Briefing on the increasing human rights violations in India, several rights organisations based in the US including Amnesty International convened a session titled “Prisoners of Conscience in India” with the families of Muslim political prisoners charged with the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
“Attendees at the virtual United States Congressional Briefing on Thursday learned how the Indian government has been jailing human rights defenders, religious minorities, journalists, students and activists in false criminal cases — often charging them with blasphemy, terrorism and sedition,” a press statement of Indian American Muslim Council stated.
Families of activists Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi, journalist Siddique Kappan, and student leader Masud Ahmad complained of deliberate delay in court hearings and accused the police of hostility towards prisons and towards their families.
The family members of the prisoners requested international intervention in the abrogation of all draconian laws like UAPA and the release of all political prisoners.
“Muslim Prisoners of Conscience (POCs) incarcerated in India on false criminal charges continue to face beatings, torture and other forms of violence for speaking out against the government’s persecution of religious minorities,” their families said.
United Against Hate activists Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi were arrested in connection to northeast Delhi violence, which witnessed the death of 53 people, mostly Muslims.
Khalid Saifi’s wife – Nargis Saifi said her husband is getting punished for raising his voice against the current government. “It breaks my heart narrating this incident, which made our lives miserable, and made us feel how helpless we are.”
Saifi’s sister also joined the event, “He has three small kids. They all miss their father. He is a great man who does everything for his children and his wife. His children ask about him every single day — when will we be able to see our father? When will we eat food with him? When will we play with him? And we can’t even reply to this question,” she said.
Speaking at the briefing, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, a veteran Muslim leader, journalist and activist, said the international community should demand that India immediately free its political prisoners on bail.
Ilyas’s son, Umar Khalid, has been in prison since September 2020, also under UAPA for allegedly planning Delhi’s anti-Muslim violence. “A speech that the police have cited as evidence actually shows Khalid exhorting the protesters against India’s anti-Muslim citizenship law to continue their demonstrations in a nonviolent manner,” IAMC noted.
Journalist Siddique Kappan and Jamia Millia Islamia student and Campus Front of India leader Masud Ahmed were arrested on their way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to report the rape and murder of a Dalit girl.
Sharing her long travels up and down from Kerala to Uttar Pradesh for her husband and journalist Siddique Kappan, Raihanath said, “Kappan contracted COVID-19 in Mathura jail and his health deteriorated. He was admitted to AIIMS, only after the Supreme Court intervened. Along with my son, I travelled from Kerala to Uttar Pradesh, during the surge of the pandemic.”
Raihanath said she stayed in Delhi for six days and hoped to meet her ailing husband but she left home without meeting him.
Kappan’s wife also elaborated how Kappan was arrested and kept in jail without filing a charge sheet. “The chargesheet was only filed just two days prior to the completion of six months, to make his bail possibilities slim.”
“The UAPA was used against a journalist without any evidence. In India, it is not possible for a journalist to work freely from the ground. He went through a lot of harsh human rights violations in jail,” she added.
Masud Ahmed’s brother, Monis Ahmed rejected the police’s allegation that Ahmed had planned to incite violence at Hathras. “It has been one year, and they still have no evidence [against him] to produce in court.”
“My brother always stood for justice. He is being treated like a terrorist for speaking up for the Hathras Dalit rape victim,” said Monis, brother of jailed Jamia Millia Islamia student and Campus Front of India leader.
“The court is under pressure from the government. The court hearings are being delayed deliberately,” Monis added.
Raju Rajagopal, a cofounder of Hindus for Human Rights, cited reports to say that Indian police had charged over 10,000 people under the UAPA, a law that Prime Minister Modi’s government has modified to allow “anyone to be charged as a terrorist, even if they are merely protesting unjust laws or reporting on anti-minority violence.”
Co-hosts of the congressional briefing include Amnesty International USA, 21Wilberforce, Hindus for Human Rights, Indian American Muslim Council, International Christian Concern, Jubilee Campaign, Dalit Solidarity Forum, New York State Council of Churches, Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America, India Civil Watch International, Justice for All, Center for Pluralism, American Muslim Institution, International Society for Peace and Justice, Association of Indian Muslims of America, and The Humanism Project.
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
