On Human Rights Day on Dec 10, civil society organisations have called for a nation-wide campaign to protest the FIR against journalist and AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and another FIR against human rights activist Nadeem Khan.
A statement said that these “relentless attacks on human rights will have a chilling effect on the right to free speech.”
The statement said further that it was “evident that this is yet another concerted attack on leaders from the Muslim community and the entire community for standing up to an authoritarian regime.”
Uttar Pradesh police had filed the FIR against Zubair for calling out a communally provocative speech by Narsinghanand. Zubair has been booked on charges of disrupting communal harmony for highlighting the communal nature of the speech in question.
Delhi Police had filed an FIR against human rights activist, Nadeem Khan on the basis of a Twitter post by a prominent right wing account. The office of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has also been raided by the Delhi Police.
Civil society organisations are coming together condemn these brazen attacks and targeting of journalists and activists, saying that Delhi Police continue to intimidate and harass both Nadeem and APCR.
(Endorsing organisations for the call include theAPCR, AILAJ, Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, CSSMR, Delhi Forum, Fridays for Future – K, Ganatantrika Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan (GASS), Hate Speech Beda, HRDA India, Jagrutha Karnataka, Janhastakshep, Janmukti Sangharsh Vahini – Jharkhand, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, Sajha Kadam, Jharkhand, Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy,Lok Shakti Abhiyan, NAPM, NAJAR, NFIW, People’s Watch India, PUCL, Queer Collective India, Telangana for Peace and Unity, Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, Yuti Foundation Karnataka)
Statement of support for Mohammed Zubair:
LETTER OF SOLIDARITY CONDEMNING THE PERSECUTION OF MOHAMMED ZUBAIR
We, the undersigned, condemn the attempts of the police machinery to persecute and file frivolous criminal cases against Journalists such as Mohammed Zubair, which has a chilling effect on free speech. We also condemn the increasing complicity of the Uttar Pradesh state machinery with communal as well as Islamophobic actors who are attempting to utilize the criminal law machinery to stifle journalists.
The FIR No. 992/2024 filed against Mohammed Zubair on October 3rd 2024 by the Ghaziabad police is for allegedly promoting enmity among religious groups and other offenses. The said FIR has been lodged at the behest of Udita Tyagi, General Secretary of the Yati Narsimhanand Saraswati Foundation and an aide of Narsinghanand. It is pertinent to note here that this FIR is a clear counter FIR in response to an earlier FIR lodged against Narsinghanand Vani by the Ghaziabad police for delivering hate speeches at Hindi Bhawan in Ghaziabad on September 29 2024. When Zubair tweeted a video of Narsinghanand giving a speech disrupting communal harmony, an FIR was registered against him. In fact, it is admitted in the Complaint against Zubair that he had merely shared a video of Narsinghanand.
It appears that the FIR against Zubair has been filed to divert attention from holding Narsinghanand accountable for his actions. The filing of FIRs on the flimsiest of pretexts, especially at the behest of a close associate of Narsinghanand — who is wanted by the UP police under the Goonda Act and has multiple FIRs against him — reflects the growing collusion between state police and extremist Hindutva organizations and individuals.
It is also particularly concerning that, despite the UP police itself flagging a case of misinformation and hate speech by one Nand Kishor Gujjar , a BJP MLA — who falsely claimed an attempt to attack the Dasa Devi Temple on October 4th and called for violence upon the alleged attackers — no action has been taken against him.
Zubair and Alt News have played a crucial role in educating the public about the increasing spread of misinformation, fake news, and hate speech in the country. The FIRs against him appear to be part of an effort to stifle civil society’s advocacy against such dangerous trends and bad actors like Narsinghanand. They reflect an abuse of legal processes aimed at those working to mitigate the harms caused by misinformation and hate speech. Filing cases like this misinforms the public about the legal provisions against hate speech and promotes the misuse of such provisions for political purposes.
This situation echoes the observations of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in 2022 when Mohd Zubair was granted bail after multiple FIRs were lodged against him. The Court noted that the criminal machinery had been “relentlessly employed” against the Alt News co-founder.
In fact, the filing of such a case against Zubair merely for sharing a video of Narsinghanand and in the same tweet demanding legal action against Narsinghanad, has a chilling effect on the free press in our country. Undoubtedly, the ability of a journalist to disseminate information freely without fear or favour depends on the law enforcement machinery resisting the temptation to clamp down on free speech.
Zubair has challenged the FIR against him in a writ petition filed in the Allahabad High Court. He clearly explained that his post about Narsinghanand did not call for violence against him, but simply alerted police about Narsinghanand’s actions and sought legal recourse against him as he was out on bail in a hate speech case and his bail conditions said he was not to make statements promoting communal disharmony. (Source of this paragraph: https://m.thewire.in/article/government/uttar-pradesh-police-mohammed-zubair-acts-endangering-indias-sovereignty)
Shockingly, the UP police have informed the Allahabad High Court on 27.11.2024 that they have added two new sections in the FIR against Zubair —152 and 66 of the IT act, and Section 152 of the BNS which is related to alleged acts endangering sovereignty unity and integrity of India, and is a non-bailable offense.
In its statement, Alt News denounced the FIR against Zubair as “another example of how state machinery is being used to intimidate individuals and organisations committed to exposing hate and misinformation”
Further, filing a FIR against a journalist who had merely shared a video demanding action against hate speech by Narsinghanand creates an atmosphere of fear and retribution, where citizens will fear approaching the police machinery for any sort of criminal action against power individuals for fear of the very retribution that Zubair is facing. The frivolous FIRs against Zubair are not only an issue of the abuse of the criminal law machinery, but an issue of freedom of the press and the rule of law, which requires the police machinery to be free from influence by powerful actors.
(Letter initiated by the Campaign Against Hate Speech. Contact: ethicalmediacampaign@gmail.com)
x.x.x
Statement of support for Nadeem Khan:
PUCL Condemns Harassment of and Malicious FIR against human rights Activist and National General Secretary Nadeem Khan of the APCR by Delhi Police
PUCL is shocked at the manner in which Delhi Police is conducting a targeted witch-hunt and harassment of human rights activist Nadeem Khan, at the instigation of a few social media accounts on Twitter. Today (30th November 2024), at 5 PM, four police personnel including the SHO of Shaheen Bagh Police Station in Delhi, came to a private residence in Bangalore where Nadeem Khan was staying, and attempted to detain him without any warrant or notice.
From 5pm till 9pm, they sat in the hall of the first floor of the house and coerced Nadeem to come to Delhi “voluntarily” with them under “informal custody”. This was purportedly for investigation in an FIR filed that very afternoon in Delhi. FIR number 0280/2024, Shaheen Bagh, Police Station, N. Delhi. The said FIR was filed at 12:48 PM in Delhi and the concerned Police Station officer arrived in Bangalore at Nadeem’s brother’s house at 5pm, as if in hot haste, without first bothering to issue notice under Section 35(3), or having any authority in the form of an arrest warrant to come to his house and to demand that he return to Delhi with them. It was only at 10.45, after 5.45 hours of badgering Nadeem, that the officials pasted a notice under Section 35(3) of BNSS, asking him to appear at the Shaheen Bagh Police Station. For nearly six hours, they continued to harass and intimidate Nadeem Khan and members of his family, as well as trespass on the residence of his brother in Bangalore.
The offences under the FIR are Section 196, 353(2) and 61. The punishments for all of these offences are less than 3 years, and as per Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar, as well as Section 35 of the BNSS, the law prevents Nadeem’s arrest arising out of the current FIR, since the punishment is less than 7 years. Despite this the SHO along with the other Police Officials continued to criminally intimidate him and members of his family, forcing him to accompany them to Delhi without any due process.
Nadeem Khan is the national general secretary of the Association for Protection of Civil rights, a national level organisation working to uphold Human Rights. Prior to this FIR, yesterday on 29.11.2024, at approximately 9 PM, 20-25 officials arrived at the APCR office in Delhi without providing any notice, without an FIR copy, without any attempt at contact through publicly available numbers or providing legal justification for their actions. Since the office was closed at night, they enquired from the security guard about APCR National Secretary Mr Nadeem Khan and other members and employees of the organisation.
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.
This morning, a few police officers returned and enquired about the office bearers. When asked about the basis for this enquiry, the Head Constable Yogesh of Shaheen Bagh police station refused to share the details with the lawyers present in the office. The Head Constable also misbehaved with the lawyers and threatened them with dire consequences. Lawyers representing APCR also went to Shaheen Bagh Police Station to ask about the reasons for the police raid but received no answer.
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 basis of this FIR is that Nadeem Khan was involved in putting up an exhibition highlighting recent incidents of hate crimes and hate speeches in India. The exhibition also displayed recent judgments of the Supreme Court like Tehseen Poonavala v Union of India where they have passed guidelines for dealing with cases of mob violence.
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.
The PUCL demands that:
1) FIR be immediately quashed.
2) This harassment of Nadeem, his family be stopped. A compensation to the family must be paid for this harassment.
3) An FIR against the SHO of Shaheen Bagh Police station for criminal intimidation, harassment, trespassing must be registered.
Kavita Srivastava (National President) V. Suresh (National General Secretary)
