The PUDR report also referred to large-scale demolitions carried out in the wake of the violence.
| Photo Credit: File photo
The People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), in its fact-finding report on the role of the State in the aftermath of communal clashes in Haryana’s Nuh during last year’s Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, has demanded an independent probe into the “police excesses” and removal of charges under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against the accused.
The 55-page report, ‘In the wake of Nuh: A report on State repression’, released at the Press Club of India on Monday, said the State managed to “brutalise a set of Muslim youth, destroy the homes and livelihoods of another set of unconnected people and further the communalisation in society and of the State functionaries”. The report pointed out that of the 441 arrests till last month, 427 were Muslims and 13 Hindus. Bittu Bajrangi was the only devotee against whom a case was registered even though many of them were armed, it said. Based on its analysis of bail orders, the report claimed that in 91% of the orders scrutinised by the PUDR team, “the court noted the lack of any independent or corroborating evidence supporting the arrests”.
Welcoming the report as the only document “to tell what had actually happened in the absence of any judicial probe”, Justice Madan B. Lokur, retired judge of the Supreme Court, stressed the need to fix accountability of the police, saying the officials sometimes arrested people without evidence since the “idea was just to punish” as they say “process is the punishment”.
He said the courts, especially the lower courts, were overburdened but the judiciary had to be “alert”. “The bail conditions should be reasonable which can be satisfied by the persons arrested,” suggested Justice Lokur.
Manoranjan Mohanty, retired professor, University of Delhi, said the report recorded a new stage of “communal State repression”.
PUDR fact-finding team member and lawyer Nitika Khaitan said Sections 10 and 11 of the UAPA added to four FIRs can only be applied if an “unlawful” association, declared by the Central government and confirmed by a tribunal under Section 3 of the UAPA, is involved. But in these cases, however, there was no information on alleged links between any such “unlawful” association and the July 31, 2023 incidents, she said.
While granting bail to Congress MLA Mamman Khan, in one such FIR, the court noted the lack of material evidence against him as alleged by the police, said Ms. Khaitan. She also pointed out how an individual with 75% orthopaedic disability named in 17 cases was granted bail with court observing that it was “humanly not possible”.
The report alleged that many of those arrested were subjected to communal abuses, and torture, and the police reportedly demanded bribes from the relatives of accused in return for not inventing evidence against them. It also referred to large-scale demolitions carried out in the wake of the violence.