By Mohammed Naushad Khan
NEW DELHI: Expressing solidarity with those languishing in jail for years for the simple reason of defending democracy and freedom of the people, former ministers, parliamentarians, lawyers, journalists, academicians and civil society members gathered at a public meeting organized by Concerned Citizens of Delhi and the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) at the Press Club of India here on Friday and demanded their immediate release on bail.
The important among those who have been incarcerated for more than four years in the 2020 Delhi riots and other cases are Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Gulfishan Fatima, Sharjeel Imam, Asif Iqbal Tanha, and several others though there is not even an iota of evidence of their involvement in any incident of violence. Their only fault is that they opposed the draconian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 that intended to reduce a large majority of Indian Muslims to aliens in their own country by linking CAA with the National Register of Citizens(NRC) and putting them in special shelter homes constructed at different places in the country. There is also a provision to confiscate the property and bank accounts of such people.
There are also dozens of others in Bhima Koregaon and other cases who are in jail for years without any concrete evidence against them about the charges levelled against them.
Former Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who is senior Advocate, while recalling his personal experience on how the system works, said that there has to be internal democracy within parties and any leaders should have the freedom to speak their point of view on any important and burning issue without being afraid of getting sidelined within the party. Even sometimes it becomes difficult to criticize the judiciary in the apprehension of contempt of court if one is not well versed about how to put in that perspective where the message is given and it does come in the purview of any contempt.
Rajaram Singh, Member of Parliament, CPI (ML) while focusing on the functioning of the government said, “In the last Lok Sabha elections we have shaken the fascist regime but great effort is needed to uproot them from political powers.”
Former IAS officer and a Congress MP from Tamil Nadu Sasikanth Senthil, while recalling his close friendship, and association with Umar Khalid and being greatly inspired by him, said, “The ongoing battle has to be fought from all fronts and the recent fight has shown that the country has not been completely consumed by the majoritarianism. As I looked into the national affairs of the Congress Party I came to realize that this fight is not between parties, individuals but it is about two mindsets and about two ideologies.
Another Member of Parliament, John Brittas of CPI (M) said, “I was a journalist before but I feel ashamed to be called to be a journalist for the simple reason what media is doing today. Even after the electoral verdict, which has a clear-cut message (against the BJP) the mainstream media which has become Modiam is chanting Modi mantras. The other institutions are trying to understand the message of the verdict but not the media. The time has come now we need to regain the sanctity of the institutions and we should try to understand that parliament has no powers to make the executive accountable.”
Saurav Das, an investigative journalist, discussed in detail the proceedings of cases of human rights defenders and their follow-up in courts. He also talked about how the transfer of cases from one bench to another delayed the judicial proceedings of the cases. He said it is high time that the executive should step in when the judiciary fails to be independent. He suggested that the parliamentarians should intervene to put pressure on the executive or the government to ensure justice is done to all those who face incarceration for years.
Legal expert Gautam Bhatia, while explaining in detail how some of the provisions of UAPA can be used and misused said, “We are expecting that bail will be granted to those whose trials are pending for long as per the observation of the Supreme Court.”
Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar, who was moderating the meeting, urged all the people to remember the small children, wives and elderly of all those who have fought for us as the last line of defence, dissenters in democracy in every action of their daily life.
