A state of lawlessness: ‘It’s Frightening’: Judges, UN Experts on Targeting CAA Protesters

By Dilip -

“2020 marks 70 years since India became a republic, but the present state of affairs is no occasion to celebrate.”: Justice (retd) AP Shah, Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists

Retired judges and United Nations experts raised concerns on Monday, 13 July, about the way in which the government has responded to the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in recent months, including the implication of many of the protesters in criminal cases.

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice (retired) AP Shah of the Delhi High Court, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor, and Aida Martirous Nejad (India desk of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), were all speaking during a side event to the current session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The event, moderated by journalist Saba Naqvi and co-organised by the International Commission of Jurists along with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, focused on the way in which opposition to the CAA and NRC has been attacked by the Centre and state governments, and how the justice system is failing to protect the civil rights of dissenters.

Justice AP Shah began the discussion by explaining why the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 is controversial, and the arguments for why it is considered by many legal experts to be unconstitutional. He set out how citizenship under the Indian Constitution specifically avoided religion as a criterion and that “Tagging religion to citizenship would conflict with these principles of secularism, liberalism, equality and justice.” He considered the protests against the troika of CAA, NRC and NPR as a positive, given the unprecedented involvement of the youth and the way in which commitment to constitutional values was a key part of how they played out. In response, however, he argued that:

“The government is trying to silence protesters, liberally slapping criminal charges of rioting, unlawful assembly, sedition, criminal conspiracy. Police have license to run riot against – by and large – peaceful protesters, by arresting them,destroying vehicles, and even entering homes.” Retired IPS officer SR Darapuri, now a social activist, gave testimony of his own experiences at the hands of the Uttar Pradesh Police because of his opposition to the CAA. He recalled how in December 2019, he had not even been able to leave his home as the police had prevented him from attending the anti-CAA protests in Lucknow – and yet he was still named as an accused in the violence that the police claim flared up as a result….

https://www.thequint.com/news/india/frightening-targeting-of-anti-caa-protesters-cases-police-retired-judges-un-experts-s-darapuri-lokur-shah

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