By Justice Markandey Katju-
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
A suit was filed in a court in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, by some Hindus alleging that the Jama Masjid there was built after destroying a Hindu temple.
Although the suit was barred by the Places of Worship Act, 1991, but in view of former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s dishonest observation in the Gyanvapi mosque case, courts can order survey of mosques to find out their history (which would impliedly include digging in the mosque, and ‘discovering’ the remnants of a Hindu temple, after which a mob of bigots would destroy the mosque, as happened to the Babri Masjid).
In the Sambhal case, within an hour of filing the suit, the court ordered a survey of the Jama Masjid, without even hearing the management of the mosque, and soon thereafter the survey began.
This high-handed act, which could have led to the mosque’s destruction, naturally evoked strong protests from the Muslims of the locality, and a police firing then took place in which some Muslims were killed and many were injured.
Several people, including politicians of opposition parties, members of social organizations, and journalists, wanted to visit Sambhal to ascertain the correct facts and meet relatives of the victims, but the district administration has prohibited them from doing so.
The act of blocking the political party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party, and Muslim League leaders from visiting Sambhal, where six Muslim youth were shot dead by the UP police is a gross violation of the Constitutional right of the politicians, journalists and others under Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution of India, which entitles all citizens to move freely throughout the territory of India. No doubt Article 19(5) says that this right can be restricted in the general public interest, but one cannot see how ascertaining facts and meeting relatives of the victims adversely affects the general public interest.
Citizens have the right to protest against injustice and matters adversely affecting them. The authorities have no right to suppress such protests using power and force, shooting the protesters, like in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919, or in the Bloody Sunday in Russia in January, 1905.
The opposition party leaders were going to Sambhal to ascertain facts and visit the bereaved families of the youths murdered by the police, and to provide them solace. Preventing them from this humanitarian act is undemocratic, and not befitting a civilized society, nor does it adversely affect the public interest.
Apparently, the UP government does not want the world to know the facts about the tragic death of six Muslim youth in the police firing during their protest against the survey of Sambhal Jama Masjid in UP. They want to cover up their high handedness, and want people to believe what the government says. That is why they prevent political party leaders and journalists from visiting the spot of the tragedy. It was the same in the Hathras gangrape case and the Batla House ‘encounter’ as well.
The UP government is trying to put the blame for the death on the protesters. The police have, since the tragedy, been spreading the false propaganda that the protesters were carrying country-made guns, and now they propagate the fake story of ‘Pakistan-made’ bullets being recovered from the spot. They fail to tell the people why those protesters, allegedly carrying country-made rifles with ‘Pakistan-made’ bullets, fired at the protesters themselves, and not at the police, and why no policeman was wounded in the firing by the protesters allegedly with country made guns and rifles.
The UP government is trying to cover up the facts and protect the guilty of the murder of six Muslim youths protesting against gross injustice by the BJP government, which is hand in glove with the largely dishonest Indian judiciary and police.
This is the truth of the sham ‘democracy’ and ‘secularism’ prevailing in India.
(Photo courtesy: Unsplash)
