Afsal Rahman I India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 29- Ashraf, one of the organisers of the protest march against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on December 18th 2019 at Mangalore in Karnataka told that he was shot at by the Police twice, but escaped without serious injuries. He was speaking at the Citizen’s Tribunal organised by the Alliance Against CAA, NRC, NPR at the Indian Social Institute here on Saturday.
Ashraf said that the Police had cleared permission for the march on the 18th morning and the organisers went forward with the program. In the evening the Police officials informed him that Section 144 has been imposed and the protest cannot take place. But by that time some of the protestors had already reached the venue, which was a public ground surrounded by the Office of the District Collector, Bus Stand, market.
The Police resorted to lathi-charge on the protestors and the injured were admitted in the hospital. During his visit to the hospital, he came to know about the Police lathi-charge in his locality. He alleged that the Police kept shooting without any provocation. He too also received two Police gunshots. He told that the Police targeted Muslims and a senior Police officer was seen repenting for the lesser number of deaths.
Nowfal, brother of Nousheen killed in the Police firing at Mangalore told that he did not participate in any protests and he was killed when returning from Masjid after offering namaz. The Nineteen-year-old Nousheen worked with a welding shop. On the day of Police firing as his works ended at 04:30 pm, Shop owner advised him to leave soon since the atmosphere was getting worse and he left for home from where he went to masjid for namaz. Nowfal said that Nousheen had no association with any organisation. Nowfal complained that the Police took revenge on Nousheen and registered FIR against him under IPC 307 making him the key accused.
Twenty-one years old Sulaiman from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh was preparing for UPSC Exams in Noida stayed with his relative Anwar Usmani who was present for the hearing. Anwar told the tribunal that he suggested Sulaimani to take a break from studies and go home for some days. Sulaiman was bedridden due to fever after he reached home in a way that he could not even go to the nearby masjid for namaz. On that friday, he went for Jumuah in the masjid adjacent to the Police Station. Anwar says the Police force deployed attacked those who were returning from the masjid. Sulaiman was cornered by the Police and was shot dead. Anwar reiterated that no protests were happening that afternoon. The Police did the postmortem procedures in the midnight and forced his family to bury his body before dawn breaks.
Hilal Pasha who spoke of the way Bilal from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh was brutalised and killed could not complete his conversation out of tears. His father Mohammad Sherief was also present at the tribunal
Musthafa, a post-graduate student at the Jamia Millia Islamia University who was seen in the CCTV visuals of the University Library surfaced on media told the tribunal he had nothing to do with the protest and was not spared by the Police even after telling.Aligarh Muslim University student Mutayyib alleged that the Police entered the hostels of the University without any provocation. He produced the CCTV visuals also for the same. He said the Police threw tear gas shells into hostel rooms and forced students to come out in suffocation where they were beaten ruthlessly.
Retired Judge at the Bombay High Court Justice Kolse Patil said that there are no independent agency left in the country on which the common citizens of the country could rely upon. He was part of the judging panel at the Citizens Tribunal. Justice Patil also commented that the Supreme Court must have used its extraordinary judicial powers to curb the violence that took around 50 lives in the North East Delhi. The tribunal was organised to look into the violence on the Anti CAA protets across the country. Students, activists and others shared their experiences before the tribunal. Justice Patil said the tribunal will publish its report within due time..
