A Muslim Cab Driver, who was charged under UAPA, was released after 757 days in prison
photo (maktoobmedia)
The 30-year-old Muslim cab driver, Muhammad Alam, was arrested on 5th October 2020 along with journalist Siddique Kappan, Atiqur Rehman and Masood, who are activists of the Campus Front of India (CFI), a Muslim students’ organisation.
The four were arrested while they were on their way to Hathras village to cover the report on the rape of a 19- year old girl by upper caste Hindu men.
“I know UAPA like the back of my hand now; I may never understand any other law the way I understand this one, despite having only been schooled till Class X; they have misused it in this case,” Bushra, Alam’s wife, said.
Alam was charged under UAPA and sedition. He is the first one to be freed who was accused in Hathras Conspiracy.
-Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit Student Rohith Vemula, joins Rahul Gandhi in his Yatra
photo (outlook India)
Radhika Vemula joined Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra on Tuesday. She is the mother of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit Student who died by suicide in 2016 due to alleged harassment while studying at the University of Hyderabad. The case raised nationwide protests against casteism in universities.
She extended solidarity to ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, walked with Rahul Gandhi, and called upon Congress to save the Constitution from BJP-RSS assault. In a tweet, she also demanded Justice for Rohith Vemula, passing of Rohith Act, and an increase in representation of Dalits in Higher education institutions, ” after meeting Rahul Gandhi.
-Court Acquits Muslim Youth in Delhi Pogrom Case: No Reliable Evidence or Proof
photo (meezan media)
The Delhi Court acquitted a young man, Noor Muhammad, booked under the complain pertaining to the the Northeast Delhi Riots of 2020. The complaint was filed by Seema Arora who accused Noor Muhammad among other rioters of setting her show room on fire in Khajuri Khas area.
“I find that charges levelled against the accused in this case have not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Hence, accused Noor Mohammad is acquitted of all the charges levelled against him in this case,” Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said.
“It is a matter of record that in their respective complaint, none of the public witnesses named the accused as one of the rioters nor did they say that they had seen and could identify any of the rioters. Hence, I find that evidence on record is not reliable and is insufficient to establish presence of accused in the mob that indulged in rioting,” said one of the judges.
-Muslim Man Beaten to Death by a Mob in Uttar Pradesh, wife of alleged in the case commits suicide by hanging herself
Photo (The Cognate)
Zia ur-Rehman, a 19 year old Muslim man, was beaten to death by a mob in Islam Nagar village of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Following the arrest of the accused in the murder case, his wife, Tanu Saini, allegedly hanged herself a few hours later. Zia ur-Rehman and Tanu Saini’s houses are 400 meters apart, Zia was beaten to death in Saini’s house.
“At around 2 am (on Wednesday), I got a call from a local policeman on my son’s mobile phone saying he was badly injured and unconscious. I rushed to the place (the Saini house) and hurried Zia to a local hospital. They said they could not attend to him because of his serious condition and so we took him to a hospital in Dehradun. He died before he could be given medical aid,” Zia’s father, Muhammad Ayub, said. Tension grew in the village as the two belonged to different faiths. According to the Indian Express, FIRs were filed from both sides but the police have not arrested anyone yet.
-Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Demands Reservation for Dalit converts of Islam and Christianity
Photo (Asia News)
Jamaat-e-Islaami Hind demanded the benefits of reservations to those groups of Dalit who converted to Islam and Christianity. The reservation includes Dalit Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs but not Muslims and Christians.
Professor Muhammad Salim Engineer, the current Vice President of the organisation, said that the commission led by Former Chief Justice of India and Former Chairperson of NHRC would analyse the matter and ensure equal treatment for Dalit Muslims and Christians.“Under Article 341 of the Constitution, the President of India may ‘specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall be deemed to be Scheduled Castes’. Earlier this benefit was only confined to Dalit Hindus (1950) but later on, Sikhs were added to the list in 1956 and then Dalit Buddhists also were added in 1990,” he said.
