Human rights groups have slammed Delhi police for filing an FIR against an activist for organising an exhibition in Hyderabad last month on hate crimes and court judgments on them.
Activist Nadeem Khan is the national secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind-backed Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
The FIR against him at Shaheen Bagh police station here was filed on the basis of two social media videos.
It states that Khan has “knowingly spoken in the video that this is a sensitive issue and that organising an exhibition on a public platform, creating a museum, creating a jail, putting up photos of well-known public personalities, making allegations, and portraying a particular community as oppressed can incite people and promote separatist activities”.
Khan has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) dealing with promoting enmity between groups and making statements that are likely to cause enmity and criminal conspiracy.
Police officers did not respond to queries sent over email and WhatsApp by The Telegraph.
The APCR said in a statement: “In fact, the exhibition was an attempt to showcase the positive rulings and orders of the Supreme Court and other courts in India that have sought to curb hate crimes and persecution of marginalised groups in the country. When talking about major incidents of hate crimes that have taken place in the last few years, the exhibition also highlighted the guidelines issued by the apex court in the case of Tehseen Poonawalla vs Union of India to prevent and prosecute cases of mob violence. The exhibition urged citizens to take note of these and other such orders, and spread awareness regarding available legal remedies for such cases.”
An APCR source confirmed that the exhibition seen in the video was held at the JIH’s National Members Conclave in Hyderabad from November 15 to 17 and that Khan had sought time to return to Delhi in the next three days and face the probe.
The group said: “Yesterday, on 30.11.2024 at approximately 5pm, the SHO of Shaheen Bagh police station, along with four officers, arrived in Bangalore (where Khan is visiting his brother) and asked Nadeem Khan to 'voluntarily' accompany them to Delhi for questioning regarding a video circulating on X…. Only after nearly six hours of badgering him and members of his family and attempting to coerce him to accompany them to Delhi did they produce a notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS, asking him to join the investigation.”
The APCR and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) demanded the FIR be quashed and errant officers punished.
“PUCL condemns the harassment, intimidation and illegal detention of Nadeem Khan by Delhi police personnel. Their conduct violates all the basic norms of due process and established law. We are also extremely concerned at the manner in which this investigation has been initiated, where a clearly vitiated social media campaign has sought to create pressure on police and state officials to take criminal action against those who are fighting to uphold civil liberties and constitutional values,” the PUCL said in a statement.
“It is obvious to us that this is clearly an attempt to punish and criminalise the exercise of freedom of speech, as well as the advocacy of civil liberties and constitutional rights,” it added.
Clarification
Yusuf Hatim Muchhala, national president of the APCR, clarified in an email to The Telegraph on Monday: "Association for Protection of Civil Rights is not affiliated to or backed by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in any capacity."
