Shadow of
Covid-19 and illegal Arrests in Delhi
Syed Ali Mujtaba
In the shadow of Covid- 19 locked down, there has been a
spate of arrests being made in Delhi, mostly against the peaceful anti-CAA
protesters and also against alleged instigators of communal riots in North-East
Delhi.
This is an alarming development happening in the national
capital that too under the watchful eyes of the Home Minister and the National
Security Advisor.
These detentions and arrests is a matter of national concern.
As a matter of fact, the right to protest is a fundamental right and any
attempt to arrests people exercising such right that too under the draconian
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an attempt to stifle this fundamental right
and a mockery of the Indian constitution.
Some of those arrested UAPA are; Ms Safoora Zargar Ms
Gulfisha, Ms Ishrat Jahan, Mr Meeran Haider Mr. Ashu Khan and Mr Abdul Sattar
etc.
Ms Safoora Zargar, is a 30-year-old lady and member of
the Jamia Coordination Committee. She was arrested for allegedly being the key conspirator
of the violence in North-East Delhi. She
is three months pregnant and currently in Jail.
Ms Gulfishan is a 25-year-old MBA student who
took part in the Delhi’s Seelampur anti-CAA protests. She is also part of
“Pinjra Tod,” a collective of women students and alumni of colleges from across
Delhi. She was arrested on April 9, 2020.
Ms Ishrat Jahan is a former municipal councilor and
was arrested for organizing anti CAA protest in Delhi. She is in jail for over
a month now and is reported to have been tortured
Mr Meeran Haider is from Jamia Milia University. He
was arrested for his alleged role in organizing the anti- CAA protests in Delhi.
Mr Ashu Khan and Mr
Abdul Sattar, both residents
of Jamia Nagar, were arrested for participating in the anti CAA protests.
These are annoying developments and to get a legal opinion on
this, I did an E Mail interview with
In this regard, I framed following questions for Ms. Mishika and
with her permission I quote her answers verbatim here.
Do you think when the
country is run under disaster management act, arrests/ detentions can be made? –
Arrests and detentions can be made. However, while doing the
same, I think certain factors should be taken into consideration, the first and
most important one being whether such arrests are thwarting any impending
threat. Most of the arrests that are being made post the lockdown have been
notified are allegedly in relation to the riots that took place in Delhi in the
last week of February. For almost a month thereafter no significant action was
taken by the police. However, the police has moved more swiftly than ever once
the lockdown was announced, thus putting the lives of those allegedly involved
in danger.
Such arrests/ detentions are being made when
people cannot go out, and there is no judicial help available due to lock down.
In such situation how do you see such arrests/ detentions being made? –
The lawyers are
finding it extremely hard to tackle the present situation. However, since the
police are relentlessly going on with the arrests, the lawyers have no option
but put their lives in danger in order to perform their duty to the public. The
lawyers are being compelled to risk their safety just in order to ensure that
the ones arrested are not being jeopardized doubly, once because of the belated
arrests on frivolous grounds, and the again with their medical safety not being
taken into consideration.
In Delhi how many persons are arrested for their
anti- CAA protests? What is their current status and what would be their
future? –
It would be difficult to put a number on the arrests. We are aware
of around 80 such cases. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has
admittedly arrested over 800 individuals in connection to the riots. The
current status is not very pleasant. A number of accused persons now have been
charged under UAPA, making their bail more onerous. It is difficult to comment
on the future of these cases as of now, but proper procedure is definitely not
being followed.
Most of the arrests being made are of those who are victim of communal riot.
Can you comment?
As I have said above and in addition to that, people are
being continuously apprehended in the name of investigation, thus putting their
medical safety at risk.
Do you think there is
selective targeting being done to intimidate a particular community for
stopping them from future protests? –
There is definitely selective targeting. Anyone who has
followed stories of arrests and detention will see the pattern. Youth, mostly
vocal youth, from a particular community are being targeted. The intention, of
course, is to curb any and every voice of dissent and anyone who is taking an
anti-establishment stand is being made to face the consequences.
Is the fundamental
right of right to protest and freedom of speech is in danger in India? –
The right to protest
and freedom of speech is now just textbook information in India. In practice,
only one side of the story is being narrated. The other voice is being stifled.
All dissent is being forcefully suppressed. However, I personally hope that
this will make the voices only stronger. After all, what good is democracy if
it tries to stifle each voice of dissent?
Was there removal of
protesters from the Saheen Bagh a legal activity?
Once the COVID situation got out of control, the removal of
protesters was something we all apprehended. However, the movement was not
limited to just the protesters over there; it had taken form in the artwork in
the entire area, in the form of graffiti on the walls, in the paintings on the
roads. However, the day after the protesters vacated the area, every inch of
that was wiped clean. Wiping out all indication of the movement from Shaheen
Bagh goes to show how we are re-writing history, albeit only the version that
is pro-establishment is being inked
Why the judiciary is not playing a proactive role in giving directions
to the executive and the bureaucracy to refrain from any extra judicial
activity? –
The Judiciary, at least at the lower level, has given some
decent orders. However, the higher up we go, the more biases come to light. The
independence of judiciary in today's India is a myth.
Can you comment on some
of the arrests being made under arbitrary laws on false and flimsy charges and the
accused are put in jail having no access to legal remedies?-
Like I said, it will be difficult for me to disclose any
specifics at the moment. Safoora is in Delhi and is being given very limited
access to her family and almost negligible access to her lawyers. Sharjeel is
still in North East and all the FIRs against him are still pending.
As lawyers
working on these cases, it is not fair at this point to disclose specific
details in regard to these cases. However, a set pattern of charging Muslim
youth under draconian legislation like the UAPA is beginning to emerge very
clearly. Invoking UAPA takes away crucial rights, especially at the
investigation stage.
Ms. Mishika Singh holds masters in law in Transnational Crime
and Justice from United Nations Inter regional Crime and Justice Research
Institute. Prior to that, Ms. Singh graduated in journalism and went on to get
her law degree from Delhi University. She also holds a Post Graduate diploma in
Intellectual Property Rights, and has been engaged with advocacy skills
training since 2018. Her current area of law practice is civil litigation,
gender based violence and family law. She's presently a Guest Faculty at Lloyd
Law College in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Ms. Singh conducts workshops on the rights of women in India
with various NGOs in Delhi. She continues to engage with the victims of those affected
by communal riots. As a Changemaker with www.change.org, Mishika has worked on
petitions related to environment, gender and women’s safety. Currently she is actively
involved in the relief work being carried out for migrant workers during
Covid-19 lockdown.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be
contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
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