To,
- Chief Minister of Karnataka
Vidhana Soudha
Bangalore – 560001
- Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka
Vidhana Soudha
Bangalore – 560001
- Commissioner of Police,
Bengaluru City,
2, Ali Asker Rd, Vasanth Nagar,
Bengaluru – 560051
Sir,
SUBJECT: REGARDING THE CRIMINALISATION OF MUSLIM COMMUNITY CONSEQUENT TO EVENTS OF 11TH AUGUST IN THE D.J. HALLI / K.G. HALLI AREA
All India People’s Forum is a joint/united platform of democratic organizations and individuals committed to the fullest realization of democratic rights, wellbeing and dignified and harmonious coexistence of the Indian people cutting across sectarian divides.
This is to bring to your attention the manner in which the Muslim Community is being targeted by the police forces in the DJ Halli / KG Halli Area consequent to the unfortunate events of 11.08.2020.
As you know, a controversial post on Facebook set off a chain of disturbing events in Bangalore, with some sections erupting in vandalism and violence on the night of 11th August. The violence was followed by open police fire, resulting in at least three deaths. These instances of vandalism and violence are condemned and action in accordance with law must be taken against the perpetrators. The subsequent actions of the Bangalore Police and the Rapid Action Force, however, have shown a total deterioration of the State Machinery amounting to instilling fear in the minds of the Muslim community, and violation of rule of law by the police.
There have been a number of reports of targeting of innocents and arbitrary arrests of Muslims. Some reports quote residents as saying that men were taken away early on the morning of 12.08.2020, and families have not heard anything from the police since then.[1] It is reported also that police knocked on the doors of families and took the men of the area away in a bus, and families have not been told anything about their whereabouts. Other articles report locals as saying that throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, police picked up and detained random suspects and detaining them at undisclosed police stations. Reports also indicate that the utilization of tear gas to control the gathering resulted in a death.[2]
Sir, the actions of the police officials and RAF are contrary to the established law of the land. The Constitution of India in Article 22 makes it clear that those arrested may not be detained without being informed as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall should he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice. It also mandates production of arrested and detained persons before a magistrate within a period of 24 hours.
There is still no clarity about whether the men who have been picked up have been arrested or merely detained. As on date, they have been missing for 4-5 days and there has been no production before any magistrate, nor have any of the families even been informed of the whereabouts of the men.
In the event that these men have been arrested, section 41 of the CrPC is very clear that arrest must be made only under a certain limited set of circumstances, and the reason for making such arrest must be recording by the police officer in writing while making the arrest. Moreover, according to section 41B(b) the police officer making the arrest must prepare a memorandum of arrest which shall be attested by at least one witness, who is a member of the family of the person arrested or a respectable member of the locality where the arrest is made and countersigned by the person arrested. According to section 41B(c), the police officer making the arrest must inform the person arrested, unless the memorandum is attested by a member of his family, that he has a right to have a relative or a friend named by him to be informed of his arrest. Section 41D read with Article 22(1) give arrested persons the right to meet advocates of their choice during interrogation. Section 50(1) of the CrPC also mandates that police officers arresting any person without warrant to forthwith communicate to him the full particulars of the offence for which he is arrested or other grounds for such arrest. Section 50A also mandates police officers making arrest to immediately give the information regarding such arrest and place where the arrested person is being held to any of his friends, relatives or such other persons as may be disclosed or nominated by the arrested person for the purpose of giving such information. It is absolutely evident that the police force has blatantly violated all of these safeguards.
In the event these men have only been detained, and have not been arrested, there is no justification whatsoever for such arbitrary and long detention. Section 41A of the CrPC is clear that when arrest is not necessary, the police officer must issue a notice directing the person against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed a cognizable offence, to appear before him or at such other place as may be specified in the notice. There is no question of detaining a person without notice for days on end, and this itself amounts to a violation of law by the police officers in question.
Pertinently, it is also reported that the police had stated that all those who weren’t identified from the video footage of the incident would be released, in a strange justification of violation of rule of law by the police.
Another problematic aspect is in respect to the FIRs that have been lodged in respect to the incident. It is shocking to note that till date, 68 FIRs have been registered in respect to the same set of incidents.[3] A perusal of these FIRs show that most of them are ‘open FIRs’, with many of them naming as many as ‘200-300 unknown persons’ as accused, and even “100 unknown persons” or “unknown Muslim persons” in certain FIRs. There are grave fears that the police can ‘fit’ names arbitrarily into these FIRs and target innocent people. It is relevant to note also that the highly draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 is being invoked against a number of those who have been detained.
Apart from the rights of those detained and accused, an extremely disturbing aspect of the entire situation is the blatant criminalization of Muslims by the police and the abuse of prohibitory orders under section 144, CrPC. Reports show that the main roads in the area are barricaded, with heavy police and paramilitary presence and restriction on the movement of residents It appears that the prohibitory order is being misused to harass innocent people, hurting their livelihoods. The Police Commissioner has extended the prohibitory orders till 21.08.2020, which people believe will again be used to target those in the area.
As per newspaper reports, Mr. Sayyad Nadeem, an accused who was arrested on Wednesday, in regard to the violence has died while in custody. It appears that he was hit by tear gas shell and received first aid before his arrest. It is also confirmed that he was Covid-19 positive. There are a number of disturbing questions that are evident from the circumstances leading to this death.
It must be remembered that the Hon’ble Apex Court has, on a number of occasions reiterated the rights of accused on arrest and detention. In the case of DK Basu v State of West Bengal, (1997 (1) SCC 416), a number of safeguards were laid down to protect the rights of accused, and several these safeguards were incorporated in sections 41A-41D of the CrPC. The Hon’ble Court also went on to recognize the right to compensation in cases of unlawful detention in the following terms:
“Thus, to sum up, it is now a well accepted proposition in most of the jurisdictions, that monetary or pecuniary compensation is an appropriate and indeed an effective and sometimes perhaps the only suitable remedy for redressal of the established infringement of the fundamental right to life of a citizen by the public servants and the State is vicariously liable for their acts. The claim of the citizen is based on the principle of strict liability to which the defence of sovereign immunity is nor available and the citizen must revive the amount of compensation from the State, which shall have the right to be indemnified by the wrong doer. In the assessment of compensation, the emphasis has to be on the compensatory and not on punitive element..”
Another highly problematic issue is the Islamophobia and communal hate during reporting around the issue by local media. Suvarna News said that people who had consumed narcotics where part of the mob and termed the night ‘Rakta Ratri-Night of Blood’. It also used problematic generalisations t malign the local communities. Hosa Digantha, a Kannada newspaper, conjectured that the violence in DJ Halli and KG Halli police station limits were orchestrated by one community, who plan to establish religious dominance by increasing their population. False news also abounded with Times Now and Hindustan Times both alleging that an armed mob of 50,000-60,000 people was out on the streets.
Under the circumstances, we demand the following:
- Release all the innocent persons who have been picked up by the police or RAF.
- Allow normal life to resume in the area, so that people can go back to their working lives and save their livelihoods.
- Remove the RAF from the area which has the effect of giving the area a sense of a conflict zone and keeping fear in the people alive.
- In respect of those persons missing, the police must inform their family about their whereabouts. The police must either produce them before the magistrate immediately or release them.
- The State must immediately drop all UAPA charges against accused in the matter.
- State government must announce a compensation package for those who were unlawfully detained.
- The State Government must announce monetary compensation into the unnatural death of Mr. Sayyad Nadeem(as directed by the Supreme Court in its judgment dated 15.09.2017 in “Re – Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons” (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 406 of 2013)) must initiate a judicial inquiry headed by a Retd. Supreme Court/High Court judge into the circumstances surrounding his death
- Orders must be issued to media to restrain them from using stereotypes, falsehoods and inciting communal sentiment to target the Muslim population.
In conclusion, we would like to state that there are clear indications that the trust and faith that citizens ought to be able to repose in the police force as an agency of the Government is being nullified as a result of the targeting of Muslims and the violations of rule of law by the police force. We request you to take all possible action to assure residents that the police will act in a truly constitutional and secular manner and fairly investigate all leads to reach a logical conclusion.
Regards,
Avani Chokshi
All India People’s Forum (aipfblr@gmail.com)
[1] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/residents-allege-people-who-were-not-part-bengaluru-riot-arrested-cops-deny-charge-130841
[2] https://www.deccanherald.com/city/top-bengaluru-stories/bengaluru-riots-death-toll-rises-to-4-as-man-dies-of-tear-gas-shell-wound-873854.html.
[3] https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-crime/bengaluru-riots-70-more-arrested-43-firs-till-date-873849.html
