Delhi court slams police for detaining foreigners who attended Tablighi Jamat conference without proof
Date: 16/12/2020
Category: Hate violence, Discrimination
Observing that the prosecution failed to “prove the presence of accused inside the Markaz premises” and noting “contradictions” in statements by its witnesses, a Delhi court acquitted 36 foreigners facing trial for allegedly flouting Covid guidelines while participating in a Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin in March that was later linked to infections in 14 states. While passing the order, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg pulled up the Station House Officer of Hazrat Nizamuddin, who was the complainant in the case, and the investigating officer for lapses in identification of accused. “It is beyond comprehension of the court, as to how IO (Inspector Satish Kumar) could have identified 952 foreign nationals out of 2,343 persons who, as per SHO, were found flouting the guidelines, without any Test Identification Parade (TIP), but on the basis of list provided by MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs),” the court said. The court also noted that the SHO, Inspector Mukesh Walia, made improvements in his statement. “The SHO was aware of the actual number of persons gathered at Markaz since the beginning and still failed to take any timely measures to ensure dispersal of the said gatherings despite being aware of Government guidelines,” it said.“Else, if he was not so aware of the actual or even approximate numbers staying inside Markaz till the last day of evacuation exercise, he in all probability is deposing falsely about his daily visits to Markaz…In any case, his testimony has failed to pass the test of creditworthiness and hence identification by him of the accused persons in the court is not sufficient to discharge the onus of prosecution to prove the presence of accused at Markaz during the relevant period,” the court said. The accused hailed from a number of countries, including the US, Russia, UK, France, Sudan, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Fahim Khan, lawyer for the accused, welcomed the ruling and said his clients had been “falsely implicated”. “We argued that out of the 36, 10 were not even present at the spot. The police had filed documents showing their presence, which were contradictory. The prosecution could not prove that the accused persons did not maintain social distancing or broke other Covid guidelines,” he said. According to court records, 952 foreigners were accused of breaking Covid violations by Delhi Police. Over 900 of them had pleaded guilty as a part of a plea bargain as they did not want to stay back in India to face trial and wanted to be reunited with their families. The 36 are among 44 foreigners who chose to stand trial on charges of violating visa rules and Covid regulations — eight were discharged in August by the court after it found that there was no “prima facie evidence” against them.The Tablighi Jamaat conference as a source of Covid-19 had sparked intense discussions and reports on Indian media channels. The vilification campaign largely focused on the religion of the attendees. While some stressed that it was an “Islamic” conference (Arnab Goswami, Republic TV), some called Tabligi Jamat as Talibani Jamat (News Nation, later denied that the term had been used) and some invited guests who called this a “bio jihad” (Times Now), the campaign had a massive ripple effect, with Muslims attacked over all the country in the name of spreading the virus.
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Haryana government changes name of Badshah Khan Hospital to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hospital
Date: 17 Dec 2020
Category: Discrimination
The Haryana government’s decision to rename the Badshah Khan Hospital in Faridabad after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has received criticism from the public. The name change was notified by the Haryana’s director general health services notification on December 3, 2020, following orders from the chief minister. The inauguration plaque at the hospital reads: “Badshah Khan Hospital, the hospital built by the people of Faridabad with their own hands was named after their beloved leader Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan”. It was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on June 5, 1951. “Badshah Khan Hospital is our identity and we request the government not to change its name. We are not against the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The government can build a new hospital and name it after him,” he said, adding that they may resort to protests,” said says 79-year-old Mohan Singh Bhatia, the president of the Bhatia Sewak Samaj, an organisation of the people from North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). When contacted, Faridabad chief medical officer DR Randeep Poonia, said: “Please speak to the Prime Minister’s office, which is in charge of the hospital regarding the change of name.”
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