Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM) and Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (LBA) condemn the harassment of human rights defender Nadeem Khan and Alt News founder Mohammad Zubair by the BJP-led UP and central governments. Both of them have been democratically fighting against hate and communal politics. JJM and LBA stand in solidarity with them and demand quashing of the bogus FIR and immediate end to their harassment.
Nadeem Khan, as part of the organization Association for Protection of Civil Rights, has been instrumental in flagging cases of lynching, hate speeches, bulldozer violence and communal violence and extending legal support to victims. APCR has been spearheading many cases in courts, including raising the litigation against the Yogi government’s order to display proprietors’ full names on their shops during the Kanwar Yatra in August to September of this year. Mohammad Zubair has been at the forefront of calling out the misinformation campaign, hate and communal propaganda under the Modi government. Targeting Nadeem and Zubair is a typical fascist attempt by the BJP governments to silence voices that expose its hate and communal politics and stand with the victims.
Even without an FIR or any notice, Delhi police reached APCR’s Delhi office on the night of 29 November. They enquired from the security guard about APCR National Secretary Nadeem Khan and other members of the organisation. Then the Shaheen Bagh police attempted to detain Nadeem at 5 pm on 30 Nov from his relative’s place in Bangalore. Interestingly, the FIR was filed on the same day at Shaheen bagh station at 12:48 pm. The police also did not serve any notice to Nadeem beforehand. The glaring procedural lapses expose the political targeting by the police. The FIR was filed against an exhibition by APCR in Hyderabad in mid-November which exhibited well-documented instances of hate speech and educated people about their legal rights. It is clear that this FIR is merely an excuse to target Nadeem and APCR and stop them from their work. The Delhi High Court granted interim protection to Nadeem on 3 Dec, but did not throw the bogus FIR out of the window.
The UP police filed an FIR against Md Zubair on 3 Oct 2024 for allegedly promoting enmity among religious groups and other offenses. Last week, the police added Section 152 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to the list of charges, accusing Zubair of “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. The FIR was lodged for sharing a video of Yati Narsinghanand giving a hate speech. Ironically, the police had filed a case against Narsinghanand for the same speech after Zubair and others had flagged it. Narsinghanand was not arrested for the speech. Narsinghanand has given hate speeches multiple times in the past as well and has multiple FIRs against him. Zubair filed a petition in the Allahbad High Court against this FIR but the bench recused itself.
This is not the first time fact-checker Md Zubair was falsely arrested. He has been repeatedly attacked by the BJP government and Hindutva organisations for exposing their misinformation and hate campaigns. In 2022, Delhi police arrested Zubair for a 2018 tweet, alleging that he had insulted Hindu religious beliefs. He was incarcerated for a month only to be acquitted and walk out as a free person.
Targeting of Nadeem and Zubair by the Modi and Yogi governments again exposes their anti-Constitution Hindutva project. In their attempts to make India a Hindu rashtra, the BJP govts are using hate and communal violence to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens. They are using the state apparatus to silence democratic voices that expose their Hindutva agenda. The silence of the judiciary on these growing attack on the Constitutional and democratic norms raises serious questions.
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha and Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan call on the state apparatus and the Courts to honor their Constitutional dignity and not become a part of the BJP and RSS’ Hindutva agenda. Jharkhand stands in solidarity with Nadeem Khan and Md Zubair.
On behalf of the campaign:
Afzal Anis, Ajay Ekka, Ambika Yadav, Amrita Bodra, Ambita Kisku, Aloka Kujur, Arvind Anjum, Basing Hassa, Bharat Bhushan Choudhary, Bhashan Manmi, Binsay Munda, Charles Murmu, Dinesh Murmu, Elina Horo, Emilia Hansda, Hari Kumar Bhagat, Jean Dreze, Jyoti Kujur, Kumar Chandra Mardy, Kiran, Leena, Lal Mohan Singh Kherwar, Manasingh Munda, Meri Nisha Hansda, Manthan, Munni Devi, Nandita Bhattacharya, Praveer Peter, Paku Tudu, Ramchandra Manjhi, Raja Bharti, Ramesh Jerai, Reshmi Devi, Roz Khakha, Roz Madhu Tirki, Riya Tulika Pingua, Shashi Kumar, Sandeep Pradhan, Siraj Dutta, Sushil Marandi, Sebastian Marandi, Santosh Pahadia, Tom Kawla, Vinod Kumar.
