On December 9, an organisation named “The World Is Watching India” released a propaganda video titled “Global Actors Marking Two Years Since the Arrest of Anti-CAA Protestors under UAPA”. In the video, international activists from different organisations came together to whitewash Islamists accused of the anti-Hindu riots of February 2020. The video was based on an online webinar that took place on December 6. Interestingly, the video also contained remarks from the infamous so-called historian Audrey Truschke from her September address from a similar program.
The video claimed that it had been two years since 18 “students and activists” were arrested for terrorism by the Delhi Police. Those who were arrested were part of anti-CAA protests. The video claimed, “The protests came from their belief that the new law is a tool to disenfranchise Indian Muslims and was part of the powerful, nationwide anti-CAA movement.”
The so-called activists listed in the video were Sharjeel Imam, Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi, Tahir Hussain, Saleem Malik, Mohd Saleem Khan, Meeran Haider, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Shifa Ur Rehman, Gulfisha Fatima, Athar Khan, Safoora Zargar, Umar Khalid, Natasha Narwal, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Faizan Khan, and Devangana Kalita. The group further said 12 of these accused are still in jail. They claimed, “Individuals and groups all around the world who believe that they are being persecuted for protesting against CAA spoke out in their support.”
It contained excerpts from the online discussion from the webinar that is currently available on its Twitter timeline.
Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur, Human Rights Defenders, said, “I find it particularly distressing that those who have been denied bail in these cases are all Muslim. I understand that the Delhi high court has repeatedly cited the lack of any factual evidence, material in the charge sheets to back up the police’s theory that the anti-CAA protests were part of a larger conspiracy to cause Terror in India.”
Delhphine Reculeau, World Organization Against Torture, OMCT, said, “All over the world, we see anti-terror rules are being weaponised to target and silence human rights activists. As well as to undermine and degradabilize the numerous legitimate activities.”
Mark Heywood, Editor associated with The Daily Maverick, South Africa, said, “I am speaking for thousands of Human Rights activists not just in South Africa itself but in southern Africa and across Africa that we will work hard in this country to build awareness of what is happening in India and to make sure that the names of all of those who are imprisoned become familiar to us and familiar to people here. Just as 30 years ago, the names of people like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and all of the South African Liberation Heroes who the world stood up and fought for became known to millions of people. And we know that it was a solidarity that kept their names alive and that kept them alive. What we are seeing in India feels to us in many ways reminiscent of what used to happen in South Africa under apartheid. The retribution, the punitive nature, the Vengeance that is exacted by power on activists, and it has to stop.”
Shahidul Alam, photojournalist and activist from Bangladesh, said, “The family members, the activists, the students who come out in protest have shown tremendous courage and strength at a time in South Asia when there is so much repression, so much abusive human rights and some are disrespect for the rule of law their position is to be lauded.”
Lee Rhiannon, Former Senator of Australia, said, “From Sydney, Australia, we joined the growing worldwide call for the immediate and unconditional release of the human rights Defenders held in Indian jails. The child activists are to be congratulated for taking a stand against the citizenship Amendment Act 2019.”
They added a video clip from Audrey’s September address on a similar topic. She said, “That there’s always another in fascist thought and that other has to be hated and demonised relentlessly in order to define the self. And for Hindutva ideologues, the other are Muslims. Now the citizenship Amendment Act is one piece of this far larger project. But it’s a particularly important piece which is why we saw such brutal crackdowns on protesters against the CAA between December 2019 and February 2020.”
Now here is the link to the event where Audrey spoke. Who organised the event? Well, it was organised by none other than IAMC, the dubious organisation from the US that is known for its anti-India stand and allegedly has links to terrorist organisations.
Govind Acharya, Amnesty International, USA, said, “The decision to rest in jail activists is obviously a conscious effort to silence dissenters, and we actually must make sure that those who are deliberately silenced or unheard are actually heard.”
It also included statements given by several so-called intellectuals and activists who spoke their minds after screening a propaganda documentary titled “Delhi Riots Case: The Unknown Faces Behind Bars Under UAPA” by The Quint that was released on June 28, 2022.
These statements made it clear that they were told one-sided propaganda-inspired stories to whitewash the crimes of those who the Delhi Police arrested. For example, Prof Lyla Mehta said, “It is deplorable that so many committed students and human rights defenders who seek to retain the secular fabric of India are still in jail.”
Interestingly, it also had a quote from Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) that allegedly has a connection to terrorist organisations. The organisation said, “If Gandhi was alive and with us today, would he have supported these detained activists, or would he have supported Narendra Modi and his BJP party members?” It was rich of IAMC to quote none other than Gandhi, who is believed to be a symbol of non-violence.
Similarly, Ania Loomba, Literary Scholar and Professor, said, “The 18 brave students and others were part of peaceful protests movements that arose at the end of 2019… Many of us were protesting in Philly… If we had been in Delhi, we could have been in jail for the rest of our lives.” It is unclear if she was told who Tahir Hussain was and what he did as per the court documents.
The list of names included in the video and the accusations against them
Sharjeel Imam: Imam is facing charges under IPC and UAPA for speeches he gave during the anti-CAA protests, including instigating Islamists to cut of North Eastern region from the rest of the country by blocking the ‘chicken’s neck’ in North Bengal.
Ishrat Jahan: Jahan was arrested on February 26 for the charges under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353 (assault on public servant), 332 (voluntarily causes hurt to public servant), 307 (attempt to murder), 109 (abetment), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act.
Khalid Saifi: Saifi was earlier arrested by the Delhi police from the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protest site at Khajuri Khas on February 26. He is charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly plotting riots in the national capital.
Tahir Hussain: Hussain was arrested for instigating riots during anti-CAA protests. His house was used as a launchpad for the riots that he had earlier confessed in a disclosure statement. Given that his house was a high-rise building and was under construction at that time, it was easy to collect stones and bricks without raising any suspicion. He confessed that he and his co-conspirators had started collecting stones, bricks, and other ammunition, well in advance so that they could teach those, who were in support of the CAA, a lesson when the time was right. To that end, 2-3 days before the riots broke out, he had also got his licensed pistol released from the police station. Moreover, Tahir Hussain was a corporator and leader of AAP, not a student.
Safoora Zargar: Zargar was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for her alleged role in the conspiracy that led to the Delhi Riots in February 2020. She was arrested in April 2020. The Delhi Police had claimed that she was part of the conspiracy to “destroy, destabilize and disintegrate the Government of India in order to compel to withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the alleged National Register of Citizens.” The Delhi High Court granted bail to Safoora Zargar in the Delhi Riots case in June 2020 on humanitarian grounds. After the Central Government said that it had no objections to her release, bail was granted. A regular bail was granted to Safoora Zargar after furnishing a bond of Rs. 10,000 on the condition that she will not leave the territory of Delhi without the permission of the Court and will not hamper the investigation.
Umar Khalid: The FIR filed against Khalid includes serious allegations such as Sections 13, 16, 17, and 18 of the UAPA, Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act of 1984. He is also charged with several offences listed in the Indian Penal Code of 1860.
Delhi Riots 2020
The Delhi anti-Hindu riots that shook the capital city of India, Delhi, just as the then USA President Donald Trump was visiting, was a stark reminder of just how fragile India’s internal security is, with bloodthirsty mobs, protected by a deeply entrenched ecosystem, looking for a reason to unleash violence against Hindus. The first murder during the violence that erupted on the 23rd of February with Muslim mobs running rampage was that of Ratan Lal. Soon after him, Dilbar Negi, a young daily wager, was brutally murdered. His hands and legs were chopped off before he was burnt to death. OpIndia’s detailed reporting on the Delhi Riots of 2020 can be read here.
