Syed Ali Mujtaba

The New Delhi-based Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) which tracks the unjust targeting of downtrodden communities in India has brought out a report saying that the crime against Muslims has increased in India after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha election on June 4, 2024. These crimes include mob lynching, communal riots, bulldozer justice, and forced eviction.

  According to the APCR report, there have been ten lynching incidents between June 7 and July 5. These incidents were reported from Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and West Bengal. Besides, incidents of communal violence were reported from Telangana, Odisha, and Rajasthan.

 There have been reports of targeted bulldozer actions against Muslims in Madhya Pradesh and the U.P where houses of 11 Muslims were demolished after an allegation of beef being found in the refrigerators in Madhya Pradesh.

There are also reports of attacks on Muslim establishments and their forced evictions from Himachal Pradesh.

However, despite the registration of First Information Reports being done in these cases, there has been no arrest being made, says the APCR report.

Some of the leading Muslim bodies in India like Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind have expressed concern at the rise in targeted hate violence against Muslims following unproven allegations of cow slaughter.

The Muslim bodies point to the clause in the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023 for mob lynching that prescribes severe punishment extending from life imprisonment to death.

Some left parties like CPI (M) have also echoed similar sentiments saying that attacks on Muslims have increased since the Lok Sabha election results were announced.

The Association for Protection of Civil Rights is a non-governmental organization that was established in 2006 for the protection of human rights of the exploited-deprived sections of society. The body is composed of advocates, social activities grassroots social workers, etc.

The association is currently working in seventeen states and is headquartered in New Delhi. The objective of APCR is to educate and inform the public about their civil rights. It has a helpline to counsel and advise the downtrodden segment of society that is subjected to injustice.

The APCR provides a training programme for social activities to be done at the grass root level. The APCR makes an effort to protest and safeguard the legal rights of the oppressed. It also provides legal defense to the victims of injustice. The APCR envisages eradicating oppression and injustice from the Indian social scene.