecution witnesses were identical — raising doubts about their veracity. The analysis of the orders revealed some of the witnesses had alleged that they were coerced into giving false statements by the police.

In addition to lower courts, higher judiciary too criticised the Delhi Police for its lackadaisical approach in investigating the riots cases.

In October 2020, the Delhi High Court granted bail to one Irshad Ahmad on the grounds that the two police “witnesses seemed to be planted”.

There are several other orders (this and this for an instance) passed by the High Court over the past three years that have strictures against the investigators.

While making scathing remarks against police functioning and prosecution in the cases, the trial court attempted to ameliorate the situation by referring individual cases to senior officers i.e. the concerned DCP and in some cases the Commissioner of Police.

However, these referrals were made with highly critical comments without any action against the erring officer or similar measures to ensure his accountability.

What the courts are calling a “sad and shocking situation”, the judicial orders have consistently reflected a similar tone. But the directions are falling on deaf ears.

IS PRODUCING FALSE EVIDENCE A CRIME?

Fabricating and using false evidence, falsely charging someone with an offence and making false claims in courts are criminal offence against public justice, as per the provisions of Chapter XI of the Indian Penal Code.

And the punishment for the offence, depending its severity, varies between a jail term of three years to life imprisonment and even death penalty.

However, despite the Delhi Police being found by different courts indulging in fabricating evidence, there is no accountability of its officers.

WHY SO?

Despite acknowledging perjury on part of the investigators, the judiciary finds itself helpless to prosecute erring police officials who often lie under oath.

The Code of Criminal Procedure for prosecution of offences under Chapter XI of the IPC is extremely complicated.

In case of a complaint for such an offence, preliminary inquiries have to be instituted by a court to ascertain whether the complaint is merited.

In addition, the trial of such offences is to be conducted separately from the main trial wherein the alleged false evidence was produced.

It’s not easy for courts to prosecute every case of alleged fabrication and concoction as it would have no time for other matters as Indian judicial system is flooded with such cases.

Even though the courts have acquitted innocent persons, strict action is needed against guilty police for carrying out unfair and serious lapses in investigations, failure to apprehend and bring the real culprits to book and framing of innocents using fake evidence.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post With Delhi Violence Cases Caving in, Who Will Fix Police Accountability for Lying on Oath? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Ahmedabad/New Delhi: “Houses made of cow dung are not affected by atomic radiation. Use of gaumutra (cow urine) is a cure for many incurable diseases.” These are utterances by a local court in Gujarat, apparently to substantiate the life sentence it handed out to a man for “llegally transporting cow and its progeny for the purpose of slaughter.”

Notably, scientists have decried claims of cow dung benefits with regard to its anti-radiation properties.

A sessions court at Vyara in Tapi has held Mohammad Ameen, 22, a resident of Malegaon in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, guilty of violating the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2017, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Gujarat Control of Animal Transport Order, 1975 and the Gujarat Essential Commodities and Animal Control Act, 2015 as well as the Central Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2015.

In addition to separate smaller sentences and fines that will run concurrently, he has been sentenced to “rigorous punishment to life and a fine of Rs 5 lakh” for violating Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Gujarat Animal Preservation Act, 1954 read with Gujarat Animal Preservation Act, 2011 and sections 6 (a)(1) and 8 (2) of the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2017.

“If he fails to pay the fine, he will have to undergo rigorous punishment of five more years,” ordered Principal District and Sessions Judge Samir Vinodchandra Vyas.

‘COW IS A LIVING PLANET’

Continuing to heap praise on the cattle, the judge said in Gujarati language, which loosely translates as: “Cow is not only an animal, but a mother. No one is as humble as a cow. A cow is the living planet of 68 crore holy places and three crore gods. The whole universe is indebted with the multiple utilities of the cow which are beyond description…. The day there is no cow slaughter, all problems of the earth will be solved and there will be well being everywhere.”

He said in the judgment that lot of lip service is paid for cow protection, but its illegal transportation and slaughter continue unabated. “It’s a matter of disgrace for a civilised society,” reads the verdict (a copy of which has been seen by this reporter).

The court stressed the need to contemplate on the “economic, social and scientific” apart from the religious and spiritual aspects of cow protection as well as slaughter.

“Mechanised abattoirs have come up, and holy cow and its progeny are being slaughtered everyday. As a result, the bovines are facing constant threat to their lives. …Seventy-five percent of the livestock has been lost. There will be a time when people will not be able to draw its sketch. The widespread slaughter of the divine animal has caused several problems that exist on earth. It is resulting in the increase in irascibility and loose temper. Therefore, the heinous act cow slaughter must be discouraged,” the court noted.

Discussing the religious importance of the animal, the judge noted Tridevis (a trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism) are not separate from cows. The three goddess (Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati/Kali), notes the judgment, have emerged from Adi Gau Surabhi (the cow). The (Hindu) religion, it said, has manifested in the form of Neel Vrushabh — a bull that was born to a cow.

The cow — according to the court — is the mother of ‘Rudra’ (a Rigvedic deity associated with Shiva), daughter of ‘Vasu’ (a group of deities in Hinduism associated with fire and light) sister of ‘Aditi Putras’ (the sons of Aditi — the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos) and a treasure of ‘Dhruv Roop Amrit’ (an ancient formula of pure ingredients that provide intense nourishment to the skin).

“Cow and bull have special importance in the agricultural farming. And the foodgrains produced from natural farming, wherein cow dung is used a fertiliser, protects the human kind from various diseases,” the judge noted, explaining the material and religious importance of the cattle.

Several shlokas (verses) of Vedas have been quoted in the judgment to explain the religious and material importance of the bovine.

The judge said he is pronouncing the verdict keeping the importance of cow and merits of the case in mind.

THE CASE

As regards the case, for which the bovine benefits were cited, the prosecution said a truck, carrying 16 cows and bullocks, was spotted at a trisection between Nava (Tapi) and Ashrava (Banas Kantha) villages on July 18, 2020 at around 5:30 a.m by a police party of the Nijhar police station.

As per the oral submission of Head Constable Bipinbhai Rustambhai Chaudhari, he was night duty from 11:05 p.m on July 17 till 6 in the morning on July 18. He was accompanied by two home guards (Narendrabhai Rajeshbhai and Jigneshbhai Ravindrabhai) and driver his vehicle Dineshbhai Gangaram.

At around 3:45 a.m, while checking vehicles at the trisection, they stopped a truck. Suspecting the driver’s replies to his queries, Head Constable Chaudhari along with his subordinates went to the rear side of the vehicle to inspect.

When the tarpaulin cover of the truck was removed, they found the vehicle packed with bullocks and cows — which were tied with a short rope.

Caught “red-handed”, the truck driver, the prosecution said, taking advantage of the darkness, managed to escape. The vehicle was seized and brought to the police station. Independent and respectable witnesses and those involved in cattle rearing were called, and the truck was unloaded in their presence, it added.

Of the 12 cows and four bullocks loaded in the truck, the prosecution alleged, one bovine and one bullock had died.

“There was no cattle fodder and water in the truck, which also did not have a mandatory veterinary first aid kit. There was no soil on the floor of the truck to prevent the cattle from injuries. A veterinary officer associated with the Nijhar Veterinary Dispensary was called in for medical examination of the animals. The dead cow and bullocks were
sent for post-mortem. A panchnama (record of witness testimony) was prepared and the bovines were marked and sent to a cow shed,” said the prosecution case.

The bovines, the prosecution alleged, were being illegally transported from Gujarat to Maharashtra without required certificates issued by competent authorities.

The accused was arrested on August 27, 2020. He was identified by the head constable (main witness in the case) during the identification parade. In his oral submission, he told the court that the accused was made to get down from the truck at the time of the incident and claimed that he had seen his face in the light.

The defence arguments that the accused was not driving the truck and that the policemen had not seen him at the time of incident were rejected by the court, as the witness kept denying it.

Based on oral submissions, the court found him guilty and awarded him life imprisonment. Except the police men, there were no other independent witness at the spot when the vehicle was stopped and the accused was made to de-board the truck and slipped into darkness.

The accused was represented by the legal aid of the state government.

File: Gujarat Animal Protection (1).pdf (301 KB)

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Gujarat: ‘Cow Dung Protects From Atomic Radiation’, Says Local Court While Sentencing Youth to Life appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh)/New Delhi: The families of five out of the seven men killed during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh (UP), on December 20, 2019, have found a ray of hope for justice after a local court disposed of the closure reports filed by the state police and registered ‘complaint cases’.

In this process, the complaint is filed either orally or in writing with the magistrate, who first examines the complainant and witnesses. If the judicial officer is satisfied that the complaint coupled with the examination discloses an offence, he/she takes cognisance of the offence. Subsequently, the accused/suspects are summoned during the trial.

The court order came after the counsel for the families challenged the police’s closure reports, filed a year after the incident. Dismissing the allegations that all seven men were killed after the police fired at anti-CAA protesters, cops in the final reports had stated that they were killed when “miscreants” fired indiscriminately during the stir.

“…. Thousands had gathered against the CAA/NRC. Meanwhile, the protest turned violent and miscreants opened haphazard firing. A bullet fired by a miscreant hit… Despite tireless efforts, he (the killer) could not be traced,” the police had said in the closure reports, which were termed “a bizarre and brazen lie” by the families.

Of the seven cases, the police filed a chargesheet in only one case wherein 12 men (all Muslims) were charged for allegedly causing death by negligence of one Rashid (Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code). All the accused are out on bail.

Rashid (27), who was handicapped and a resident of Kashmiri Gate area, died on the spot after being hit on the forehead. His post-mortem report suggests that he died of a stone injury. However, eyewitnesses and his family members and lawyer allege that he was shot by the police.

Contesting five of the six final reports, advocate Saghir Khan of the Association of Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) told the court that the seven men died when the police fired in the presence of the superintendent of police (city), circle officer, city magistrate and the concerned station house officer. Khan alleged that cops started firing following the superintendent of police’s order. 

“The investigators deliberately did not carry out a fair and unbiased probe. As a result, the applicant was denied justice,” he told the court.

The court was also apparently dissatisfied with the police investigation and ordered a reinvestigation and registration of complaints in five cases.

“There seems to be a contradiction between the allegations levelled by the applicant and the facts on record. In this situation, the court is empowered to examine the statements of the complainants and the witnesses. In view of the facts and circumstances, registering the protest petition as a complaint case appears to be fair. Therefore, the final report is disposed of and the protest petition is registered as a compliant case,” the court noted in its order, passed in May, July and September.  

Khan, who is fighting a lone battle, told Newsclick, “Out of the seven deaths, final reports were filed in six cases and a chargesheet in one. After we filed protest petitions against five of the six closure reports before the then-chief judicial magistrate, he ordered a reinvestigation into one and compliant cases in five cases.”

One of the deceased families, Khan added, has “accepted the final report in writing in the court”.

BOTCHED-UP PROBE, ‘HARASSMENT’ OF COMPLAINANTS

The reinvestigation was ordered in the case of Shafiq (45), who died on December 26, 2019, while undergoing treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. 

According to his brother and complainant Nisar, as the violence broke out, Shafiq ran through the alleys at Masroor Ganj to ensure that his brothers are not standing on his newly constructed second house near Naini Chowraha, where protesters and the police were clashing.

“A police bullet entered the left side of his head and exited diagonally from the opposite side,” Nisar told Newsclick alleging that his brother was “denied treatment at the Firozabad district hospital and Agra medical college. He was conservatively treated at a private hospital in Agra which later referred him to Safdarjung Hospital”. 

Nisar further alleged that the police are harassing him and his family for pursuing the case. “The day the court ordered the reinvestigation, the police picked me up and tried their best to force me to change my statement. I was detained for a long time and only released following a strict court order.”

Rani, whose husband Shafeeq is one of the deceased, has given up hope for justice. “When the killers are investigators, how can one expect a fair probe or justice? I don’t have any hope from the system,” the mother of 16-year-old Sania said.

“My only priority is the health and education of my daughter, who is down with a severe backache.” 

Sania lost her father, a daily wager at a bangle factory, when she was in grade nine. To fulfil her father’s dream of her becoming a doctor, she has opted for physics, chemistry and biology in 12th grade to take the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test to get admission to MBBS next year.

Putting up a brave fight to get justice for his deceased son, Md Mobeen (48) finally lost the battle with cancer in September. A resident of Nagla Kothi Mohalla, Mobeen’s eldest son Muqueem (21) was also killed allegedly in the police firing. A daily wager at a bangle firm, he was the family’s only source of income.

The family had to sell its small house at a throwaway price to fund Mobeen’s treatment. Muqueem’s mother Shamsun Begum and her four teenage sons and daughters have to vacate the house in the next few days.

Despite the injustice and the hardships, Begum is not broken. Despite being “harassed by the police”, she is determined to fight till the “murderers of her son” are brought to the book.

“The police are harassing me. A posse of men in uniform barged into my house in the dead of night and assaulted my children. I was picked up by male cops and brought to the police station for no reason. But I will not give up. I won’t let the death of my husband and son go in vain,” she told Newsclick trying to control her emotions.

Following the registration of the complaint, Begum has to depose before the court the next month to record her statements.

Nayi Abadi (23), a resident of Azad Nagar, was also killed allegedly in the police firing. After the court accepted his lawyer’s protest plea against the police closure report, his father Yamin (52) has to get his statement registered before a magistrate on January 7.

Haroon (23), from Nagla Mulla village, was the sole breadwinner of his family of 10 after his father died of cancer. A cattle trader by profession, he had gone to Pachokhara market, near Tundla, to sell his buffalo.

“It was around 4.30 pm when he was hit by a bullet in the police firing near Naini Chowraha,” his uncle Md Shoaib, who is the complainant in the case, alleged.

“The bullet pierced his chin and exited from the opposite side. He was so courageous that he dialled me even in that condition to inform me he was injured in the police firing,” Shoaib told Newsclick.

“We found him unconscious and rushed him to the district hospital and later to the Agra medical college but he was denied treatment at both places. We took him to, at least, six hospitals in Agra but none of them treated him,” Shoaib said adding that he was “somehow admitted to GG Medical Institute and Research Centre, Agra, on December 25. He was finally referred to AIIMS Delhi, where he died”.

Shoaib alleged that his written complaint mentioning that Haroon died in the police firing was not accepted by cops, who allegedly threatened and made him sign blank papers. 

“The police refused to file an FIR based on my complaint, wherein I had narrated the exact sequence of events. They asked me to sign blank papers and leave,” he alleged recalling a cop telling him, ‘You all will be framed if you don’t leave right away,’” he further alleged. 

Haroon’s mother Nayeem Fatma broke down while sharing some of his memories. “Trouble was brewing since morning. I asked him not to go to the market. He smilingly told me not to worry as he would return soon. My son never returned,” she said breaking into tears.

Nayeem Fatima breaks down if one asks about his son Haroon, 26, who died allegedly in police firing near Frozabad’s Naini Chowraha on Dec 20, 2019.

Asked if she expects justice, Fatma said, “It’s a distant dream as the police are not even ready to acknowledge the crime they committed. Let’s see what the court does.”

Following the registration of the compliant case, Shoaib too has to make a statement before the court.

Abrar (32), who belonged to Masroor Ganj, was shot in the back. He too was allegedly denied treatment at the district hospital and the government medical college in Agra. He was taken to Apollo Hospital, Delhi, where he died. His complaint case too is listed for the recording of the statement of his father Ejaz, who is the complainant.

Md Ayyub, father of deceased Nabija (23) allegedly gave written acceptance to the police’s final report. However, he told Newsclick he is unaware of any such affidavit filed on his behalf.

 Md Ayyub’s son Nabijan, 22, received a bullet while he was returning to work after Friday prayers on Dec 20, 2019.

“How can I accept the police claim that my son was not shot dead by them?” he asked alleging his signature taken earlier might have been “misused by the police”.

NO REPORT DESPITE INJURIES

Advocate Khan further alleged many people sustained injuries in the police firing but did not lodge police complaints fearing that they would be framed.

“They got treatment at private nursing homes and clinics. They did not report it as their fear was not unfounded. One Sattar, a resident of Ramgarh, was secretly undergoing treatment. The police came to know about it and booked him under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (robbery) and 396 (committing murder for dacoity) of the IPC apart from other charges,” he said.

POLICE DENIAL

None of the police personnel were willing to go on record when asked about the court disposing of the closure reports and registering the complaint cases.

“As a professional police force, we conducted a fair probe without any bias. The final reports were filed after the police failed to trace the miscreants who fired at other protesters and caused their deaths,” a police officer requesting anonymity told Newsclick.

“Since it was a huge and violent crowd, it wasn’t possible to locate the armed men. We tried our best but could not find them,” he said defending the police’s final reports while refusing to comment on the court’s decision.

When queried about the alleged harassment of the complainants and denial of medical aid to the victims at their behest, he dubbed it a mere allegation “without any basis”.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Ray of Hope for Families of Dead Firozabad Anti-CAA Protesters appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: It was the month of December in 2019 when the Shaheen Bagh protest, mainly led by Muslim women, against the discriminatory citizenship law, was making headlines the world over.

It was “not just an ordinary agitation”, say residents of the south-east Delhi’s locality after three years of the historic peaceful sit-in, describing it as an “emotional outburst against a discriminate law”, a rage against the “brutal police crackdown” on students of Jamia Millia Islamia, a “strong assertion” of political identity and a challenge to stereotypes about Muslim women in India.

Hours after horrific visuals of police assaults on Jamia students, opposing the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, the cries for help and cops’ boots ransacking the varsity properties began surfacing on social media, people from Shaheen Bagh, especially women, braving bone-chilling cold, gathered on the road that links Delhi to Noida and blocked it on December 15, 2019 evening. The protest continued till March 24, 2020. It was called off after the first wave of the deadly COVID-19 virus hit the country.

India amended its citizenship laws after over six decades. Under the new laws, citizenship would be fast-tracked for non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who arrived in the country before 2015. Opposing the new legislation, Muslims and liberals accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of following Myanmar by inserting religion as a criteria into its nationalisation and refugee policies.

The government, however, defended the new law — arguing that it is meant to “help persecuted minorities” from the three Muslim-majority nations and denying it to be anti-Muslim. Several states of the country passed resolutions in their respective Assemblies, refusing to implement the CAA.

What did the Shaheen Bagh agitation mean for people of the predominately Muslim neighbourhood of the national capital, what were its take-aways and how it influenced their personal and professional lives. NewsClick bounced these questions off some people who were active participants.

“Tere maathe pe ye aanchal bahut hi khuub hai lekin, tu is aanchal se ek parcham bana leti to achchha tha (This veil covering your head indeed looks good, but it would have been better if you had made it a flag),” quoting Asrar-ul-Haq ‘Majaz’, Huma Masih, who had actively participated in the protest, told NewsClick: “The women of Shaheen Bagh perhaps did the same when they hit the street against the indiscriminately law and police brutalities against the students.”

She said at the core of the movement were Muslim women, who are often painted as deeply marginalised and suppressed. The protest, according to her, negated the portrayal of Muslim women as different from other women of the society.

“We hit the road, blocked it, erected a stage for a 24-hour sit-in and made it a 101-day protest. We fought all odds, such as facing the harsh weather and a hostile media trial. We were ridiculed as ignorant women who were ‘misguided’, maligned as ‘bikaau’ (saleable) and harassed with online auctioning (through open source app on the Github platform called Bulli Bai). No stone was left unturned to discredit and defame us. Yet, the protest survived and inspired people from across the country and even abroad to organise sit-ins like Shaheen Bagh,” said the digital curator and mother of an infant.

Masih said the impact of the protest was so huge that the entire area has turned into a cantonment, with deployment of heavily armed guards of the city and reserve police forces whenever there is a public or even religious gathering even now.

The government kept insisting that the CAA was not anti-Muslim, Masih said, but women of Shaheen Bagh kept reiterating that making faith the basis for acquiring Indian nationality goes against the country’s secular Constitution.

The law is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court.

The protest was also against the government’s proposed plan to implement nationwide counting of citizens, which particularly spooked Muslims amid fears that millions of them could be rendered stateless. A similar exercise in the Northeastern state of Assam excluded nearly 20 lakh people from the citizenship roll (the National Register of Citizens or NRC) last year.

“It was a democratic protest, which tried to raise all issues of people’s concerns. It had several colours — expression of dissent through poetry, paintings, plays, etc.,” she said, adding that all these, however, came with heavy price: the communal violence ij Northeast Delhi in February 2020, social boycott, public bullying and young and educated students and activists arrested under the stringent anti-terror law (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA).

For Hena Ahmad, 50, Shaheen Bagh evokes both hate and pride, depending on who you ask.

“The neighbourhood has been so demonised. There are frequent cancellation of rides by online taxi services when the pick-up or the drop point is Shaheen Bagh,” alleged Ahmad, who runs a makeup studio for women in the locality.

She claimed she had witnessed a steep fall in the number customers. “Clients cancel bookings even after making mandatory advance payments as soon as they come to know that my parlour is located in Shaheen Bagh,” she added. 

Forced by alleged bullying, her daughter, a trained chef, had to discontinue her internship with a five-star hotel.

“She used to be harassed with comments such as ‘you come from mini-Pakistan’. After the senior management of the hotel failed to act against the religious profiling, she had to discontinue,” said Ahmad, tempering her anger with humour.

Like many other women, Ghazala was at the frontline of the movement. She believes resistance does bear fruit, citing instances of the rolling back of three contentious farm laws following peasants’ protests at Delhi borders and delaying the implementation of CAA and the proposed NRC and the NPR (National Population Register).

“The Shaheen Bagh protest was not an ordinary agitation that’s over. It is still alive in us. It has taught us to raise our voices against all sorts of wrong — be it in the family or the country,” said Ghazala.

Masih, too, claimed so when she was asked about the impact of the protest in her personal life. “We now discuss, debate, dissent and question issues within the family. The Shaheen Bagh protest has given us a strength. And that is the biggest take-away of the protest,” she added.

Srijan Chawla, a student activist who actively participated in the agitation, said the Shaheen Bagh women gave a loud and clear message that they would save the Constitution when it gets attacked.

“Shaheen Bagh was not a religion-centric protest. The agitators were talking about the rights of a minority in a democratic system. It was not just about CAA-NRC-NPR. It was an agitation against stereotypes. It set a new standard for Indian politics for women, particularly Muslim women. It gave out a message that Muslims want to save the Constitution by demanding that minority rights be protected. And therefore, it was a first of its kind movement,” she told NewsClick.

According to her, movements not only change the society but also individuals.

“We developed a more profound sense of our political identity. The anti-CAA movement produced hundreds and thousands of people with political commitment. It made us learn how to become an aware citizen and leader. The agitation taught us how to make a voice heard without resorting to violence. It also taught us to be calm by ignoring provocations and continue to be firm on our demands,” she added.

Senior journalist Ashraf Quamar, who stays in the neighbourhood, said the Shaheen Bagh protest left multi-layered and multi-dimensional messages for people. One “important” message for public intellectuals and the mainstream media, he said, was to review the narrative built around Muslim women over the years.

“It has ruptured the binary of Islam and Muslim women — the oft-repeated topic of women’s subjugation in Islam. On the other hand, Muslims too go to know their friends and foes in the crisis. Interestingly, a section of the media that keeps advocating women empowerment, chose to take a U-turn and aggressively attempted to project their valour with vulgar allegations, running extensive campaigns to defame the protests. This was reflected in various news reports,” he pointed out.

Quamar said the women sat for months in the chilling cold round the clock, against all odds, inspiring similar sit-in protests across small cities and towns and attracting global coverage, but the dominant section of Indian news organisations (especially visual media) were investing all their efforts to defame the women-led protests.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post 3 Years Later, ‘Historic’ Anti-CAA Protest Still Resonates With Shaheen Bagh’s Women appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: Nearly three years after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government to allot 5 acres for the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya and cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site, the project is in limbo due to the lack of approval for building maps and no-objection certificates (NOCs) from civic authorities, UP Pollution Control Board and fire services.

On the other hand, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone on August 5, 2020, after the SC ordered that the disputed land be handed over to a Trust for building a Ram temple, construction at the site is in full swing.

Following the long-fought Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit, the apex court in its 1,045-page judgment had ordered the state government in November 2019 to allot 5 acres to the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of the proposed mosque Masjid-e-Ayodhya.

The alternate piece of land, located at Dhannipur village, is 24 km away from the disputed 2.77 acres, where the historic Babri Masjid once stood before being demolished on December 6, 1992.

Apart from a mosque that can accommodate 2,000 people at a time, a 300-bed superspeciality hospital, a research centre dedicated to freedom fighter Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah (1857 anti-British war hero) and a community kitchen that will feed about 1,000 people daily were proposed to come up at the alternative land under the supervision of Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF)—a trust set up by the Waqf Board.  

Allegedly keeping it pending for more than a year, the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) has expedited clearance to the project only after a joint delegation of the Board and the Trust met ADA vice-chairman Vishal Singh on June 30.

“The IICF (also known as the Ayodhya Masjid Trust) had submitted the drawings of the maps in 11 sets to the ADA on May 25 last year along with Rs 5 lakh as the processing fees for approval.

“We received an official communication only after we met Vishal Singh on June 30 this year. We were asked to apply online on the ADA website for approval. We complied but it needed several NOCs. We reverted to the ADA urging it to secure all the NOCs,” IICF trustee Arshad Afzaal Khan told Newsclick.

“At this juncture, Ayodhya district magistrate Nitish Kumar intervened and deputed an additional district magistrate for the same. On October 18, ADA secretary Satyendra Singh informed us that the plot is agricultural land, according to revenue records. Therefore, no construction can be done on it without changing its use. We were provided with a proforma for an application seeking a change in the land’s use. We did it as well,” Khan further said adding that the application is “still pending with the authorities”.

Nearly two months ago, Khan said, the fire services department refused to ‘issue us an NOC for the mosque and other facilities by objecting to the narrow approach road being less than 12 metres. The Trust has urged the government to resolve the issue as it possesses the vacant land on both sides of the approach road. “We have also not been provided the additional land for widening of the approach road so far,” Khan alleged.

Asked if he sees a contrast between the promptness of authorities in facilitating the construction of two equally religious sites, Khan said it is a “pertinent” question but the government should answer that.

When queried about the same, Singh denied any discrimination and clarified that “technical issues” are being resolved to approve the project.

“The land use of the allotted site has to be changed and an application in this regard is being processed. There are other technical glitches which are also being worked upon. Soon, everything will be resolved,” he said.

Asked about declining the NOC to the project by his department, Ayodhya’s chief fire officer RK Rai said, “The approach road should be 12 metres wide; however, the main approach road is not more than four metres wide. The width of other approach roads is not more than six metres. Therefore, clearance has been withheld and the Trust has been informed about it.”

NO RESEMBLANCE TO BABRI MASJID 

According to Khan, who is also in charge of designing, the mosque will not bear any resemblance to the Babri Masjid—built by Mughal emperor Babur’s General Mir Baqi in 1528–29 and a replica of the mosques in the Delhi Sultanate.

Picture credit: Praveen Jain

“Babur is not our ideal. Our ideals are our Sufi saints, freedom fighters and scholars. Therefore, the proposed Masjid-e-Ayodhya will not in any way look like the Babri Masjid. Therefore, the new mosque wouldn’t have any reference to the Mughal-era mosque and its demolition,” he said.

Khan said that the museum on the premises of the proposed mosque will have a memorial dedicated to freedom fighters like Shah. “As per the Islamic teachings of Khidmat-e-Khalq (philanthropy), the proposed complex will have a community kitchen and a hospital to feed the poor and serve the humanity at large,” he added.  

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Ayodhya Mosque Project in Limbo, Ram Temple Construction in Full Swing appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Dang, Tapi, Narmada (Gujarat): Tribals from the South Gujarat region have been up in arms against the government regarding the proposed river-linking project, four-lane highway and zinc smelter. They claim that the project will displace people of the region and despite their multiple protests in the last several months, there has been no result in their favour.

Ahead of the Gujarat elections, the tribals say that they have pledged for a “final battle” if the government goes ahead with the planned projects, which they say will displace the adivasi community, cause loss of their properties and livelihood, impact biodiversity, make fertile land barren and eventually spread several diseases.

“No more protests and talks; it’s enough as we have been doing the same for the past several months to no avail. Now, either they go back, or we are ready to sacrifice our lives,” said the protesting tribals.

The tribal belt of South Gujarat is a traditional Congress stronghold, although the grand old party now has only eight of the 35 seats in the region. Everyone in the region readily talks about the issues regarding the projects.

The Par-Tapi-Narmada River Linking Project was sanctioned in 2010 when a tripartite agreement was signed between the central government and state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The project proposes to transfer water from the surplus regions of Western Ghat to the water deficit regions of Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat.

Envisioned under the National River Linking Project (NRLP), formally known as the National Perspective Plan of 1980, the Rs 10,211-crore project proposes construction of seven dams — Chasmandva, Paikhed and Mohna Kavchali at Dharampur taluka in Valsad district, Kelvan at Vyara taluka in Tapi district, Dabdar and Chikkar at Dang taluka in Dang district of south Gujarat and Jheri at Nashik in north Maharshtra.

As per the plan, a 395-km-long canal would take the water from the proposed reservoirs to take over a part of the ongoing Sardar Sarovar Project’s command in Narmada district while irrigating small en-route areas.

The project proposes to link three rivers — Par (which originates from Nashik in Maharashtra and flows through Valsad in Gujarat), Tapi (originates from Saputara in Gujarat and flows through Maharashtra), Narmada (originates in Madhya Pradesh and flows through Bharuch and Narmada districts in Gujarat and Maharashtra).

Around 61 villages will be either partly or fully submerged in water. It will directly affect 2,509 families in the tribal villages.

A four-lane state highway is planned to be built, connecting the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Narmada district to Saputara via Galkund, Ahwa, Subir, Songadh, and Ukai. The government claims that it will generate employment opportunities at the local level.

The highway’s detailed project report (DPR) suggests that a 15-metre area on both sides of an existing road on the proposed stretch will be acquired. However, the local tribals fear it would be more than 1 km in the name of construction of connecting roads and other properties such as fuel stations, wayside amenities, rest areas, complexes, etc.

In Tapi district alone, according to the protesters, 1,500 people would lose their generations-old residential land, and 70 of them would lose their entire land holding.

Vedanta Group’s Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government in October 2020 to set up the company’s largest smelter with a production capacity of 300 kilotonnes of zinc ingots every year. It will be done in the areas owned by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation at Doswada in Songadh.

The ingots are mainly used for galvanising steel to protect it from corrosion and for making alloys.

The above-mentioned three projects, which would be taken up simultaneously, are being fiercely opposed by the Gamit, Chaudhary and Vasava tribal communities residing in the three south Gujarat districts (Narmada, Tapi and Dang). These communities depend on agriculture and animal husbandry for a living. They say the project would severely affect their livelihoods, health and environment.

BITTER PAST EXPERIENCES

Urmilaben Gamit, 38, a mother of two, asked how they can expect their resettlement anytime soon when over four lakh people displaced due to the Ukai Dam — the second largest water reservoir in Gujarat — have not been rehabilitated even after 42 years.

“We have been living and doing agricultural farming on the land pattas (lease) allotted to our forefathers for housing plots and cultivable lands for generations. We have made the land here cultivable with our blood and sweat. Suddenly, a so-called development project comes and we are asked to migrate. Where will we go and how will we survive when our source of livelihood will be snatched away?” she asked while speaking to NewsClick at her home at Sogadh’s Chapaldhara village in Tapi district.

Talking about their previous unpleasant experiences, she said those who were evicted earlier for the Ukai Dam construction were allotted land at Songardh, Uchchhal, Nijhar and Kukarmunda talukas of the district. However, they cannot do agricultural farming most of the year, especially the rainy season, because the land is submerged with water due to the dam, she said.

“If you go there during monsoons, the entire stretch would look like a river without any trace of life. The water takes months to recede. Hence, they are able to perform agricultural activities only during the winter season once the water level in the reservoir recedes. Only those who are away from the dam can do farming,” said Urmilaben, who has spearheaded several protests against the proposed dam, highway and zinc smelter projects in the past months.

She was echoed by many of the migrants, and alleged that the Ukai Dam accumulates and sends water to Saurashtra — 1,200 km away from Tapi — but they are not getting water for irrigation despite being just 20-30 km away from the reservoir.

When asked why they cannot use the water flowing through en route canals, one of them said, “First of all, there is no canal in our area. Even in a few areas that are close to the canal, people cannot pump out the water for irrigation as it is not meant for them.”

“Forget about water for irrigation, we don’t even get drinking water from the Ukai Dam,” said Balubhai Rajyabhai Gami, a resident of Nana Bandharpada in Songadh taluka of Tapi district, while speaking to NewsClick. He said, “One needs to obtain permission, which is never granted, from the district administration for drilling borewells for domestic and agricultural purposes. When we cannot dig a borewell on our own land, even if we manage to afford it, how can we pump out water from canals that are not meant for us?”

Bhartiben, 36, from Chikar village in Dang district, sounded resolute as she said, “We will die but not let the Par-Tapi-Narmada River Linking Project roll out as it will endanger our survival as well as livelihood.”

Sitting on the veranda of her kutcha house at the small hamlet located in the Chikar Hills with one of her disabled son, the mother of two said. “We need vikas (development) but not the vikas that follows a vinash (destruction).”

“If the government is really concerned about us and wants our development, it should try to solve the problems such as health, education and shortage of drinking water that we face in our day-to-day life,” she said.

Sunilbhai Chandubhai Gamit, a member of the Sangharsh Samiti, under whose aegis the anti-dam protest is held in Dand district, said the tribal population of Dang, Tapi, Valsad and Narmada districts or the entire country depend on water, forest and land. The “jal, jungle aur zameen (water, forest and land)”, he said, are related to their survival, culture, customs and traditions.

“And therefore, any nefarious design to snatch it in the name of development won’t be tolerated at all,” he warned. He added that if the government does not roll back the proposed river linking project, budget for which has already been allocated in the last budget session of Parliament, the “worst” would come.

“Para 4 of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution that deals with administration of scheduled areas where tribal communities are in a majority provides for establishment of a Tribes Advisory Council (TAC), which will approve any welfare project in scheduled tribes areas. But such approval has been sought. The project will leave more than 50,000 people from 37 villages of Dang homeless. They will also lose their agricultural land,” said Sunilbhai, who is an advocate in the district court and also contesting next month’s Assembly elections on an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket from Dang.

Why are they worried when the government assures them that the displaced population would be rehabilitated?

“Under the government’s rehabilitation policy, the affected people will be allotted a house as per the provisions of the Indira Awas or Sardar Awas Yojana (the state’s housing schemes). When will it happen? There is no time frame. We have at present a spacious place to live in, but the houses allotted under the schemes will bundle us in one-room sets. Most importantly, we will lose our fertile agricultural land. Even if the government, as it claims, allots us fresh leases of land for agriculture, we will have to begin from the scratch to work for years to make it fit for cultivation,” he explained.

Asked why they are opposing the project that aims to ease the life of citizens in water-starved regions with the surplus water from South Gujarat, he said the government is duty-bound to supply water for domestic and agricultural purposes to every citizen of the country, but without “destroying” anyone’s life.

“The government must make local arrangements to accumulate rainwater and recharge groundwater. It should make reservoirs and canals in nearby areas that are not water deficient instead of such a big river-linking project. The fact is that its aim is not to provide water to Saurashtra or Kutch but to the big companies in Surat, Vadodara and other parts of the state,” he added.

Sunilbhai further said the hilly areas would be water starved if the proposed dams come up as it would divert the rainwater stored in ponds and lakes at the height. “Even if we do a lift irrigation, it will not work because of the huge cost of lifting the water,” he added.

BROKEN PROMISES

The displaced of the Ukai Dam, said the tribals in Tapi, were “betrayed” and allegedly given smaller pieces of land for housing under the “land for land” policy.

“They were not allotted pattas, as agreed, for agricultural farming. They are cultivating crops on unauthorised land in the region and always fear the destruction of their crops at the hand of the Forest Department officials,” said Balubhai, a resident of Tapi

In Narmada district, the tribals displaced from Ekta Nagar (previously known as Kevadia) and surrounding villages for the construction of the Statue of Unity and developing tourism also feel the same.

“People from six villages here were displaced in the first phase. Soon after, notices were served to the residents of another six villages surrounding the statue, and they, too, were evicted in the second phase. Now, 60 more tribal settlements have to be emptied, and the residents there have already been served notices. Though they have not left their places so far, their crops are destroyed by the administration,” said one of many people who live in such settlements in Narmada.

They added they had been promised monetary compensation for their losses apart from proper rehabilitation, but the promise was allegedly not met. “Residents of the six villages who were evicted in the first phase only got the compensation, but we were displaced in the second phase and have not even gotten a single penny so far,” they added.

Similarly, when Saputara in the Dang district was developed as a tourist hotspot, those who were evicted have allegedly not been properly resettled.

“Tribals have royalty rights on the areas that are developed. But they are always deprived of their due share in the development process. Take Saputara, for example; when the hill station was developed to promote tourism, big corporates came in. They constructed hotels and other amenities. We were completely forgotten. Even our rehabilitation was for namesake only,” said Lalubhai Vasava, a social worker in Dang who has authored a book on the glorious past of the tribals and runs a blood bank and a school in Dang.

He said the tribals are not against development; they only want to be the beneficiaries of the process instead of victims. “If you replace us, give us our due share in the development process. Give us loans so we can set up hotels and other facilities to earn a decent living,” he demanded.

In Tapi, people said they were assured in the Ukai Dam MoU that 80% of the management posts of the dam would be filled by the locals. “But it emerged as a lip service only to pursue the innocent tribals to willingly give away their land,” alleged Haresh Kumar Kantilal Gamit, 25, from Kati village in Tapi’s Songadh.

NO PAPERWORK, BUT FUNDS TRANSFERRED

Those, who would lose their land to the proposed four-lane state highway, have allegedly been transferred a total amount of Rs 15 lakh by the company which got the contract, even without their knowledge and required paperwork.

They said they were unofficially informed about the development by the company officials who had come for a survey but returned after the locals protested.

“When the team visited our villages for a land survey, we registered our protest and did not let them carry it out. We were then informed by them that they have been asked to do a survey because the company has already transferred the sum to our bank accounts,” said Maganbhai Dhediyabhai Gamit, 43, a resident of Tokarva village in Songadh.

He said all who received the fund approached the district administration to enquire how it happened, and they said they were not apprised of anything in that regard.

“The government says it would give monetary compensation for our losses, but what will we do with it? How long would it last? We would get compensation as per the circle rate, which is much less than the actual prices at which the land on the proposed highway stretch changes hands. While the circle rate varies between Rs 1.5 lakh – Rs 2 lakh per bigha (17,427 square feet in Gujarat), the actual rate varies between Rs 3-5 lakh per bigha. And, what will our next generation do as the funds will exhaust very soon?” he said.

Haresh from Kati village said people in the region would have accepted the “land for land” deal had there not been betrayal in the past.

He said the entire project is illegal because, as per the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act or PESA, 1996, the Gram Sabha has to permit any such acquisition in the scheduled areas for tribals. “But without the Gram Sabha’s nod, a DPR was finalised and a gazette notification was issued,” he alleged.

Therefore, said Urmilaben, these residents who would be affected by the highway construction project would “put down their lives” on the line as they are fed up with the “protests and dialogues that serve no purpose”.

HEALTH HAZARD IN WAITING?

Soon after the HZL signed an MoU with the state government to set up the smelter in October 2020, the residents of Doswada and surrounding villages in Songadh began protesting against the project. They alleged that it has been planned without their permission.

They claim the smelter plant would severely affect their health, environment and livelihood.

“A public hearing was organised by the district administration on July 5 last year strangely amid the outbreak of COVID-19, when gatherings were prohibited. We were sent notices 20 days before the hearing. Instead of being supplied with an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, we were asked to study it at the district collector’s office,” alleged Lalsingh Gamit, a resident of Songadh. He is also a part of the tribal activists’ group called Adivasi Ekta Parishad.

However, the meeting was cancelled after over 5,000 people from Doswada and surrounding villages staged protests at the GIDC office.

Lalsingh said that 16 Gram Panchayats passed a resolution rejecting the project after the notices were served to the villagers. At least 42 of the 47 gram panchayats located within a 10-kilometre radius of the proposed project site have passed resolutions rejecting the zinc smelter.

A team of villagers from Tapi also visited Rajsamand and Udaipur districts in Rajasthan in June to inspect villages where the HZL has mine and smelting complexes. The team also visited the 240-ha tailings pond in Dariba, where the company dumps its sludge.

They reportedly found a high number of cases of cancer, skin diseases, mental and physical retardation in children and miscarriages in women and animals. Once a fertile land, the area has turned barren and the groundwater has become polluted.

Urmilaben, one of the visiting team members, said they met people who had been diagnosed with high levels of lead in their blood.

“If the toxic effluents from the company destroy our agriculture, who will compensate for it?” asked Sheela Gamit from Doswada village. She grows vegetables, pulses and sugarcane on her half-a-hectare field and sells 10 litres of milk daily to the village dairy cooperative, earning Rs 4-5 lakhs a year.

“Pollutants from the tailing pond have seeped into fields and destroyed crops. We saw stunted maize plants; farmers say the yield has reduced to four sacks per bigha (0.25 hectare) from seven sacks,” said Pramila Gamit from Chapaldhara village, also a member of the team.

Showing a bottle of saffron colour water brought from there, Urmilaben said, “Water from hand pumps and wells within the 10 km radius of the plant has turned to the colour of tea. It is no longer potable, and animals have died after drinking it.”

They said the situation would be no different for Songadh if the smelter came up. During smelting, HZL will also recover heavy metals like cobalt, nickel, lead, copper, mercury and cadmium found in zinc ores. The cleaning of the metal produces impurities, which — the company claims — will not be released into the atmosphere.

“But this is difficult to believe given Vedanta’s track record, particularly at its aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh in Odisha and copper and zinc smelters at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu and Rajsamand in Rajasthan,” said the activists.

The proposed smelter will cater to the international market rather than domestic demand. As per an EIA report, India’s current supply of zinc ingots is sufficient to meet existing domestic demand. The projected demand of 827 kilotonnes in 2025 will also be less than the projected supply of 837 kilotonnes.

NOT A VIBRANT GUJARAT

The tribal areas and the hilly villages in South Gujarat continue to lack even basic necessities. There is a severe water shortage in the hill villages as the groundwater is not recharged.

“When it rains, the water does not stop and flows to the plains through the rivers in the absence of smaller check dams. The hand pumps start running dry after April. We get water sufficient for our daily needs only after July-August when it rains and the groundwater level rises,” said Bhartiben from Dang’s Chikar village.

She said the state has 108 ambulance services round the clock to transport the sick to hospitals, but the majority of remote villages do not get cell phone networks. “There are ambulances, but we cannot call them in case of any emergency as the cell phone connectivity is extremely poor,” she added.

The areas, Bhartiben said, have public and community health centres at distant locations and a civil hospital in the district headquarters.

“It becomes difficult for us to travel to the health centres and bigger hospitals as the hilly areas have difficult terrains and no means of transport. Even the Civil Hospital at Ahwa (the headquarter of Dang district) does not have specialised doctors. If you one suffers cardiac arrest, they will refer the patient to multi-speciality hospitals in Valsad or Surat, which are hundreds of kilometres away,” she said.

The other major issue in such villages is related to education. There are primary and upper primary schools, but they do not have the sanctioned strength of teaching staff.

“Most of such educational institutions are running at the mercy of one teacher who manages the whole affair. If the government wants to ensure development, it should work on such issues instead of constructing huge dams that will not develop but destroy us,” said Bhartiben, who has done masters in Hindi language and a bachelor’s in Education.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Gujarat Elections: River Linking, 4-Lane Highway, Zinc Smelter Dominate Issues in South appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: Time stands still in Dadri’s Bisahda village — fons et origo (the original source) of India’s mob lynching template — as this is the month of despair and desolation for octogenarian Asghari, who has been waiting for justice since seven years when misfortune befell her home on September 28, 2015, taking away her son, Mohammad Akhlaq.

Many in the village still hate to hear the name of the 45-year-old, who was mercilessly beaten to death by none other than co-villagers for allegedly slaughtering a calf and consuming and storing the beef in his fridge. 

A murderous mob of 15-20 people, infuriated by rumours, broke into his two-storey house at around 10:30 p.m when the family was preparing to go to bed after dinner. They smashed a sewing machine on Mohammad Danish’s head, the 29-year-old younger son of Akhlaq, who fell unconscious, blood oozing out with pieces of flesh (as narrated by sources in the know of the incident).

Presuming him to be dead, they said, the mob’s fury focused on Akhlaq, who was attacked with iron rods and sticks. One of the attackers charged menacingly toward Shaista (27) and tried to molest her. She resisted and batted him away.

It was also reported that a larger mob was waiting for the victims outside, and the time was running out as sirens of police vans began reverberating. They held Akhlaq (who was bleeding profusely but still conscious), stripped him and began dragging him out of the ransacked room by his feet.

As the mob dragged Akhlaq to the ground floor, his head hit each of the 14 concrete steps of the staircase. “This was the worst torture for Akhlaq’s mother, wife and daughter,” they told NewsClick.

While Akhlaq succumbed to injuries, Danish survived the assault had had to undergo multiple complicated brain surgeries. He had a fractured skull with bleeding in the frontal lobe.

An loudspeaker announcement from a local temple — asking residents of the village to gather near a transformer in response to the rumour of cow slaughter — had led to the incident, the sources said.

Seven years later, a cursory walk along the alleys and pathways in the village of Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district still makes one believe that little has changed over the years.

Muslim-sounding names and nomenclatures among the locals sting villagers to the core even now, justifying the fears of the family, who expressed surprise over the sudden change of atmosphere in her village.

This correspondent, as he was saying, “this is Akhlaq’s village” during his piece to camera, was interrupted by a passer-by who wanted the sentence to be corrected. “This is Bisahda, not Akhlaq’s village,” he said furiously.

A SNAIL-PACED TRIAL

Seven years after the killing, trial in the case (FIR No. 241/2015, PS Jarcha), which that began only last year, has now reached the evidence stage. While the first charge sheet was filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police in December 2015, the charges could be framed only in February 2021.

The key eye-witnesses (Asghari, Ikraman — Akhlaq’s wife, Danish and Shaista) were supposed to depose before a fast-track court at Surajpur District and Sessions Court in Greater Noida on March 25, 2021, but could not do so because the court summons could not reach them.

Advocate Yusuf Saifi, the informant lawyer of the deceased family, told NewsClick: “Though the court had issued summons, the police failed to ensure that those were delivered to the family on time. The deposition was then rescheduled for April, but again it could not happen.”

Finally, Akhlaq’s daughter Shaista was able to testify before Additional District Judge (fast track court-1) Ranvijay Pratap Singh from June 16 this year. Her testimonies continued for three days.

Saifi said Shaista would be followed by the deposition of her mother, her brother and grandmother.

“As an eye-witness, she corroborated the sequence of events. She recounted witnessing her father being assaulted and pulled out of the house to be killed. She named the accused who carried out the brutal killing. One of the defence lawyers cross-examined her as well,” the lawyer said.

She had previously recorded her statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Apart from the eye-witnesses, 25 other witnesses include policemen, doctors, etc. The statements of the accused, too, have to be recorded.

“The testimony of the accused will also be recorded as they have presented evidence in their defence,” he added.

Asked about the reasons behind the delay, Saifi said the defence tried its best to ensure that charges were not framed on one pretext or the other.

“Their lawyers were putting up several discharge applications. They also filed applications seeking a CBI investigation and direction to register a case against the deceased family for possessing beef. Other pleas were also filed. While a majority of their prayers were dismissed, yet a few were allowed,” he added.

In addition, he said, the lawyers’ strike in September last year and the transfer of judges compounded the delay.

“Once all the depositions happen, the judgment will be reserved. We hope the matter will be concluded in the next seven-eight months,” he added.

GLARING DEFIANCE OF SC GUIDELINES

Observing that “hate crimes as a product of intolerance, ideological dominance and prejudice ought not to be tolerated; lest it results in a reign of terror”, the Supreme Court in 2018 in Tehseen S. Poonawalla Vs. Union of India & Ors. had issued a slew of directions, including preventive, remedial and punitive steps, to deal with the crime. But the guidelines seem to have no meaning in Uttar Pradesh.

The court had ruled cases of lynching and mob violence shall be specifically tried by designated court/fast track courts earmarked for that purpose in each district. The trial shall preferably be concluded within six months.

The case was sent to the special court in April 2016 for a hearing. Forget six months, the matter has not reached its conclusion even after seven years of the incident.

Advocate Saifi said none of its provisions was being followed. “The guidelines say that a nodal officer, who could be an IPS officer, has to overlook the progress of the case. That has not happened. I even gave a copy of the SC guidelines to the Senior Superintendent of Police two years ago, but he did not take any action. Though the case is being heard by a fast-track court, the progress is extremely slow,” he said.

LACKADAISICAL PROSECUTION?

After Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the investigating officer of the case, was transferred to Varanasi all of a sudden, no further progress was made in the matter.

Singh had a key role as the investigating officer in the Akhlaq murder case. He had arrested all the 10 accused named by the victim’s family.

Apart from the 10 named accused, the complainant Ikraman had said there were others as well in the group whom they did not recognise.

Ironically, as per some journalists who have extensively covered the incident, no attempts were made to identify and apprehend them.

All the accused were granted bail by the Allahabad High Court after the prosecution failed to strongly oppose it.

“My understanding is that the case has been weakened by the prosecution from the stage of FIR itself. The merit of a case is not what crucial facts you and I know; it depends on the case the police have prepared — registration of the FIR, evidence collection and filing of the charge sheet. The court delivers its verdict on the basis of these documents. The manner in which the case is progressing, my fear is that it would result in acquittals. The court proceedings so far prepare us for the final disappointment,” Mohammad Ali, who covered the case extensively for The Hindu and is writing a book on it, told NewsClick.

Asked what disappointed him to the extent that he is predicting acquittal in the case, he said it was the “first case of lynching that had attracted the world’s attention”.

“Shockingly, all the accused were enlarged on bail in just one year or two, and the prosecution kept acting like a mute spectator. It was a murder case, after all. The accused were glorified, given a heroic welcome and even got a job at the NTPC. One of them (Ravin Sisodia) who died in judicial custody was given a martyr’s burial, with his body draped in tricolour,” he said, adding that the tragedy of the case is that a soldier (Akhlaq’s elder son, Sartaj) of the Indian Air Force is running from pillar to post to get justice for his father’s murder.

Asked if the family also wants to move on as it is not seemingly pursuing the case aggressively, Ali said it was only logical that the already traumatised family would try to give up.

A WATERTIGHT CASE?

The police claimed they had prepared a watertight case against the accused, and it would result in convictions. “We have done a professional investigation and will secure convictions. The culprits will have to pay the price of what they have done,” a senior police official, refusing to be named, told NewsClick.

CONSPIRACY THEORY

The sister of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was killed on December 3, 2018, by a Right wing mob incensed over cow carcasses in Bulandshahr, had earlier alleged that her brother was “murdered because he was investigating the Dadri lynching case”.

And the conspiracy to eliminate his brother, she had further alleged, was hatched by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Being an investigating officer in Akhlaq’s lynching case, Singh was one of the prime government witnesses. He was witness number one in the case.

ATTEMPTS TO ‘STRIKE A COMPROMISE’

All the 18 accused (through their relatives) are learnt to have reached out to Akhlaq’s family 40-odd times seeking a compromise.

In June 2016, a case of cow slaughter was registered against Akhlaq’s family members (Ikarama, Danish, Shaista and Jaan Mohammad, who is the deceased brother) on the directions of the district court on the complaint of one Surajpal.

However, the Allahabad High Court restrained the police from taking any coercive action against the family.

The accused have been projecting Akhlaq’s family as those who killed the cow and have been allegedly pressuring them saying they will withdraw their case of cow slaughter if cases against them are taken back.

However, the police concluded three months after booking Akhlaq’s family for cow slaughter that there was no evidence to prove that Akhlaq and his family ever slaughtered a cow.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Akhlaq’s Lynching: 7 Years on, Only 1 of 25 Witnesses Testify as Trial Reaches Evidence Stage appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: The September 12 Varanasi district court order in the Gyanvapi mosque case has triggered serious concerns among legal luminaries, historians, the Muslim community and its religious leadership — with all of them unanimously implying that the order has ‘potential’ to push the country back to the 1990s when communal atmosphere engulfed the country.

They said the entire episode seems to be following a “copy-paste pattern” in the lines of the Babri Masjid-Ranmbhoomi case, not only legally but also in terms of real politics. 

They point out that the worship demand at the western wall outside the railing barricading the Gyanvapi mosque has been seemingly dragged from the Ram Chabutra which had later emerged as the focal point of the Babri mosque case. 

The Muslim community has unequivocally raised concern over the “judicial overreach” of the lower court — which, according to them, disregarded the Place of Worship Act, 1991 in letter and spirit. 

“It is tantamount to open the floodgates for pleas/applications, seeking legal recourse to claim ownership over historical places, causing litigation and social discord,” a Muslim community member told NewsClick.

District Judge A K Vishveshva dismissed an application filed by the Gyanvapi mosque’s managing committee that had challenged the maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women, seeking the right to worship Hindu deities within the mosque premises all-year round. 

The judge noted that the petitioners are seeking neither conversion of the Gyanvapi mosque into a Shiv temple nor are making any claim to ownership. They are merely seeking a right to worship as a civil right; and therefore, the petition is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Waqf Act 1995 and the UP Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983.

“The plaintiffs are only demanding the right to worship Maa Sringar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities which were being worshipped incessantly till 1993 and after 1993 till now once in a year under the regulation of State of Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 does not operate as the bar on the suit of plaintiffs,” the court said. 

The Act, legislated by Parliament in the backdrop of the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation, freezes the status of religious places as they existed on August 15, 1947.   

He also held that the entry of the property as Waqf in the revenue records, as per settled law, does not create ownership rights.

NEITHER DEFEAT NOR VICTORY

The mosque’s panel counsel in the Supreme Court, Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, who is an advocate on record in the apex court, described the Varanasi district judge’s rulings as a “setback”.

“It is not a final verdict, so calling it a victory or defeat does not make sense. At max, you can call it a setback for us,” he told NewsClick, adding that even after the pronouncement of the order under Order 7 Rule 11, the status of the mosque — as directed by the Supreme Court — shall remain the same. 

Ayyubi said the order has already been challenged in the Allahabad High Court, and they are hopeful that they would be able to convince the court.

Asked what would be their arguments in the High Court as all of their objections were rejected by the district court and maintainability of the pleas was decided on the averments made in the plaints, he refused to divulge the new strategy — saying they are “well-prepared to present the case effectively”. 

‘SHOW BIG HEARTS’

Noted legal expert, Faizan Mustafa, former vice chancellor of The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (Nalsar) University of Law in Hyderabad, said much reliance on law to resolve social or religious disputes is the real problem. 

“Laws are amended and struck down and often undergo judicial interpretations. At the core of the debate is the Places of Worship Act. We must understand that the legislation is yet to pass a test of constitutionality in the Supreme Court. It’s not clear if the reference to the law in the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Majid case was a passing remark. If it was an obiter dictum, then it’s certainly not a law,” he said during his monologue on his YouTube channel ‘Legal Awareness Web Series’.

Section 3 of the Centrally-enacted law bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination — or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.

Its Section 4(1) declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.

Section 4(2) states any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.

Section 5 of the law stipulates that the Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.

A five-judge Constitution bench comprising then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer had lauded the Act in the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid judgement as a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.

“The law addresses itself to the State as much as to every citizen of the nation The State, has by enacting the law, enforced a constitutional commitment and operationalised its constitutional obligations to uphold the equality of all religions and secularism which is a part of the basic features of the Constitution. The Places of Worship Act imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism under the Indian Constitution. The law is hence a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution The Places of Worship Act is a legislative intervention which preserves non-retrogression as an essential feature of our secular values,” states the SC verdict.

Mustafa said in his talk that the Varanasi district judge’s observation that the Places of Worship Act prohibits conversion of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination but does not bar ascertaining the religious character of a place of worship will open Pandora’s box. 

“There are hundreds of such contentious matters, which will go to courts for consideration. It would lead to communal politics and contribute to the spread of hatred in society. If the legislation does not stop ascertainment of the religious character of a place of worship, then its very essence is lost. The law was enacted with the objective to freeze all such religious disputes,” he said.

He stressed the need for an amicable solution to the dispute. 

“Court cases result in victories and defeats, but arbitration, mediation and out-of-court settlement give out a sense of victory to both parties as both of them lose and gain in this process. Every action should not be considered a surrender. Compromises have a role in a civilisational history to attain a higher goal. But at the same time, minorities are not always supposed to do compromises, the majority too have to and should do it. There should a feeling of accommodation and mutual trust,” he said, asking the two sides to “show big heart”. 

“Sit together and find out a solution without involving politicians and groups who have vested interests. Understand and respect each other’s sentiments and reach a compromise. Extremely complex issues are resolved on negotiation tables. Litigation is not a good method of dispute resolution. It should be avoided,” he suggested.

He said the principle of non-retrogression that was talked about in the Babri verdict should also be considered.

The apex court in the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid verdict had taken note of attempts to change the character of places of worship by people taking law into their own hands, citing historical events. 

“Historical wrongs cannot be remedied by the people taking the law in their own hands. In preserving the character of places of public worship, Parliament has mandated in no uncertain terms that history and its wrongs shall not be used as instruments to oppress the present and the future,” it had observed.

Mustafa does not find the final verdict in the Gyanvapi case would be different from the verdict of the Varanasi district court’s order as the district judge, as per his observations, seems to be convinced by the claims made by the petitioners.

Delhi-based columnist Yawer Rahman, agreed with Mustafa, saying fighting over mosques and temples was against the spirit of Islam.

“In Babri Masjid case, the Muslims should have shown large-heartednesses then by willingly gifting the site claimed by the Hindu parties for the sake of peace and brotherhood. In fact, Ali Mian (Maulana Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi, then president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board or AIMPLB) had, following the true Islamic spirit, agreed to hand over the land and even held talks with the then Prime Minister VP Singh. But then, there was a lack of consensus among the AIMPLB. Politics took precedence, leading to decades of discords between the two communities,” he told NewsClick.

“In fact, politicians from both sides didn’t want an amicable solution. They wanted to reap political benefits out of it, clearly at the cost of ever-lingering conflict between the major communities,” he added.

When asked, “yesterday it was Babri, it is Gyanvapi and Shahi Idgah mosques today, and this would continue in the future as well; how long do Muslims have to keep giving up their places of worship?”, he said: “Give up all of them if it satiates their hunger as establishing peace, harmony and co-existence is what our religion preaches, not discord in the name of mosques. And be sure, when you will show large-heartedness, a majority of the country will embrace you.”

Maulana Yasoob Abbass, general secretary of the All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board, too, advocated an out-of-court settlement of the dispute. 

“Religious leaders from both sides should sit together and resolve the issue peacefully,” he added. 

A MONUMENT OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

Historian Ali Nadeem Rezavi, professor of medieval history at Aligarh Muslim University, told NewsClick that the Gyanvapi mosque should be looked at through the prism of a “monument of historical importance” instead of a place of worship. 

“As a historian, I am not interested in a mosque or a temple. Gyanvapi mosque is a monument of historical importance that was constructed in 1669 upon the demolition of a temple, and it should be preserved in its original condition for posterity. It will serve as a source for research on the architecture of temples of the Aurangzeb era,” he said, adding that the Indian History Congress too had opined the same in 1985.

He said monuments have their role in preserving cultural heritage and history. Such symbols of different periods show the architectural growth of the country from the past to the present.

“The Congress (the Indian History Congress) had even proposed the government to bring such ancient structures under the umbrella of the Ancient Monuments Act (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1985) for preservation,” he added.

Like Hindus, he said, Buddhists too can claim their religious places and heritage were brought down to build temples. “This practice must stop in the larger interest of the country,” he concluded.

‘SANGH HAS INFILTRATED JUDICIARY’

Naved Hamid, president of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat — a federation of various Muslim organisations in India, said the issue has been raked up “not only to polarise the society but also to gain votes in 2024”. 

“It is surprising that the lower court has ignored the Places of Worship Act in letter and spirit, and it will have long-term law and order problems in the country,” he told NewsClick, alleging that the “Sangh’s ideological torch bearers have infiltrated the judiciary.”

“Ironically, the ideological torch bearers of the Sangh (the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS) have infiltrated into the judiciary. The verdict is a testimony of the ideological battle that has been entrusted on the Muslim minority of the country,” he added.

‘GYANVAPI CASE GOING BABRI WAY’

Reacting sharply to the Varanasi court order, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, spokesperson of AIMPLB, equated the Gyanvapi case to the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmbhoomi title dispute.

He claimed the order had failed the purpose of the Places of Worship Act 1991.

“The order has negated the Supreme Court judgment in the Babri Masjid case where in it had taken note, in no uncertain terms, of attempts to change the character of places of worship,” he said. 

The top court had said in preserving the character of places of public worship, Parliament has mandated that history and its wrongs shall not be used as instruments to oppress the present and the future.

He said the case may meet the same fate as the Babri mosque. 

“The Hindu women petitioners had sought to worship throughout the year at the western wall of the Gyanvapi compound that is outside the barricaded area of the mosque, but the court of civil judge (senior division) while doing judicial activism went overboard and ordered a survey inside the mosque premise. The case is going on the same path as that of the Babri Masjid dispute wherein the right to worship was first sought on the Ram Chabutra outside the iron grill of the mosque and later the petitioners staked a claim on the entire mosque,” he concluded.

The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) voiced concerns over the recent developments and urged the Allahabad High Court to uphold the 1991 Act to protect Gyanvapi and other mosques in the country.

“It was widely believed that the Supreme Court observations on the Places of Worship Act in the Babri Masjid case would resolve all mosque-temple disputes forever, but the Varanasi court order disregarded both the legislation and the apex court of the country. It may lead to mushrooming litigations across the nation,” JIH Vice-President Prof Mohammed Salim Engineer told NewsClick.

When reminded of the lower court’s observation that the Act prohibits alteration, not the ascertainment of the religious character of a religious place, he said, “worship rights have tactically been sought in the compound through the lawsuit, and it is an indirect attempt to defeat the spirit of the legislation.”

He said the government and the courts are duty bound to uphold the law in letter and spirit.

‘THE ORDER TO EMBOLDEN COMMUNAL FORCES’

Refusing to comment on the intention of the Varanasi district court’s order, Quamar Ashraf, senior journalist and media analyst who works for a UN agency, said the order will “certainly embolden communal forces.”

“It will unleash a Pandora’s Box…it is not going to be limited to this place alone. And why should it be? If the Places of Worship Act can be interpreted to resume hearing for the Gyanvapi case, then why not the other places of worship?” he asked. 

He said the communal fabric of the country was fraying due to “dog whistle politics.”

“You cannot reason with religious zealots, mostly having tacit support from the incumbent government, in the current situation. The issue has the potential to push us back to the 1990s when communalism was streamlined deep into the country,” he added.

He said Muslims have nothing in their hands except to take legal recourse, “the result of which is obvious”.  “After all, the Babri Masjid case has sent a shockwave across the legal experts and Muslim intelligentsia,” he concluded.  

Senior journalist Mohammad Ali, who has written extensively on the growth of the Hindu Right Wing and its onslaught on Indian democracy, sees the lawsuit filed by the women worshippers as part of the “ongoing Hindutva project to turn India into a Hindu majoritarian state.”

“It looks at history through the prism of religion, when it is not. Had history been driven by religious motives, Hindu kings would not have demolished temples, Ashoka would not have killed millions of Hindus in Kalinga and Mughal emperors would not have appointed Hindus on key posts,” he said.

If Hindus want to correct ‘historical wrongs’, they should make attempts to restore thousands of Buddhist shrines demolished in the past by brahmanical rulers, he said. 

Providing evidence from the book ‘Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History’ authored by renowned historian DN Jha, he said, “Some present-day brahmanical temples, such as those of Bhuteshwar and Gokerneshwar, were Buddhist sites in the ancient period in Mathura.”   

“As described by Jha in his book, central to Hindutva perception is the belief that Muslim rulers indiscriminately demolished Hindu temples and broke Hindu idols. They relentlessly propagate the canard that 60,000 Hindu temples were demolished during the Muslim rule, though there is hardly any credible evidence for the destruction of more than 80 of them,” he said, adding that “demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam.”

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Gyanvapi Case: Copy-Paste Pattern a la Babri Case – Not Just Legally But Politically, Too? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Varanasi/New Delhi: Wondering how a district court can overturn a High Court’s decision, the Anjuman Islamia Masjid has decided to approach the Allahabad High Court against the Varanasi district judge’s verdict that dismissed the Gyanvapi mosque’s managing committee’s plea (filed under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure or CPC) — challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women who have sought worshipping rights in the Mughal-era mosque compound.

In a significant development on Monday, Varanasi District Judge AK Vishvesha ruled that the suit filed by the plaintiffs is not barred by The Places of Worship Act, 1991 or the Waqfs Act, 1936.

“From the perusal of the above-mentioned provisions of the Act, it is clear that no bar has been imposed by the Act regarding a suit claiming the right to worship idols installed in the endowment within the premises of the temple, or outside. Therefore, defendant no. 4 failed to prove that the suit of the plaintiffs is barred by the UP Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983,” read the operative part of the judgment.

“In view of the above discussions and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act no.42 of 1991), The Waqf Act 1995 (Act no.43 of 1995) and the U.P. Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983 (Act no.29 of 1983) and the application 35C filed by the defendant no.4 is liable to be dismissed,” ruled the district judge.

Reacting to the judgment, Syed Mohammad Yaseen, the general secretary of the mosque committee, told reporters: “In civil suit number 62 of 1936 (Din Mohammad and others Vs Secretary of State for India in Council and others), the then additional civil judge of Benares (on August 25, 1937) had declared that the mosque and the courtyard with the land underneath are Hanafi Muslim Waqf. The judgment was upheld by the Allahabad High Court in 1942.”

“How can a verdict of the high court be overturned by a lower court,” he wondered.

He said the case will continue in the district court, and they will use all judicial remedies available to them.

Advocate Akhlaque Ahmad, representing the mosque committee, told reporters that he and his team would review the 2,400-page judgment and then make a decision on the further course of action.

“We had submitted before the court very strong evidence — the August 25, 1937 judgment of the Din Mohammad case and the gazette notification dated February 26, 1942 by which the Gyanvapi mosque was registered as a waqf property. The then civil judge had himself visited the mosque twice before delivering verdict in the civil suit number 62/1936. With the implementation of the Waqf Act, 1936, a survey was conducted across the country and a number was allotted to the properties under waqf — including the Gyanvapi mosque,” he said.

“What can be stronger evidence than the two documents we had brought on record in support of our pleas?” asked the mosque panel lawyer.

Terming the verdict a “foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple”, Sohanlal Arya, a petitioner in the case, was quoted by the media as saying: “It’s not only a victory of the Hindu community but also a foundation stone for the Gyanvapi temple. The next hearing is on September 22. We appeal to people to maintain peace.”

Advocate Vishnu Jain, who is representing the Hindu plaintiffs, told the media that they would seek for a survey of the mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and carbon dating of the ‘Shivling’.

The verdict, as per Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), will fail the purpose of the Places of Worship Act 1991.

“I believe that after this order, the purpose of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, will fail and have a destabilising effect,” he told reporters adding that “we are going on the same path as that of the Babri mosque issue. When the judgement on Babri Masjid was given, I warned everyone that this will create problems in the country as this judgement was given on the basis of faith”.

He said he hoped that the msoque committee would appeal against this order. “There should be an appeal in the high court against this order, and I hope the Anjuman Islamia Masjid will appeal against this order,” he added. 

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

The plaintiffs have essentially sought year-long access to offer prayers of Goddess Shringar Gauri behind the western wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex (located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple).

The Hindu worshippers had claimed that the present mosque premise was once a Hindu temple, which was demolished by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and thereafter the mosque was built. 

On the other side, the maintainability of the suit was challenged by the Anjuman Islamia Masajid (which managed the Gyanvapi mosque) — arguing that the Hindu worshippers’ suit is barred by the Places of Worship Act.

The mosque committee in its objection and application under the Order 7 Rule 11 had argued that the suit is specifically barred by the Places of Worship Act.

Having heard the two parties at length, the district judge had reserved his judgment on August 24.

To provide a better context regarding the case, the Varanasi civil court preside over by Justice Ravi Kumar Diwakar (civil judge, senior division) had earlier appointed a survey commission to submit a report by visiting the mosque.

The court commissioners thereafter submitted their report in a sealed envelop on May 19. However, even before the submission of the survey report, the court of the civil judge — on a submission made by a court-appointed advocate commissioner that a Shivling had been found in the mosque premise during the survey — had ordered to seal the spot (wazukhana or place of ablution).

The district magistrate of Varanasi was ordered to seal the area where a cylinder black structure (purported Shivling) was allegedly discovered and bar entry of any individual in the area inside the mosue.

Meanwhile, a petition was filed by the mosque committee in the Supreme Court, challenging the survey order issued by the Varanasi civil court.

Hearing the plea on May 17, the apex court clarified that the order passed by the civil judge (senior division) to protect the place where the alleged Shivling is claimed to have been found during the survey will not restrict the right of Muslims to access the mosque to offer prayer and other religious activities.

Further on May 20, the top court had transferred the suit filed by the Hindu devotees to the district court of Varanasi. The court had also ordered that the application filed by the mosque management committee before the trial court under Order 7 Rule 11 of the CPC for rejection of the suit filed by the Hindu worshippers shall be decided on priority by the district judge.

Meanwhile, it was also ordered that the interim order dated May 17 shall continue to be in place till the application is decided. With this, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Surya Kant and Justice PS Narasimha adjourned the matter to October 20.           

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Gyanvapi: Mosque Panel May Move HC, Hindu Plaintiffs Term Verdict as ‘Foundation Stone’ of Temple appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: The prosecution case against the “masterminds” of the June 10 violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj seems to be majorly based on the purported statements of policemen and a few private individuals rather than solid evidence.

Describing the violent agitation against the offensive remarks against Prophet Muhammad by a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the three first information reports (FIRs) were filed the next day of the incident after an unexplained delay of 12-18 hours in near identical narration have accused Muslim activists of planning the violence at Atala, Asghari Tiraha and Shaukat Ali Chouraha in the city.

The police in the first three FIRs (0118/2022, P.S. Khuldabad; 0175/2022, PS Kareli; 0176/2022, PS Kareli) have alleged that a mob of thousands with children took to the streets after the Friday congregational, throwing stones, shooting pistols and lobbing bombs, gravely injuring three security personnel and destroying police vehicles.

Despite over 5,000 people hurling bombs and opening gunfire, as per the FIR, none of the policemen or any passer-by suffered injuries either caused by the explosives or the bullets. No FIR has been filed by any common citizen. Even the prosecution has not submitted any grave hospital report. 

The entire case has been built on the statements of 60 eyewitnesses, 54 of whom are police officials. There are striking similarities in the language of the FIRs and the alleged corroborative witness statements. 

“Hazaron logon ki ugra bheed uttejnatmat unmaad phailane waale dharmik naarebazi karte hue police/PAC bal par hamlawar ho kar jaanlewa pathraw karne lagi (raising religious slogans and spreading hysterical frenzy, a furious mob of thousands resorted to deadly stone pelting while attacking the police/PAC force).”

“Dharmik vidwesh wa unmaad phailane ki niyat se dharm vishesh ke sambandh men narebazi karte hue bheed atyant hinsak ho gayi (the crowd turned violent, raising slogans against a particular religion with the intention of spreading religious hatred and frenzy).” 

“Log daudte hue, maan-bahan ki gaali dete hue, jaan se maarne ki dhamki dete hue tatha naarebazi karte hue apne haathon men patthar wa bomb liye daurte aa rahe the aur kah rahe the ki police walon kaafir hain, inhen qatai nahin chhodna, inko maaro, maaro (with stones and bombs in their hands, people were running — hurling abuses and shouting not to spare policemen and kill them as they are infidels).”

“Nabaligh bachchon ko bhi uksakar narebazi wa pattharbaazi karai gayi (minors were too instigated and made to raise slogans and indulge in brick-batting).” 

These are among a few sentences that are ad verbatim in the FIRs and the purported statements of the witnesses. 

Almost similar narrations are also there in the statements of four private individuals — Anitesh Kumar Srivastava, Sumit Nishad, Amit Gupta and Umesh Chand Jaiswal, who belong to different areas and police stations. 

Interestingly, the statements of the rest two witnesses (Md Meraj and Md Salim) have also got their statements recorded verbatim.

“…dinank 10-06-2022 ki ghatna ke baad abhi bhi log dare sahmen hain tatha apne apne gharon men dubke hain, dukane bhi band hain, logon ke mann men abhi bhi darr bana hua hai. Prashasan ke laakh samjhane ke bawajood bhi logon ke mann se darr nahin nikal pa raha hai,” read their alleged statement. 

(…following the incident dated 10-06-2022, people are still scared and hiding in their homes. Shops are also closed. Fear still remains in their minds. Despite the administration’s attempts, people are unable to get rid of the fear.) 

Against 70 named and 5,000 unnamed accused, the first FIR was registered at 03:13 hours on June 11 (14 hours after the incident) under severe IPC sections 307, 395, 436 and 506, including 19 others, in addition to sections 4 and 5 of the Arms Act, section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, section 83 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act and sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Registered under the same sections of the same legislations, the second case was registered against 14 identified and over 200 unidentified individuals, including well-known activist Javed Mohammad, around 18 hours after the incident.

The third FIR under the same sections was lodged against 11 named and over 250 unnamed accused nearly 19 hours after the incident.

Registering two FIRs at two different police stations for the same incident violates a 2001 Supreme Court ruling (T.T. Antony Vs State of Kerala & Ors), which says only one FIR can be registered for one crime.  

The apex court, more recently in the case of Mohammad Zubair, co-founder of the fake news buster website Alt News, observed, “Contents of all FIRs seem to be similar. What seems to be happening is that as he gets bail in one case, he is remanded in another. This vicious cycle is continuing.”

JAVED LED THE PROTEST, BUT WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

Dubbing Javed, the 53-year-old activist as the “mastermind” of the incident, the police claimed the 53-year-old activist had mobilised the protest through his Facebook post, a secret meeting at a guest house in Kareli and by distributing handbills.

“Javed Mohammad alias Pump is the mastermind of the incident. He along with his accomplice provoked people to attack the police with stones and bombs. He has a criminal background and had played an active role during anti-CAA/NRC protests at Mansur Ali Park. He had given a call through a Facebook post and WhatsApp messages for people to assemble at Atala after Friday prayer and stage a violent protest,” alleged a police witness in his purported statement.

The allegation has been repeated ad verbatim by all police witnesses in their statements. Interestingly, Javed’s accomplices have been mentioned in all the purported statements in identical order.

But there is no evidence (like his cell phone location, CCTV footage to prove his presence on the spot, etc.) in support of the claims made by the police witnesses that have been enclosed in the investigation records, accessed by NewsClick.

Rubbishing the allegation, his family said he was at throughout the day on Friday (June 10), went to offer the congregational prayer at a nearby mosque, and the family had lunch together. He went again in the evening to offer namaz and returned home. Riding his own scooty, he then went at 8 pm to the police station where he was detained and later arrested.

His family said they have CCTV footage from a neighbour that shows him on a scooty near his house at 2:27 pm, 30 minutes after the police say violence erupted in Atala, approximately 2.6 km away, and they have photos that show him following the police on his own scooty after they came to take him away later that night.

According to the police, Javed was leading the protest that day at three locations. As he instigated people at Atala and violence erupted there, the police said, he slipped into the mob and left for the second location. After turning the agitators against the police there as well, he left for the third location, led people and incited the violence.

Again there is no evidence, except the alleged statements of the witnesses, in support of the allegation. Given the heightened violence depicted in the FIRs, which describe different incidents in two locations in the same area, he could not have been simultaneously rioting at two different places.

The police theory says the violence at Atala began around 2 pm, and it was followed by rioting at the other two locations at 2:30 and 3 pm, respectively. But locals claim the violence did not continue for even an hour. 

Those who have been named as conspirators or masterminds, their participation in the anti-CAA protests have been cited to prove that they are criminals.

They include Javed, a leader of the Welfare Party of India who is also called “Javed Pump” because of his water pumps business, Umar Khalid, an activist associated with the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO); Fazal Khan, a local leader of the Samajwadi Party, Shah Alam, district president of the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Zeeshan Rahmani, a local leader of the AIMIM, and Ashish Mittal, a doctor from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the general secretary of the All-India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha. 

While Javed was arrested and jailed in Deoria district, at least 200 km from his home town, the rest five accused are on the run. A non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued against them, and a reward of Rs 25,000 for information to locate them has also been announced. 

He was booked on July 16 under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), 1980, which allows the state to detain a person without charges for 12 months.

NO SEIZURE MEMO

Contrary to his family’s claim that Javed went to the police station, after he was called for questioning on his own, riding his own scooty on June 10 evening, cops alleged in an FIR (0177/2022, PS Kareli) that he was arrested following a raid at his house on the tip-off of an informer.

“…an informer told us that accused Javed Ahmad (read Mohammad), who was involved in the violence, is present in his house with a tamancha (country-made pistol) in his possession. He can be nabbed and the pistol can be seized if the information is acted upon swiftly,” reads the FIR.

The informant cop, Ravi Kumar Katiyar of Kareli police station, said a raid was accordingly conducted at the accused residence at JK Ashiana Colony at Kareli, and he was apprehended while “trying to flee from the rare gate of his house”.

Upon physical search of his body, the police alleged that a 315-bore pistol along with a live bullet was seized from the right pocket of his pant.

“Asked to show the licence mandatory to possess the firearm, he failed to produce it and offered apologies. Subsequently, he was arrested,” claimed the FIR.

Notably, the law requires a duly signed record of independent witness testimony to validate any such recovery from an accused. But, in this case, there is no document as required by the law. 

The police claimed, “People who around came there during the arrest, but when they were asked to testify, they refused to comply and left without revealing their names and addresses.”

Javed’s wife, Parveen Fatima and his youngest daughter Sumaiya Fatima were illegally detained the same evening for two days after the police took him away on June 10. While they were let off, Javed was taken into custody and declared a “mastermind” of the incident.

The police claimed (FIR no. 0179/2022, PS Kareli) recovery of two more firearms (315-bore pistol and 12-bore pistol) with four live shells was made during the demolition of his house on June 12.

The cops alleged it was discovered in black colour polythene from below a mattress by the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) officials when they were taking out the leftover belongings of the family to safety before demolition.  

The police also claimed to have found a khukuri (a machete type sharp edge weapon) and a pamphlet, allegedly asking people to gather at Atala at 2 pm on Friday and violently deal with those who create obstacles. 

Notably, the demolition was carried out in the presence of thousands of people and under full media glare, but no such recovery was shown on TV channels — which were doing live streaming of the incident.

The police also failed to find anyone from the spectators or neighbours to sign the seizure memo at the spot. It was allegedly signed by the accused and police officials. 

News channels showed a poster that said, “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty,” calling it incriminating material.

SELECTIVE FACEBOOK POSTS 

On June 4, 2022, an FIR was registered against Javed at Kareli police station for hurting religious sentiments over a Facebook post about the allegedly one-side investigation carried out by the UP police after a protest against anti-prophet remarks turned violent in Kanpur and a second post on the independence of the judiciary.

In the post, according to the FIR (0167/2022, P. S. Kareli), the accused had written, “Thirty people have been arrested so far in connection with the Kanpur violence. The police are mulling over invoking the Gangster Act. Against whom will the action be taken, it’s big question. No one will make any indecent comment against any religion if the government today stops tolerating it. But it is apparent that the governments are silent, thereby promoting such elements. The central government, the state government, the MP, the MLA should respect all religions, but this does not seem to be happening for the past few years.” 

In another post, the FIR alleged, he had stated, “They also have control over the courts. We trusted the court. And therefore, they are today able to build the Ram temple. We are no more ready to be cheated again.”

The two posts are not there on his timeline. His family said that he had deleted the Facebook post at the request of police officials in Prayagraj.  

However, the police have annexed screenshots of the posts with the notice invoking the NSA against him. 

He also wrote about the police refusing to register an FIR against the organisers of a religious gathering in Prayagraj on January 30, 2022, where Hindu monks declared India a Hindu nation.

“Why did the Kanpur violence occur? Why does the state government not investigate the real disease? Until when will people like Nupur Sharma and Yati Narsinghanand make obscene remarks against the Prophet Muhammad, and the government and police will keep quiet? Yeti had made indecent remarks against Islam a few months ago at Sangam in Allahabad. Many people tried to lodge an FIR against him. I myself, too, had registered a complaint with the SHO and the CO. But nothing happened till date. Why are such people allowed to use abusive language for any religion. How long will Muslims continue to be targeted? People will naturally get angry…,” Javed has written in the post. 

The family said the administration called a meeting on June 9 to stop Friday protests. Javed had attended the meeting.

He wrote on Facebook the next day, “Bewajaah koi bhi sadak par ikattha bilkul na ho jisse poori millat ko nuksaan uthaana pade, jumma padhein aur apne ghar jaakar dua kariye aman aur shanti mohobbat kaayam rahe.”

(Do not gather on the road together without reason. The entire community will have to bear the brunt. Offer your Friday prayers, go home and pray that harmony, peace and love will prevail.)

He further wrote, “Yeh shehr hamesha shanti-priya raha hai. Haalaat ke maddenazar, humein khamoshi se jumma namaaz padh kar Allah se dua maangni chahiye amno aman ke liye. Sabko qanoon ke daayre mein apni baat rakhne ka adhikaar hai. Memorandum banayein hum sab mil kar.”

(This city has always been peace-loving. Keeping in mind the circumstances, we should quietly offer our Friday prayers and pray to Allah for peace. Everyone has the right to put forward their view within the boundaries of the law. We should come together and prepare a memorandum.)

ATTEMPT TO IMPLICATE AFREEN FATIMA TOO? 

Without any evidence, Prayagraj’s Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar, while talking to the media, accused one of Javed’s daughters Afreen Fatima, a student activist from the Aligarh Muslim University and Jawaharlal Nehru University and a critic of the BJP, of “being involved in such activities”. 

The police have annexed in the NSA notice a purported statement given to cops by Javed during questioning. “My daughter Afreen Fatima is highly educated. Whatever I post on social, I do it with her consultation,” he allegedly told the police. 

The investigators claimed when he was asked about his post regarding the alleged political pressure on the judiciary; he said he wrote the post on the insistence of his daughter. 

In the alleged confession, he said, according to the police, he now realises that he has committed a blunder. 

“Not trusting the court has proved to be a big mistake. I won’t do anything like this from now on. I will also ask my daughter, Afreen Fatima, not to indulge in anti-national activities,” the investigators have quoted him as saying. 

DUE PROCESS ABANDONED 

Javed was issued a notice on July 15 to explain why he should not be booked under the NSA. His lawyers had one-month time (till August 15) to file a reply. 

But, surprisingly, the Governor approved the district magistrate’s injunction to book the accused under the draconian law on July 21 — much before the expiry of the time period for the accused to file a reply. It means he was even denied his right to be heard once before being booked. 

Both Prayagraj SSP Kumar and District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri could not be reached for comments. 

A senior officer close to the investigation told NewsClick, “We have all the evidence which we will place before the court for consideration. Let the court decide.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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