Former Judge Asks Supreme Court To Outlaw Draconian Anti-Sedition Laws
Former Judge Asks Supreme Court To Outlaw Draconian Anti-Sedition Laws
Hindu Extremists Attack Muslim Students In Karnataka, Gujarat
Hindu Extremist Organization Bans Non-Hindus From Attending Hindu Festivals
Ex-SC Judge Wants Draconian Laws Repealed: The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) applauds the recommendation from former Supreme Court of India Judge Rohintan Nariman that the apex court repeal two of India’s most draconian and anti-democratic laws that have been massively deployed by the Indian State against human rights defenders, social and religious minorities, intellectuals, journalists, and outspoken critics of the government. These laws — Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) — should be repealed so that Indian citizens can “breathe more freely,” Judge Nariman said. Both laws make it very difficult for the accused to secure bail.
Most people currently booked under UAPA have indulged in no criminal activities. They include 15 prominent human rights defenders arrested in the Bhima-Koregaon case as well as hundreds of Muslims who have been protesting against the anti-Muslim Citizenship (Amendment) Act legislated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019. Justice Nariman said the two laws have a “chilling effect on free speech” and charging people, including journalists, under such laws, would cause people to “not speak their mind.”
Hindu Extremists Attack Muslim Students in Gujarat: IAMC condemns two attacks by Hindu extremist mobs on Muslim students in the states of Karnataka and Gujarat, as the students were targeted only because they were wearing the Muslim skullcaps. The first incident occurred on October 11 (Monday) when a ninth grade student, Mohammad Rehan (14), was brutally assaulted outside a tuition center. According to reports, Hindu students egged on by the adult tutor attacked Rehan. The second attack on two students of an Islamic school took place in Gujarat on October 10 (Sunday).
Both students, Umar (17) and Khizar (16), were hospitalized with severe wounds. Umar needs two surgeries on his hands. His father said the Hindu mob targeted him because he was wearing the Muslim skullcap. Khizar has got stitches on his hands. They were coming home on a scooter when they were attacked. Such attacks on Muslims have become commonplace across India for two decades since Prime Minister Modi first became chief minister of Gujarat and, within months, organized a massive pogrom against Muslims, in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad Bans Muslim Entry At Hindu Festival Celebration: IAMC condemns the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is an affiliate of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), for announcing a ban on the entry of non-Hindus at “garba”, which is an annual dance celebration of the Hindu festival of Navratri, in Madhya Pradesh state. This blatantly sectarian move by the VHP violates Indian law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, color or gender.
In Indore city, police charged four Muslim male students who the VHP and Bajrang Dal accused of joining the garba to carry out “love jihad”. The VHP and the Bajrang Dal, a youth militia, were both named as “militant organizations’ by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US some years ago. The VHP and Bajrang Dal are both affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu supremacist organization that wants to turn India into a Hindu nation by changing its Constitution. Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an offshoot of the RSS.
