Social Activists In Delhi Demand Release Of Abdul Nasar Maudany
By Elizabeth Philip
12 November, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Several social activist groups and intellectuals in Delhi have demanded an immediate release of Abdul Nasar Maudany, the Muslim spiritual leader who has been in jail for more than 3 years in Parppana Agrahara Jail in Bangalore as an under trial. Earlier Maudany spent nine and a half years in Coimbatore jail and was declared innocent. He is being charged under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) a law which has been subject to national debate today. The organizations in Delhi feel that the human rights violations of Abdul Nasar Maudany is not an isolated case, but a wide spread issue, in which minorities, Dalits, Adivasis, human rights activists, people’s movements and even media persons are affected.
A documentary film `Fabricated’ directed by K.P. Sasi was screened in several places in Delhi followed by discussions on this issue during the past few days. The film documented the case study of Abdul Nasar Maudany and exposed the arguments of the Karnataka police with statements from the witnesses produced by the Karnataka police. The inaugural screening of the film in Delhi was held at Jamia Milia Islamia, organized by the Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, in the presence of Dr. Binayak Sen, Wajahat Habibulla, Chairperson NCM, advocate Ashok Aggarwal and Advocate Rebecca M. John. Following that it was screened by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Political Science Department of Delhi University, Institute of Social Sciences and at the Indian Social Institute by the Delhi Solidarity Group, National Adivasi Alliance, Campaign for No UID, Students Christian Movement of India, People’s Solidarity Concerns, Tamil Solidarity, Pedestrian Pictures and others.
`As a result of the pursuit of the terror hunt initiated by the Indian State, the minorities in this country have reached a stage where they are forced to prove their Indianness’ said Akbar, the president of JNUSU. The very identity of the marginalized communities are being threatened in this process. Manisha Sethi from the JTSA released a document called `Guilt by Association’ on the UAPA cases in Madhya Pradesh. Fr, Joe Xavier , director of the Indian Social Institute stated that thousands of innocent people are suffering in Indian jails on fabricated charges. According to him Dalit and Adivasi Christians have been charged with fabricated cases after 293 churches were destroyed by the Sangh Parivar in Kandhamal. Anil Chouwdhari from INSAF, a network of over 700 social action groups and activists, stated that there is an increasing threat to Indian democracy due to the use of draconian laws like UAPA, AFSPA, sedition laws, etc. and called for a nationwide action against them.
Hanny Babu, associate professor in English, Delhi University said that many people like Maudany are suffering in Indian jails due to the misuse of power by the institutions of Indian State and it is the duty of the civil society of make the institutions of State accountable. Elizabeth Philip from Pedestrian pictures expressed concern over thousands of women and children who are directly and indirectly affected due to such fabricated cases and expressed the need for more united action on such areas. She reminded the need called for more honest investigative reporting from the mainstream press instead of relying entirely on police sources of information.
There was a unanimous concern of the activists in Delhi that the laws like UAPA, AFSPA, sedition laws etc. are violating the very premises of Indian Constitution and it is high time that such discriminatory laws are removed for the preservation of democracy in this country, so that thousands of innocent people like Abdul Nasar Maudany need not suffer in jails any more in future
Elizabeth Philip, Pedestrian Pictures, Delhi.
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