Muslim organisations, civic society members urge Shah to stop 'harassment' of activists, students

Muslim organisations and civil society members on Thursday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to stop the "harassment" of social activists and students by the Delhi Police during the ongoing lockdown.

The letter claimed that there have been "a series of detentions and arrests" of social activists and student leaders by the Delhi Police.

"Upon preliminary study, it appears that the police crackdown is directed against those involved in the peaceful anti-CAA-NRC movement, which was undertaken for the protection of our Constitution, democratic ethos and civil liberties," the letter said.

"We have observed that highly respected social activists are being implicated in false cases related to the northeast Delhi riots of 2020," the letter said.

A statement issued by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind mentioned names of Maulana Tauqeer Raza, president , Milli Ittehad Parishad, former MP Udit  Raj, Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, chairman of Delhi  Minorities Commission, Syed  Sadatullah  Hussaini, Ameer Jamaat e Islami Hind, among the signatories of the letter.

The activists are being asked to go to police stations for questioning during the lockdown, claimed the letter.

At this time, when the courts are partially working and communication is limited due to the lockdown, these steps tantamount to unnecessary "harassment" by the Delhi Police, the letter said.

It is causing "immense anxiety" and difficulty to these law-abiding citizens who are currently engaged in social work and helping the poor and needy, it added.

"We the undersigned appeal to you to direct the Delhi Police to refrain from harassing activists during the pandemic and the lockdown and targeting people from a particular community," it said.

The Delhi Police has a reputation for being one of the best policing units in our country, they said hoping it will desist from any action that would harm its reputation and give scope for people to level accusations of bias and non-professional conduct on it.

The signatories also included Ravi Nair, Maulana Asghar Ali Salfi Manzoor Alam, Uzma Naheed, Anil Chamadia, Labid Shafi and Siraj Sait.