JIH Condemns Police Atrocities On Muslims In UP, Other States; Demands Judicial Probe Into Custodial Torture, Demolition Of Muslim Houses

India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI—Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has vehemently condemned the highhandedness of the police and administration in Ranchi in Jharkhand, Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and other places in the country over protests by Muslims against derogatory remarks on Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) and demanded an impartial judicial into the custodial torture, police excesses and demolition of houses, and punishment to the guilty at the earliest.

“What the police have done in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand concerning the democratic protest by Muslims on June 10, amounts to throttling democracy and rule of law,” said a media statement issued by JIH President Syed Sadatullah Husaini here on Monday.

He appealed to the Muslim community “not to fall into the trap of anti-social elements and those who wish to create division within society while exercising their democratic rights for conducting peaceful protests.”

Yesterday, immediately after the demolition of social and political activist Javed Mohammad’s house at Prayagraj, JIH President had tweeted terming it as “something which no civilised society could ever imagine” and that “police itself is blatantly trying to make an end to the rule of law”.

Reiterating his stand, he said, “Pulling down the houses of someone simply because one criticizes the policies of the government which he considers against the larger public interest, or shooting someone protesting to express his/her grievance is something unimaginable for any civilized society. This smacks of vendetta politics.”

“We condemn it in the strongest terms and feel that it sends a wrong message to the people of our country creating more unrest among them and reducing their confidence in the impartiality of the government,” the JIH chief said.

Compensate Losses to Javed Mohammed

Mr. Husaini said, “If the UP government had any respect for the law, it should compensate the losses and take immediate stringent action against the officials responsible.”

Conduct judicial probe into Ranchi firing, demolition of houses in UP

He also demanded an independent judicial inquiry into Ranchi firing and punishing the erring officials.

“Had timely and appropriate action been taken against the blasphemy accused, these untoward incidents would not have taken place. And also, if the kind of stone-pelting that took place is as shown in some videos that are circulating on social media, then some kind of conspiracy is also visible in the entire chain of events,” Mr. Husaini said

He demanded an impartial inquiry into the whole chain of events.

Victim of Vendetta politics

The JIH felt that the action taken against Javed Mohammed, a well-known social and human rights activist in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, smacked of vendetta politics.

He also reminded that Javed and his family denied that any of them had taken part in Friday’s (June 10) protest and that the house demolished was also owned by his wife, not him.