On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India rejected a request to stop a ‘Mahapanchayat’ planned by Hindu organisations in Purola, Uttarakhand. The court’s decision is made in the midst of rising communal strife in the state. The petition was filed by Association for Protection of Civil Rights.
The complaint also asked for the filing of an FIR against pro-Hindutva supporters for allegedly making hateful remarks that were directed at a certain group of people. Hindu organisations had scheduled the Mahapanchayat, a sizable assembly, for June 15 in response to the recent love jihad incident that happened on May 26.
Supreme Court refuses to entertain a plea to prevent 'Mahapanchayat' proposed to be held in Purola town in Uttarakhand amid rising communal tensions in the State.
— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2023
Supreme Court allows the petitioner to approach High Court or concerned authorities for relief.
This comes a day after the controversial civil society outfit People’s Union of Civil Liberties wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud alleging that the minority community in the region were being targeted and threatened by the locals. “We are writing this letter to bring to your attention the alarming rise of hate speech, vigilantism and targeted communal violence against the minority community in Uttarakhand,” the letter by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties read.
Besides this, the People's Union of Civil Liberties has also sought urgent intervention with respect to the 'chakka Jam' or road blockade which Vishwa Hindu Parishad has threatened to carry out unless #Muslims left certain belts of the state. #Uttarakhand #Uttarkashi pic.twitter.com/Ejpru0zWdr
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 13, 2023
PUCL is a fraternal organization of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR). The People’s Union for Civil Liberties is the same organisation that has substantial links to Maoists, as OpIndia reported earlier.
Two individuals, one of whom is a Muslim identified as Uved Khan, attempted to kidnap and elope with a Hindu girl in Purola. Massive tensions erupted in the region after the incident in which the locals demanded police verification of ‘outsiders’, most of whom are Muslims.
The lawyer who submitted the appeal, Sharukh Alam, was instructed by the vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah to pursue all possible legal remedies through the high court or other pertinent authorities. The bench highlighted that it is the state government’s duty to uphold law and order and suggested turning to the high court for intervention.
“We are not short-circuiting the legal process. There is a high court and district administration; you can approach them. Maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the state government. Why do you think no action will be taken if the matter is brought to its notice? You should have faith in the high court,” the bench said.
Alam informed the court that letters and banners asking members of a particular community to leave Uttarkashi had been distributed. There has been no action taken thus far despite an ongoing mandate (court order) directing the police to file a FIR on their own initiative in situations containing hate statements.
She further argued that the information offered in the plea shows that a FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is required, pleading with the judge to take the facts into consideration. “The material suggests that an FIR needs to be registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A ‘Mahapanchayat’ is scheduled to be held on June 15, and they have given an ultimatum to the district administration to remove members of a particular community by that date,” Alam said.
Uttarkashi administration refuses permission for Mahapanchayat
Since the love jihad incident, racial tensions have been progressively rising in Purola and neighbouring towns in the Uttarkashi area. A sense of uneasiness has been created among many populations as a result of the increase in tension, along with fears of violence and probable social unrest.
However, the Uttarkashi district administration has refused permission for a Mahapanchayat proposed to be held on June 15. The district administration has also imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the gathering of four or more people in a specified area, District Magistrate of Uttarkashi Abhishek Rohilla said. This means that even though the Supreme Court refused to stop the event, it has been stopped by the local administration and accordingly it will not take place, unless the govt reverts the decision.
The Mahapanchayat was organized by the Purola Pradhan Sangathan and was supported from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal among others. District Magistrate of Uttarkashi Abhishek Rohilla said, “The permission for the proposed mahapanchayat to be held on June 15 has been denied. No one will be given permission to break the law.”
Notably, a counter Mahapanchayat has also been requested by the Muslim Seva Santhan (MSS) on June 18 in Dehradun to draw the state government’s attention to the “mass exodus” of minorities from the hill town.
The controversial civil society outfit People’s Union of Civil Liberties who has filed a plea in the case had earlier extended support to the banned terrorist outfit named Popular Front of India (PFI) and had demanded that all the detained terrorist associated with the organization shall be released.
PUCL and its ties with Urban Naxals
PUCL is a fraternal organization of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR). The People’s Union for Civil Liberties is the same organisation that has extensive links to Maoists. ‘Urban Naxals’ who were arrested in the Elgar Parishad case and in connection with an alleged assassination plot against the Prime Minister are intimately linked with the PUCL.
The PUCL and its associate organisations have a history of ties to Naxals and separatists in Kashmir as well as Manipur. Over the years, numerous members of the organisations have been arrested for their links to Maoists. One of those raided in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon, Sudha Bharadwaj, is the General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
Father Stan Swamy was also associated with the PUCL. The narrative that PUCL propagates is quite often antithetical to a layman’s idea of civil society. On the website of the organization, it can be seen that it condemned the hanging of the Islamic terrorist Afzal Guru.
As per the report of Delhi PUCL for 2016-17, they assisted Islamist outfit PFI “in the matter relating to violation of their right to protest and their freedom of speech violated by the Delhi police on 5th Nov. 2017 in Delhi”.
‘Naxalite’ Binayak Sen was also the Vice President of the PUCL even after his conviction by Raipur Sessions Court. The West Bengal unit of PUCL also published a book exonerating Sen of all his crimes and branded him a “victim of state atrocity”.
Also recently, the organization published an article in which it condemned the killings of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother in law and slammed the UP police for not assuring proper security measures during the incident. Ahmed and his brother in law were shot dead by three persons who posed as media individuals and fired around 22 bullets at the gangster. “PUCL is outraged by and strongly condemns the cold-blooded shooting down by a 3-member gang of politician and former minister, Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf Ahmed,” the article read.
Further downplaying the criminal activities of the gangster, PUCL wrote, “The killing is not just a security lapse on the part of the police, who failed to check the identity of the killers posing as media persons; a much more disturbing issue is how the killer gang knew that a media meeting would be held in the open, outside the hospital.
“Equally worrisome is the question why Atiq Ahmed and his brother were not transported by ambulance, why the medical check-up was at such an unusual time late at night and why despite the security concerns, the police permitted such a media meet in an open space and in public. The other question is as to why the police did not seek police custody of those who did the shooting? The answer to these questions will tell us whether it was a question of mere negligence by the UP police or a deeper conspiracy by the UP police and the UP administration, in the murders themselves?” it added.
Earlier, the organization in the month of August last year had objected to the organization of Ram Katha at the Raj Bhavan in Rajasthan. PUCL had cried foul saying that the 5-day programme undermined the dignity of the Governor’s office and also violated the Constitutional principles of secularism. “This event (Ram Katha) brazenly compromises the secular character of our Constitution. These are not personal programmes of the Governor. Will the Governor likewise organise religious events and arts exhibitions of faiths like Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sarna-Adivasi, etc?” the state president of the organization had said.
