Around 200 activists, academics and “concerned citizens” have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief ministers of all the states, urging them to take steps to prevent “police harassment” taking place during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The letter has been signed by individuals like CPI-ML Politburo Member Kavita Krishnan, former Panjab University Students Union president Kanupriya, Meera Sanghamitra of National Alliance of People’s Movements.
The letter begins by expressing gratitude to law enforcement agencies, especially the police, for implementing social distancing and facilitating the supply of essential goods and service during the lockdown.
However, the activists allege that many violations have also taken place.
“Across many states, police have beaten, threatened, filed FIRs or imprisoned people seen in public,” the letter says.
Some of the cases they have highlighted include:
- Howrah, West Bengal: A man who was out to buy milk was allegedly beaten up by police. He later died.
- Surat, Gujarat: Nearly 93 migrant labourers have been arrested for demanding transportation to go back to their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
- Delhi: Police have destroyed vegetables and carts of vegetable vendors.
- Maharajganj, Gorakhpur: People who had gone to the vegetable market were lathicharged. The police circle officer said that only wholesale shops could be opened.
- Khammam, Telangana: In one video, a female doctor was slapped by a police official, while she was on her way for her night duty, and abused saying, “With whom are you going to sleep at this time?”
- Gujarat-Maharashtra border: A man was thrashed by Gujarat police for venturing out to attend his mother’s funeral.
- Jammu: Police have turned the matter of a grave pandemic into a moment of marking people as the "enemy of the society and the police" by making the violator repeat that they are enemies of the police and the nation.
- Vapi, Gujarat: A few workers were beaten by the state police and loaded into a lorry without any basic facilities, not even any ventilation for air, forcing them through the most inhumane conditions.
- Khargone, Madhya Pradesh: Tibu Meda, a resident of Khargone, died of injuries after being beaten by police when he was standing in front of a shop to buy supplies.
“The incidents of such high-handedness and brazen action are not stray, they have emerged from all parts of the country -- pointing to the gross dereliction of duty on the part of the administration,” the letter alleges.
Attacks on Muslims
The signatories also point out that the targetting of Muslims has also increased especially after the COVID-19 spread that took place due to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin in the second week of March.
“In addition, now, the members of the Tablighi Jamaat who participated in the congregation at Nizamuddin are also being hounded and criminalised by the state, police and media,” they allege.
The letter also points that religious gatherings have taken place in other communities as well, some even after the gathering at Markaz Nizamuddin
“This targeting of Muslims has worked to divert public attention away from the safety precautions that need to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus. Rather than focusing on safety measures, the public is now busy in blaming the Muslim community,” they claim.
Demands
The letter puts forward three main demands from the government:
- Instruct the relevant authorities that no form of harassment of the public will be accepted.
- Provide and popularise helpline numbers where citizens can report instances where Central Government guidelines on the lockdown are being violated as well as instances where the police might be engaging in harassment of people such that immediate action can be taken on this.
- Stop the targeting of Muslims during the pandemic - as has become rampant after the Tablighi Jamaat incident .
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