Rajasthan cops 'misbehave' with hijab-wearing journalist returning from riot spot Karauli

Counterview Desk
The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), in a statement, has urged the Rajasthan government of Congress to take immediate disciplinary action be taken against a section of the Karauli district administration and police, regarding their crimes of omission and commission during the recent Karauli riot and the aftermath.
A letter signed by Kavita Srivastava, PUCL president, and Anant Bhatnagar, PUCL general secretary, addressed to the State chief secretary Usha Sharma, with copies to home secretary Abhay Kumar Jain and ML Lather, DG Police, says that the riot was provoked by a Hindutva group, shouting abusive slogans, leading to stone pelting and burning of shops, wondering why was permission granted for the rally.

Text:

Shocking stories from Karauli are being continuously shared by journalists and the affected people regarding the crimes of omission and commission by the administration and the police in the context of the communal riots in Karauli which took place on the April 2, 2022.
We are glad that no human life was lost, however, the riot provoked by the rally of the Hindutva group, shouting abusive slogans, leading to stone pelting and then burning of shops, has further filled with hate and mistrust the warp and weft of the society which historically believed in coexistence.
This city has had brickbats between the two communities in the past, but never this kind of a riot, even when the neighbourhood of Hindon and Gangapur city were burning with communal rage in the past.
The people of the State would like to know the following:
1. Why was permission granted for the rally of the Hindutva lot, it was being led by the Bipin Behari Shukla whose affiliations to the RSS are well known, to go through the Hatwara area, where Muslims are in domination? The SDM, ADM and District Collector who must have granted permission, need to be made accountable for this irresponsible decision. It is important to know, under whose pressure did they agree to the route that the rallyists wanted to take.
2. Why was the motorcycle rally of more than 700 motorcyclists with more than one pillion rider, without helmets, carrying big bamboo sticks, shouting hate slogans like, topi wala bhi sar jhuka ke bolega, Jai shri ram, Jai Shri Ram with a DJ playing on high decibel the same slogans, to coincide with Asr namaz at 5.00 to 5.30 pm, allowed to get into the street where Muslims reside. Why were they not stopped when the police and the SDM must have realised that the purpose of the rally is to only verbally abuse and humiliate Muslims?
3. Why was the police almost absent from the area? Videos clearly show that there was no police bandobast and hardly ten policemen are seen. No policemen are posted on terraces, to keep a watchful eye on what was happening around them. This kind of criminal negligence for allowing a rally where people were in a frenzied state, going through the Muslim dominated area, with no senior policemen. Neither the SP nor the Additional SP are seen walking with the rally when it entered the Muslim dominated area, How could they have left it to a Dy SP. Should not the SP and additional SP be made accountable for being so irresponsible?

4. Why was the police a silent bystander when the hate rally was proceeding, or when the stone pelting was carried out by a section of Muslims in the Hatwara area and again silently watching when the Hindu rallyists on their way back from the Hatwara burnt shops of Muslims and Hindus near Phuta Kot?
5. Why was the police allowed to pick up young Muslim men and beat them up, torture them? See the story that the wire.in has published where a 17-year-old minor was beaten up brutally by the police and being forced to say Jai Shri Ram. Strict action needs to be taken against these policemen who indulged in torture. The young men who were tortured need to be given medical treatment.
It was brought to the notice of the PUCL, that Ghazala Ahmad, journalist with the digital news organisation 'The Cognate' and Ahmed Kasim, journalist with 'The Clarion India' when returning, after completing their assignment from Karauli town of Rajasthan at 12 noon, were stopped at several spots by cops and later at Ganesh Gate, the Kotwali ASI Nanua Singh manhandled them. Kasim was even pushed by one of the cops and kept heckling him.

They waited for more than an hour before they were allowed to make their way out of the city. It was obvious that the police misbehaved with Qasim and Gazala as they were Muslims and the latter was wearing a hijab.

The PUCL demands:

Urgent disciplinary action against the DM, ADM and SDM for irresponsibly granting permission to the Hindutva rally, with abusive slogans and DJs. They should be removed immediately from the positions they hold in Karauli district.
Urgent disciplinary action should also be initiated against the senior policemen, the SP and Addl SP to have not stopped the rally when its intention was clear that they wanted to humiliate the Muslims in their own Mohalla. Is this not psychological and mental violence. These police officials need to be removed from their posts.
The police should also be made an accused in the FIR lodged on April 2, where there was hate violence and stone pelting resulting in injuries, with one Amit Sharma in a serious condition in hospital in SMS hospital in Jaipur.
Immediate arrests of the rallyists who led the hate rally, indulged in burning of shops and those who pelted stones and damaged vehicles and the DJ and other properties.
An FIR must be lodged against police officials immediately who indulged in the torture of the minor Muslim boy. Persecution of Muslims should be stopped immediately.
The communal nature of the police must undergo a change. According to the CSDS and Common Cause Status of policing in India report of 2019, One in two police personnel feels that Muslims are likely to be “naturally prone” towards committing crimes, this needs to be dealt with and changed.
Since the next few days have several religious festivals, the Ram Navmi is on April 10 and the Hanuman Jayanti is on April 16, once again the Hindutva groups will demand that they be allowed to organise rallies through Muslim areas, this should be disallowed. No permission should be given of a rally which shouts abusive slogans against another community. The police bandobast should be well organised with armed reinforcements be provided in advance, if these rallies are to be permitted.
April 14, 2022 Ambedkar Jayanti should be celebrated all over the State with an objective of building an inclusive society with all the socially vulnerable and discriminated sections including the SC & ST, Minorities, OBCs, DNT & NTS, LGBTQ!A treated as equals as envisaged by our Indian constitution.

Comments

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Gyanvapi case: Use of 'illegal' lawfare to keep the communal pot simmering

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Bobby Ramakant, Manoj Sarang* With a steady drumbeat of bad news for the lives of ordinary citizens -- inflation at a multi-year high , rupee at an all-time low , negative job creation and when all forward indicators as seen by industry leaders point to recessionary clouds on the horizon , what’s a serially-incompetent government to do? Dust out their time-tested-citizen-distraction playbook. The Gyanvapi-Masjid case is all of this -- as a weapon of mass distraction. This zeitgeist of our times is best captured by a recent opinion piece : "The idea is to keep the pot on a perpetual boil, simmering at the top, whirling feverishly beneath. A restless society forever living precariously on the precipice arouses distrst, uneasiness, fear and discomfort, That is a toxic panoply for manufacturing rage, which can then be effortlessly mobilized at short notice. BJP is creating an eco-system of real-time instant delivery of hate-mongers. That is how we are sudde

Upholding labour rights, Nehruvian scientific temper, Rajni Patel opposed Emergency

By Harsh Thakor* Rajni Patel, who died 40 years ago, whatever his flaws, had one great quality: his human touch to offer selfless service and ability to galvanise or influence human beings from all walks of life. Few people would ever go out of the way to help someone or serve as selflessly without aim of personal gain. Rajni championed Nehruvian secular ideas and scientific temper. As a master in public relations he revealed utmost humility. As a barrister, he never appeared against the trade unions or workers. A Fabien Socialist he opposed liberal capitalism and radical socialism. Unlike most lawyers, he did not succumb to the lure of amassing wealth. Rajni was born in Sirsa, in Gujarat, on the very day Gandhi set foot on Indian soil, on 9th January, 1915. He gained his baptism through one of Gandhi's speeches calling for the boycott of foreign goods, which was the virtual turning point of his life. Rajni toed Gandhi to organise boycott of foreign goods. Rajni was able to cros

Targeting mosques, churches: 'Roadmap' for 2025, RSS' centenary year?

416 years old Our Lady of Health Church, Sancoale, Goa By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ* Fascists use manipulative strategies aimed at whipping up sympathy and support from the majority community, to which they normally ‘belong’. They do so in a variety of insidious and subtle ways. In the past few months, they have gone overboard in their efforts to denigrate and demonize minorities in India, particularly Muslims and Christians. They have spewed hate and divisiveness through their venomous speeches; incited people to violence and have effectively used officialdom to further their vested interests. The results are there for all to see: greater polarisation of the majority community in a country which prided itself for its pluralism and diversity. Their meticulously planned agenda is in order to gain absolute power of the country in the 2024 national elections. More so it is also a roadmap towards 2025 when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will complete one hundred years of its existence.

Vadodara violence: Fine Arts Faculty alumni raise fingers at Varsity's political appointee

Hasmukh Vaghela with PM Counterview Desk In a statement, alumni of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FoFA), Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, Gujarat, referring to the “violence” by right-wing groups for displaying “objectionable” paintings that “hurt religious sentiments” at the one of India’s top fine arts institute May 5, have taken strong exception to “the assault and rustication” of one of the students, and lack of action taken against those who “violated” the institution and committed the act. Floated as an online petition seeking wider support, the FoFA alumni, in their statement, addressed to the vice chancellor, MSU, said, there should be “thorough” investigation in the whole incident and “immediate action” should be taken against syndicate member Hasmukh Vaghela, MSU, who sparked the assault, and “other co-conspirators” for breaching “university code of conduct and unlawful activities committed in broad daylight”. While the alumni statement doesn't say so, Vaghela

This varsity succumbed to extra-academic mobocracy, 'ignored' Hindutva archives

By Shamsul Islam* Open letter to Sharda University vice-chancellor Sub: Discarding a Question on Linkages of Hindutva with Nazism/Fascism is blatant Academic Dishonesty! Dear Professor Sibaram Khara Saheb, Namaskaar! According to your esteemed University’s portal: “The name of University, 'Sharda' is synonymous to 'Goddess of knowledge and learning-Saraswati'. She is identified with 'veena', an Indian musical instrument and the ‘lotus’, where she resides. The lotus in our logo symbolizes the seat of learning that the University is created for. "Variety of colours signify the variety of disciplines the university offers and the overlap between petals creating new colours demonstrate the ethos of collaboration between students and teachers of different programme, nationality, creed and colour working towards creating new knowledge…the University's cherished mission to provide education beyond boundaries and to facilitate the students and faculty to achie

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A former Modi ally, Prashant Kishor wanted to enter Congress 'on contract, as trader'

By Anand Sahay* The Congress Party and the election campaigns specialist Prashant Kishor, whose company has done strategic communications for a host of political parties across ideology, should both count themselves lucky that they could not reach an agreement for Kishor to join the party. News reports suggest that the Congress rejected Kishor’s terms. This is not wholly unexpected. People join a party because they are attracted to it, and wish to serve it in any capacity that the party may see fit. But that isn’t Kishor at all. He gave the impression of entering into a contract, as a trader might. If news reports are to be believed, he sought freedom to report directly to party chief Sonia Gandhi, and sought untrammeled control over party communications. When such ideas did not find favour, the consultant withdrew. It is clear he has no particular love for the Congress, and its ideas, ideology and politics. In contrast, look at the key personae in G-23. They

Gyanvapi order suggests 'rot' that infests Indian judiciary, to 'facilitate' Hindu right

By Our Representative The Indian American Muslim Council ( IAMC ) , claiming to the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with chapters across the nation, strongly condemning the order of an Indian court to seal part of the historic Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has said that the order “puts spotlight on the rot that infests the Indian judiciary, which is actively facilitating the Hindu rightwing’s project of converting India into a Hindu Rashtra. In a statement, IAMC said, on Monday, a lawyer commissioner Ajay Kumar Mishra, who was directed to survey the mosque — after a group of Hindu women filed a petition seeking permission to pray on the premises — submitted before the court that a Shiva Linga (an idol depicting the Hindu deity Shiva) was found in “wazu khana” (ablution tank) of the mosque. It added, the lawyers representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, rejected the claim saying that the

A Marxian trend that queries undemocratic customs and traditions of capitalism

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* A very well-meaning comrade called me a pluriversal Marxist with a wild smile full of English irony, while chairing my book release function in the Marx Memorial Library, London. I dedicate this piece to her… There is no other philosopher who is more abused and misunderstood like Marx. There is no other philosophy like Marxism which is more demonised on a regular basis. The mindless vilification campaign against Marx and Marxism continues without any form of reason. The propaganda and portrayal of Marxism as a devilish doctrine signify its importance as a philosophy of human emancipation from the very forces who demonise it. Marxism is a philosophy of praxis which helps us to understand the centrality of creative power of labour in producing socially meaningful value. It helps us to analyse the laws governing production, distribution, consumption, exchange, market, profit, pricing and private property in the development of class-based society. As a humanist p

Counterview

Search This Blog