The Delhi police have booked Nadeem Khan, national general secretary, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and a human rights activist, for taking part in a three-day community exhibition in Hyderabad from November 15. A team of police officers from Delhi which visited the APCR office on Friday, November 29 also tried to arrest Nadeem from his brother’s house in Bengaluru, allegedly without a warrant on November 30, the day in which a Shaheenbagh police FIR named him.
The exhibition was hosted by Jamaat-e-Islami as part of their National Members Conclave with the theme ‘Justice and Equality’ at Wadi-e-Huda Grounds in Pahadi Shareef. The APCR, an organisation dedicated to working on upholding civil liberties, had set up stalls providing information about legal aid against hate crimes in India and how they help victims. The stalls displayed Supreme Court judgments on hate crimes and Union Government’s policy measures. It also showed videos of communal remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
APCR sources told TNM that one of the videos shown was that of Amit Shah telling voters during the 2020 Delhi elections that voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would ensure currents are felt at Shaheen Bagh, an area predominantly housing Muslims which witnessed mass protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The stalls also had pamphlets with details about APCR, the Supreme Court ruling on bulldozer demolitions, rights and procedure on arrests and detention, National Human Rights (NHRC) complaint mechanism, how to file RTIs and registration of FIRs among others. A list of social media handles, including those of TV channels, inciting hate speech was also displayed. Victims of hate crime, such as Rohith Vemula and Pehlu Khan, from the past few years were also mentioned.
However, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Shaheen Bagh police station registered a case that attempts were made to create communal disharmony based on a tweet by a handle called Mr Sinha, whose name was also showcased at the event, wrote on X, “A Muslim organisation has literally made a museum showcasing how many Muslims are in jail, how to help them. (It includes terrorists as well), a picture of PM Modi, HM Shah to many other leaders, journalists and social media accounts including mine is there with inciting introductions. Is it even legal? It looks more like a target list.”
TNM contacted Shaheen Bagh police station but they refused to give a statement or contact details of the SHO.
Advocate Niyaz Moosa, on behalf of Nadeem, told TNM that police personnel from Shaheen Bagh police station visited Nadeem’s house in the evening hours of Saturday, November 30 and attempted to detain him illegally. “The Delhi Police had also visited ACPR’s head office the day before. The FIR was registered around 12:40 pm on Saturday and a team of police officers attempted to detain Nadeem from Bengaluru in the evening,” he said.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between groups), 353(2) (spreading false information) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). “The police pressured Nadeem to come to Delhi with them under informal custody. The manner in which they tried to arrest him was not proper. Moreover, the exhibition has not violated any norms,” Niyaz stated, adding that a petition to quash the FIR will be filed on Monday once the court opens.
In a statement, APCR said that the punishments for all the charges pressed in the FIR against Nadeem Khan are less than three years. “As per Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, as well as Section 35(b) of the BNSS, the law prevents Nadeem Khan’s arrest arising out of the current FIR, since the punishment is less than 7 years,” it said. The statement also said the police action was a clear case of intimidation tactics and attempts at creating a situation of panic and suppressing APCR’s work to secure justice and access to human rights for all.
People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) condemned the incident and expressed shock at how Delhi police has been conducting a “targeted witch-hunt and harassment” against Nadeem Khan. In a statement, they said that this was an attempt to punish and criminalise the exercise of freedom of speech, as well as the advocacy of civil liberties and constitutional rights.
“Their [Delhi police] 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 statement said.
PUCL has also sought an FIR against the SHO of Shaheen Bagh Police station for criminal intimidation, harassment and trespassing. They also demanded compensation for Nadeem Khan.
“The fact that 20 police officials came to the APCR office even before the FIR shows their malicious intent. They were going after the constitutional work that APCR does especially fighting cases of mob lynching, hate crimes. They are using this FIR as an excuse to target one of the forces behind APCR,” they added.