IndiaTomorrow.net
New Delhi, Nov 4: Cornered over the excessive rise of police encounters with alleged criminals in Uttar Pradesh in recent months, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Saturday demanded the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take cognizance of all encounters. Terming the encounters as “Extra Judicial Killings” and also as “unjustified” way, Jamaat alleged that UP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is forging a new concept of punishment in the state.
“To control crime in UP, the way of extra judicial killings has been adopted and the state government is applauding it too. It cannot be justified in a democratic country. There is a judicial process to punish any criminal. Rather to follow the rule of law, government is forging the concept that if it considers any one criminal, encounter is the right way,” Jamaat’s Secretary General Mohammad Salim Engineer said while addressing a press conference here in New Delhi.
“This can also be misused by the state to target its opponents or any community in future. These encounters must be thoroughly investigated by NHRC,” Salim Engineer demanded.
Reportedly since BJP government came into the power in UP March this year, state police has conducted 431 encounters where at least 17 alleged criminals been killed. In the encounters, police has arrested 1,106 people so far among them 84 accused were injured.
In its statement Jamaat also said, “This tendency of gauge improvement in law and order by the number of police encounters is quite worrying especially if the police officers are doing so under political pressure.”
The press meet was also addressed by JIH President Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari accompanied by his deputy Nusrat Ali and Media Incharge Arshad Shaikh.
Besides the rise of encounters in UP, Jamaat also expressed concern over the reported checking of passports by the police in Deoband and neighbouring regions of Western UP in search of “suspected Bangladeshi terrorists”.
Jamaat however said that it supports strict action against terrorists but state must exercise great caution while dealing with regular citizens. It said that by way of police verification fear is being instilled among those citizens who have been issued passports. Stating it as discriminatory exercise in a minority dominated area Jamaat asked state to stop it.
Replying to queries from the media about the efforts of Sri Sri Ravishankar to intervene in Babri Masjid issue, Maulana Umari reiterated that Jamaat and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board rejects any out of court settlement and only the court judgment would be acceptable.
Regarding the possibility of another Muslim organization – the Popular Front of India (PFI) being banned very shortly by the Government of India, the JIH Secretary General said: ‘’we are against this propensity to ban legitimate organizations. If someone has broken the law then he or she should be punished but outlawing the entire organization is unacceptable’’.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind leadership while commenting on the Hadiya case said: “We hope Hadiya will get justice and freedom and the Hon’ble Courts will restore her fundamental right to choose the religion of her choice and also marry on her own free will, as she has already attained the age of majority’’.
