MINORITY-BASHING IN MADHYA PRADESH

L.S. Herdenia

As far as minority bashing is concerned, Madhya Pradesh is no exception. As many as 21 young Muslims, who are incarcerated in Bhopal Central Jail for their alleged involvement in their activities the banned SIMI. According to their near relations, they are being subjected to all kind of atrocities.

In many cases Muslims and Christians were arrested on almost imaginary charges. In one case, the charge of sedition was slapped on a group of 15 Muslim youngsters following the allegation that they celebrated Pakistan's victory in Champions Trophy finals and also burst crackers.

Complaints about atrocities against SIMI under-trials were made to the National Human Rights Commission. The Commission sent a team for probe, which reached here on June 20. The team, headed by an IPS officer of SSP rank, spent three days in Bhopal.

During its stay it met the SIMI under trials, their relations and representatives of the NGOs. But according to their relation NHRC probe did not make any difference and atrocities continued unabated. Their relations told the media that the visit of a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team to probe the allegations of barbaric behaviour with 21 SIMI activists lodged in the Bhopal Central Jail has made little difference to the life of the under-trials. Their ordeal continues.

Their family members, who met them on Eid at the jail, told newsmen that though they are now being given three rotis (against one or occasionally none) in the mornings and evenings but they are still being kept in solitary confinement round-the-clock, with midnight beatings and no medical care. And they still have to make do with an 8-litre water bottle for all their needs in 24 hours.

“He is wearing the same set of clothes since the encounter. The stench from his body was unbearable. Even on Eid, they did not allow him to wear new or at least clean clothes,” said Haider, a truck mechanic whose brother Mohd. Zubair is one of the SIMI detunes. Zubair’s mother Khana Bi, his wife and three children had travelled to Bhopal from Mahidpur in Ujjain, where they live, to meet Zubair on Eid.

After the tenth roza, probably due to NHRC intervention, the jail authorities started giving all of them a banana and a cup of milk for ‘Iftar’, he says. Earlier, they were given nothing. “Ibadatat karne ke liye nahana hota hai, saaf kapde chahiye hote hain” (You need to take bath, wear clean clothes for prayers), he said, when asked whether the SIMI men were being allowed to offer namaz.

According to Wajid Hussain, 26, brother of Sajid Hussain, who is in jail since 2013, the prisoner is not being provided treatment for piles and the kidney ailments he is suffering from. “I requested the jail authorities with folded hands to at least provide him warm water and cotton so that he can clean himself after rectal bleeding but that was not done,” said Wajid, whose cold drinks and ice-cream shop at Mahidpur is the only source of sustenance for his family of nine including his ailing mother, his brother’s wife, their three children, his wife and his two kids. “I am tired and feel very helpless,” he says. His father had passed away a year back. “He was very depressed by the condition of my brother,” he says.

Wajid does not know why his brother – along with other SIMI men – is being kept in solitary confinement. “They are kept locked inside 12 feet by 6 feet cells round-the-clock. And they are woken up twice or thrice every night for ‘checking’ and are often kicked and punched for no reason”, he says.

His mother and the wife and children of his brother had met Sajid on Eid. “They were given 15 minutes to interact with their families. But they were not allowed to meet each-other. My mother had carried some fruits and sweets for him but they did not allow him to carry anything inside”, he says.

Jahid Nagori, who works in a hotel says, “Ammi was so shocked to see my bother (Irfan Nagori) so frail and in old, smelly clothes on Eid that she could not even talk to him. She just kept on crying.”

Fifteen Muslims were arrested on the charge of cheering Pak cricket team for its victory over India on the basis of a complaint made by one Subhash Koli. But in a surprise move Koli himself said that he never made any complaint. Koli also charged that all of them were framed.

“No one raised slogans and no one distributed sweets. All accused are innocent because police filed a false case against them,” he said. In a two-page affidavit filed in the court, the 32-year-old said that he had gone to Shahpur police station on June 18 with his father Laxman and friend Sahil Mansuri to free Anis, his neighbour, who had been taken into custody.

“The town inspector (Sanjay) Pathak slapped me and my father and beat up my friend with a baton and put him in the lock-up. I was made to sign blank papers. I did not write that the accused raised Pakistan zindabad slogans,’’ he said in the affidavit.

“The truth is that some miscreants, maybe four or five, stealthily came and burst crackers with an intention to vitiate the atmosphere. The accused are my neighbours. How could they have burst crackers when they were present near us?’’

Koli said he was scared when Pathak told him that he had come to save a Muslim despite being a Hindu. He added that he signed some papers thinking that either his friend Sahil or Anis was being released. Koli told media that he wanted to save the 15 innocent people by speaking the truth. He said he was worried because he got a call from the police station asking him to come there at night but he chose not to go.

The police had first charged the accused with sedition but later dropped the charge saying there was no evidence. Burhanpur SP RRS Parihar claimed the complainant was probably under pressure because he did not want to antagonise the villagers. “We may add the charge of influencing the witness,” he said.

But whatever Koli may say but Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh thinks the raising Pakistan Zindabad slogan is an antinational act. In an interview with the India Express (June 26, 2017, Delhi edition, page - 7) while replying to a question he said that Pakistan is involved in acts of terrorism. To raise Pakistan Zindabad slogan is Rajdroh  (sedition).

Besides Muslims Christians are also harassed in Madhya Pradesh. A few days back four tribal girls and a woman missionary, who were coming to Bhopal from Jharkhand's  Pakur district were taken off the Kshipra Express at Satna (MP) after rightwing activists complained that the girls were being taken for conversion. Some more such incidents were reported from other places. A delegation of Christian organisations met the top police officers and submitted a list of Christian bashing incidents. The memorandum complained that no action was taken against those who made the false complaint.

मध्यप्रदेश में अल्पसंख्यकों की प्रताड़ना के मामले बढ़े

एल एस हरदेनिया

अल्पसंख्यकों को प्रताड़ित करने के मामले में मध्यप्रदेश पीछे नहीं है. अनेक मामलों में मुसलमान और ईसाई बहुत ही मामूली आरोपों में गिरफ्तार किए गए हैं उनमें से कुछ मामले तो काल्पनिक भी हैं. एक वैसे ही मामले में 15 मुस्लिम युवकों पर यह आरोप लगाते हुए राजद्रोह का मुकदमा कर दिया गया है कि वे पाकिस्तान की क्रिकेट मैच में जीत के बाद उत्सव मना रहे थे.

किसी सुभाष कोली ने इन लोगों के खिलाफ शिकायत दर्ज कराई थी लेकिन सबकों अचंभित करते हुए सुभाष कोली ने बताया कि उसने किसी के भी खिलाफ इस तरह का मुकदमा दर्ज नहीं कराया था कोली ने आरोप लगाया कि उन सबकों झूठे मुकदमे में फंसाया गया है.

कोली ने बताया कि किसी ने भी नारे नहीं लगाए थे और किसी ने भी मिठाई नहीं बांटी थी. सभी अभियुक्त निर्दोष हैं और पुलिस ने उनके खिलाफ गलत मुकदमा दायर किया है. उसने अदालत को दिए गए एक हलफनामे में बताया कि वह अपने पिता के साथ 18 जून की शाम अपने पड़ोसी अनीस को थाने से छुड़ाने गया था, जिसे पुलिस ने पकड़ रखा था.

कोली ने अदालत को बताया कि सच तो यह है कि कुछ अपराधी किस्म के लोग पटाखे फोड़कर वातावरण खराब कर रहे थे. अदालत में दिए गए अपने हलफनामे में कोली ने बताया कि जिन लोगों के खिलाफ आरोप लगाया गया है, वे सब उसके पड़ोसी हैं. कोली ने बताया कि नारे लगाने वाले लोगों की संख्या 4 या 5 थी और वे लोग इन अभियुक्तों में से कोई भी नहीं थे.

कोली ने बताया कि थाने में उसे और उसके पिता को पीटा गया और हिरासत में डाल दिया गया. उसके बाद उनसे सादे कागज पर दस्तखत करा लिया गया. उसने यह समझकर उस सादे कागज पर दस्तखत कर दिया कि उसके दोस्त को छुड़ाने के लिए उससे दस्तखत कराया जा रहा है.

कोली ने मीडिया से बात करते हुए बताया कि पुलिस इंस्पेक्टर संजय पाठक ने उसे पीटा था और उसने कहा कि हिन्दू होते हुए वह किसी मुसलमान को बचाने क्यों आया है.

पुलिस ने पहले देशद्रोह का मुकदमा उन लोगों के खिलाफ दर्ज किया था, लेकिन बाद में उस आरोप को यह कहते हुए वापस ले लिया कि उसके पास उसका कोई सबूत नहीं है. बुरहानपुर के पुलिस अधीक्षक परिहार ने बताया कि संभव है कोली अपने गांव वालों के दबाव में अपना बयान बदल रहा है. उन्होंने कहा कि गवाह को प्रभावित करने का आरोप वे जोड़ सकते हैं.

कोली चाहे जो कहे, लेकिन मुख्यमंत्री शिवराज सिंह चैहान का कहना है कि पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद का नारा लगाना राष्ट्रविरोधी कदम है. इंडिया एक्सप्रेस को दिए गए एक इंटरव्यू में उन्होंने कहा कि पाकिस्तान भारत में आंतकी गतिविधियों को बढ़ावा दे रहा है, इसलिए उसके पक्ष में नारा लगाना देश विरोधी काम है.

मुसलमानों के अलावा ईसाइयों को भी मध्यप्रदेश में प्रताड़ित किया जा रहा है.कुछ दिन पहले सतना रेलवे स्टेशन से झारखंड की चार लड़कियों और एक महिला मिशनरी के साथ रेलगाड़ी से उतार दिया गया. कहा गया कि वह महिला मशीनरी उन लड़कियों का धर्म बदलने के लिए ला रही थीं.

कुछ अन्य इलाके से भी ईसाइयों को प्रताड़ित करने की घटनाओं की खबरें आ रही हैं. ईसाई संगठनों के एक प्रतिनिधिमंडल ने प्रशासन को एक सूची दी, जिसमें ईसाइयों के खिलाफ की जा रही ज्यादतियों का ब्यौरा था. प्रतिनिधिमंडल ने आरोप लगाया कि ईसाइयों के खिलाफ झूठी रिपोर्ट लिखाने वालों के खिलाफ कोई कार्रवाई नहीं की गई.