India Tomorrow
New Delhi: Vehemently condemning the detention of 28 Bengali-speaking Muslims declared as “foreigners” by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in the Barpeta district of Assam, the Jamat-e-Islami Hind(JIH) has demanded their immediate release.
In a media statement on Thursday, JIH Vice President Malik Motasim Khan said that such actions of branding them ‘illegal’ and ‘doubtful voters’ were derogatory and dehumanizing for the Muslim community.
“We strongly condemn the unjust treatment meted out to these 28 Bengali-speaking Muslims of Barpeta district, who have been declared as foreigners and sent to transit camps”, Mr Khan said, adding, “This amounts to a gross violation of their fundamental human rights and a textbook case of selective application of the law”.
“Most of them are unlettered and from the poverty-stricken and marginalized sections. They were not even aware of the cases against them and did not get proper legal representation in the Foreigners’ Tribunal which ultimately led to their inhuman detention,” the JIH leader further said.
The JIH leader asked the government to review the cases of those branded “foreigners” and ensure that no genuine Indian citizen is branded a foreigner and harassed with detention. He said that the dignity and rights of every individual irrespective of his caste, creed or religion must be protected.
Mr Khan questioned the functioning of the Foreigner’s Tribunal, whose judgments are widely considered arbitrary and politically motivated. “The present situation demonstrates the disproportionate targeting of the Muslim community, particularly the Bengalispeaking Muslims who are derogatory called Miyan in Assam. Also, the Assam NRC process showed that two-thirds of those identified as foreigners were Hindus, and around one-third were Muslims. But while implementing these laws, it has disproportionately targeted Muslims, leading to unjust harassment and detention of a large number of Muslims,” he added.
The tribunal has passed orders that cannot be acceptable as they undermine the established legal rights and protection guaranteed to the people.
“We demand the immediate release of all 28 persons and an immediate stay on all the proceedings before the Foreigners’ Tribunal. This is not the due process of law and is against the judicial principles of India,” pointed out Mr Khan.
Stating that JIH would extend all legal and moral support to those affected by the wrongful NRC implementation, Mr. Khan called upon civil society and media nationwide to make people aware of this issue and bring it into the national discussion.
