Letter to Delhi police highlights threats to Eid prayers amidst escalating hostility

By A Representative

Civil rights activist Harsh Mander has written to Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha urging urgent intervention to prevent communal violence in Uttam Nagar ahead of Eid. In his letter dated March 18, Mander warns of “a visible and distressing escalation in hate speech, inflammatory mobilisation, and open threats directed at members of the Muslim community in JJ Colony, Uttam Nagar and adjoining areas.”

He cites multiple videos and social media posts where individuals associated with right-wing organisations openly threatened to disrupt Eid prayers, inflict violence, and “play Holi with blood.”

Mander points to speeches such as one by Lalit Sharma of the Hindu Raksha Dal, who declared, “Neither will Eid be celebrated this time, nor will we allow prayers to be offered. Even if we have to play Holi with blood, we will certainly play Holi this Eid.”

Other videos show protesters chanting “Shoot the traitors of the nation!” and threatening to throw pigs in front of Muslim homes during Eid. Posters announcing Holi celebrations on the date of Eid have also been circulated, deepening fears among residents.

Highlighting Supreme Court directives in Shaheen Abdulla v. Union of India and Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India, Mander reminds authorities of their obligation to register FIRs suo motu against hate speech and incitement. He also invokes statutory powers under the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Court’s rulings in Tehseen S Poonawalla v. Union of India that mandate preventive policing against mob violence.

“The consistent judicial position is clear: the law does not suffer from lack of power, but from lack of timely exercise of that power,” he writes.

Mander has requested the police to register FIRs against identified individuals, remove inflammatory posters and flags, impose prohibitory orders if needed, ensure CCTV monitoring, and guarantee peaceful conduct of Eid prayers. He stresses that the responsibility of the state is “not merely to respond to violence after it occurs, but to prevent its very possibility.” The letter concludes with an appeal for “timely, firm, and impartial action” to ensure that Eid is observed in safety and dignity.

This intervention comes amid reports of palpable fear among Muslim residents, some of whom are considering temporary displacement due to threats of violence.

The “Dr” debate masks a larger crisis in allied-health education

By Dr P K Gupta* India’s allied-health professions have long operated in a fragmented landscape of universities, hospitals, State authorities and private institutions, each with its own nomenclature, curriculum and standards. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021 was meant to correct this by creating a unified national framework for education, professional regulation and institutional recognition. Few dispute the need for such oversight. The real question is whether standardisation is quietly becoming synonymous with longer courses, additional internships and new professional titles—changes that risk masking deeper gaps in clinical training, institutional capacity and affordability.

Pilgrimage or pollution? The waste crisis of Indian faith

By Raj Kumar Sinha* In today's times, there are certain issues that are constantly talked about and discussed, yet no visible impact seems to be made. Beyond water, soil, and pollution, one crisis that continues to be overlooked is waste. Like other life-threatening problems, waste too is gradually moving toward burying and obliterating us. After the Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar, approximately 8,000 tonnes of waste were left behind on the riverbanks, including bottles filled with urine.

Arrival of USS Lincoln: A ‘leisure trip’ to Thailand or a neo-colonial move to commodify women?

By Benyasiri Eimviriyapong The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for a ‘leisure trip’ in Thailand before returning to its campaign of destruction against the people of West Asia demands immediate interrogation and opposition. For us Thai people, and those in sites of American plunder across the globe, this a rattling of the US’ cold war colonial chains on its most loyal lap dog, while conducting a war of aggression in Iran and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. In allowing the USS Lincoln to dock, the Thai ruling elites are once again facilitating a system of imperial violence that extends far beyond Southeast Asian borders, a system which in our case, is predicated on sexual violence and femicide.

Counterview

Search This Blog