We invite endorsements from members of the Indian diaspora and Indian diaspora organizations worldwide. This statement, with all endorsements, will be submitted publicly to the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) at the EU Parliament and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.
The joint statement can also be viewed here
To endorse, please fill the form below by 21 September (Monday), 2330 hrs Central European Summer Time (CEST).
Statement:
We as members of the Indian diaspora worldwide are writing to bring to your attention a series of arrests made by the Delhi Police in the past few months. The arrests, politically motivated as they are, have come in the name of investigating communal riots in North-East district of Delhi which took place between February 23-29, 2020 and left 53 people dead and more than 500 injured. Delhi police has registered 751 FIRs (First Information Reports) and 200 chargesheets, however, the investigations have progressed in a biased and politically motivated manner. The investigations have led to the arrest of ordinary citizens, students, lawyers, journalists, film makers, rights activists, trade unionists, political leaders of opposition parties, and others who were critical of the Citizenship Amendment Act brought in by the Indian government in December 2019.
While, the police have the power and mandate to investigate the riots, however the political bias in the spate of the arrests and the interrogations of rights activists raise questions on the professional conduct of the state police. When coupled with the blatant defence of ruling party politicians and workers who made provocative speeches and played a key role in the riot, the police investigations appear as an outright sham.
The recent interrogations of the film maker Rahul Roy and Saba Dewan, who played an important role in providing relief and timely medical treatment during the riots; Prof Apoorvanand, a writer and peace activist; student leader Umar Khalid who was finally arrested, raise doubts about the motives behind the investigation.
These interrogations and arrests are carried out by the Delhi Police in an attempt to weave a conspiracy theory that will implicate several civil society organisations, NGOs, trade unions, writers, and journalists. Such intimidation tactics are used to target and silence dissenting voices. Delhi Police has interrogated several people, some of whom were not even in town or never present at the site of the communal violence and used this as an opportunity to seize their computers, phones and other data and build a conspiracy theory. Till date they have not produced any conclusive evidence of the complicity of the above said persons and have arrested some of them in fabricated FIRs, some having identical confessions. Media scrutiny has found out that many confessions are verbatim copies of each other. (1) This clearly shows that these FIRs and arrests are nothing but an attempt to eliminate political dissenters and to instill fear in the minds of the general public. What is more alarming is that police is using the draconian anti terror law – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) – where process itself is the punishment and bail is not the rule but an exception.(2)
An FIR (FIR 59/2020), has been the basis of several of these politically motivated interrogations, harassments, and witch hunt. The arrests comprise of the forced confessions, hearsay accusations, police versions and in some cases even the statements which the accused persons have refused to sign.(3) These baseless arrests flout the due process of law. Concurrently, no action has been taken against BJP leader Kapil Mishra and Minister of State, Government of India, Anurag Thakur, who made hate speeches, incited the crowd and provoked them to indulge in acts of violence. (4) They have till date not been questioned and no complaint has been registered against them. Infact, government and Delhi Police have defended them when a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Delhi High Court demanding registration of FIR against them for their alleged role in the riots.(5) Delhi Minority Commission and Amnesty International have both documented the role of these two politicians and also the role of several police officials in the riots.(6,7) How ever, till date not only has Delhi police shielded the BJP politicians but have also protected its own officers and refused to suspend them or undertake internal investigation. In lieu of such biases the arrests carried out by the Delhi Police is nothing but a mockery of the due process of law and the Constitution.
It is also striking to note that the supplementary chargesheet filed in connection with FIR 59/2020 is not in the least bit related to it. FIR 59/2020 had been registered in connection with a death.8 However, the supplementary chargesheet has completely sidelined the main issue and focuses entirely on the ‘conspiracy’ initiated by innocent political dissenters. The FIR does not identify a shooter but merely names three women. All of these documents and arrests are based on fabricated confessions and lack of evidence. This lack of evidence has even been accepted by the Delhi High Court in Ms. Devangana Kalita’s bail application hearing who has been in jail since May this year.9 Thus the FIR 59/2020, impinges upon the right to dissent and the democratic right of the Citizens to protest.
Arresting intellectuals and students merely for exercising their right to peaceful protest is blatantly against the values of Indian Constitution. The government, over the past 6 years has successfully created a narrative of ‘nationalism’ and ‘anti-nationalism’ to further its own political agenda. Any and every type of dissent is being suppressed, and academics and students who are fighting to uphold Constitutional values and legal order are being wrongfully arrested.
The government is using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to suppress dissent and to strategically arrest innocent persons after falsely accusing them under the draconian law of UAPA. Due to the pandemic, the common public is scared and are most concerned about their health.
It is in this context that we are reaching out to the lawmakers and international institutions to take cognizance of the situation in India, and lend your strong and visible support towards upholding the constitutional values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights and rule of law.
References:
1. Delhi violence: Stop coercing false confessions to manufacture evidence, 1,000 citizens tell police, The Scroll, September 2020.
2. Under UAPA, Process Itself Becomes Punishment, Writes Activist Gautam Navlakha Before Surrendering. Available here
3. Vijayta Lalwani, Delhi Police claims February riots were a conspiracy by CAA protestors – but where is the evidence? The Scroll, July 2020.
4. Union minister Anurag Thakur leads ‘goli maaro saalon ko’ slogans at rally. The Scroll, January 2020.
5. Aditya Menon & Aishwarya Iyer, Complaints & Report Contradict Police’s Clean Chit to Kapil Mishra. The Quint, July 2020.
6. Report of the DMC Fact finding committee on North East Delhi Riots of February 2020. Delhi Minority Commission July 2020.
7. Six Months Since Delhi Riots, Delhi Police Continue To Enjoy Impunity Despite Evidence Of Human Rights Violations. Amnesty International, August 2020.
8. Mukesh Singh Sengar and Saurabh Shukla, Row After Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav Named by Delhi Riots Accused, NDTV, September 2020.
9. Soibam Rocky Singh, Delhi HC grants bail to Devangana Kalita, The Hindu, September 2020.
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