In a case of excessive force used by Uttar Pradesh Police on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters in December 2019, which had resulted in deaths of 23 Muslim youths and injuries of many, the National Human Rights Commission has stated that “no further intervention of the Commission is required” and that the case is closed.
In January 2020, the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO), a rights group had filed a complaint against the police violence on protesters across Uttar Pradesh.
After more than a year of the filing of the complaint, the NHRC has closed that case. In the meantime, it had ordered several reports from the Superintendent of Police, Lucknow. Following the round of reports it received, the NHRC has stated that the claims of the complainant have been rebutted by the police and that the protesters had not taken permission prior to protesting.
“It seems that the NHRC has taken the claims of the Police at face value,” the complainant Azim Khan who is also the general secretary of the rights group NCHRO, alleged.
“Such a dismissal of a complaint only shows the dubious nature of the NHRC, which, despite being a Human Rights body, sides with the perpetrators and not the victims of human rights violations,” Khan said in a press statement shared with Maktoob.
The NHRC has also stated that the “rioters” had damaged property and that the “authorities are initiating process for recovery of damages from the rioters with respect to damages caused to public property”.
The National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations has called into question the potency of the Human Rights Commission.
“Considering its response, the state of the Human Rights Commission in India is a sad state of affairs,” the rights group alleged.
NCHRO said it will appeal to the NHRC to reopen the case and look into it.
On 20 December 2019, the second week of passing India’s anti-Muslim citizenship law, mass shooting and police crackdown happened across Uttar Pradesh killing at least 23 Muslims. It was arguably the biggest single-day carnage in recent times.
Uttar Pradesh’s saffron party government systematically undermined the massacre by sieging the Muslim communities with internet shutdown, mass incarnation, and brute human rights violation.
Hundreds of Muslims were arbitrarily arrested under draconian charges following the protests against CAA.
Maktoob initiated a revisit to the Massacre and examines the life of survivors.
This story first appeared on maktoobmedia.com
