Safoora Zargar got bail but when will the dark era of oppression and injustice against Muslims in the country end …. !!!

Salim Alware

SALIM ALWARE

Safoora Zargar, an M.Phil (Sociology) student of Jamia Millia University, Delhi and Media Coordinator of the Jamia Coordinating Committee, was released on humanitarian grounds by the Delhi High Court on June 9 after a two-day hearing.  The points made in the decision are worrisome.  The court said that the pregnancy of a woman does not reduce the seriousness of the crime as on the first day of the hearing, Delhi Police had vehemently opposed the bail application and told the court that safe delivery of 39 pregnant women in Tihar Jail has taken place in the last ten years. But on June 3, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta did not oppose the bail plea and the way was cleared for the release of Safoora Zargar, although it is very difficult for people arrested under oppressive laws like the UAPA to get bail.

It is true that like hundreds of women activists in Delhi, Safoora has been involved in anti-CAA, anti-NRC sit-ins, but she has refuted all allegations of any involvement in the Delhi Anti-Muslim pogrom.

In fact, the arrest of Safoora Zargar under a serious law like the UAPA is a warning to millions of Muslim women and thousands of human rights activists in the country that the current central government does not like anyone who speaks out against injustices committed by the regime.  It has been said that India is the largest democracy in the world which essentially means that we have every right to protest peacefully in a democratic manner for the restoration of our rights and the same was done by our women. The Delhi Police is bent on proving that protesting is a grave crime. This is confirmed by Amnesty International India’s Executive Director Avinash Kumar’s statement on Safoora Zargar’s arrest, in which he said that the Indian government was “intolerant of free speech and dissent”.

It appears that the regime has a total  disregard of dissent and opinions which differ from its ideology and that is why many women and men involved in peaceful sit-ins against the Delhi Police CAA and the NRC have been subjected to the UAPA law.  The text of the Delhi High Court’s decision also shows that Safoora Zargar is being granted bail on humanitarian grounds and this cannot be set as a precedent for other cases.

The list of injustices against Muslims in this country is long. The four officers who were involved in the custodial death of Khwaja Yunus in 2001 were recently reinstated by the Mumbai Police. The recommendations of two former chairmen of the Minority Commission, the late Amin Khandwani (in 2004) and Naseem Siddiqui (in 2005) along with the direction of the High Court were also ignored.

Now the question must come to mind how to prevent or reduce these injustices and prejudices.

If we look at the last 25 years of efforts to address the educational decline of Muslims in this country and the lack of representation in government departments, including the police and judiciary, it can be concluded that in this regard,  if work is done diligently, it needs another 25 years to achieve significant results.

The second way is to talk to the present central government so that Muslims can discuss all their issues face to face with the government and for that only selfless and sincere intellectuals towards the  community and nation have to take the initiative.  In which we have to talk openly about the arbitrary arrests of Muslims, human rights violations,  proper implementation of government schemes, ban on CAA, NRC as we have never discussed these issues with Narendra Modi government till date.  though in the last five years, three jumbo Muslim delegations have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  What was the agenda of these meetings?  What was the conversation?  What’s the follow up and what is the next step ?  The answer can only be given by the dignitaries who have been joining these delegations.

For  talks to succeed, we need to encourage courageous budding Muslim leaders with integrity who can represent us in front of the  Central Government. Subsequently, if talks can solve the problems of Muslims, then we should regularly talk to the Modi government, because if we can accept Uddhav Thackeray Government wholeheartedly in Maharashtra, changing our perception about shiv Sena and  communicating regularly and positively   with Uddhav Thackeray Government of Maharashtra, then why same can not be done with Narendra Modi government as well.