SYED AKHLAQ AHMAD, National Coordinator and Secretary Delhi Zone of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), talks about the violations of human rights in the country, factors that led to the formation of APCR and the ‘anti-people’ tendency of the Indian Police. In an interview with KAMRAN SHAHID ANSARI, he speaks about the atrocities and exploitation faced by the poor and the marginalised communities in India, the Supreme Court guidelines which the police continuously flout and urges the people to get themselves acquainted with the rights and privileges given to them by the Indian Constitution. Excerpts:
Kindly give us a brief introduction of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR).
APCR is a civil rights group comprised of advocates, social activists and grassroots para-legal social workers dedicated to using the legal system to protect civil and human rights in India. APCR, a non-profit and non-governmental civil rights group was set up in 2006 to defend the rights of underprivileged sections of India. It is committed to protection of society from violation of human rights, illegal detentions, custodial deaths, fake encounters, false cases on the behest of political exigencies, unprovoked firing on demonstrators, criminal negligence of official and public servants at the time of natural and manmade calamities and consumer frauds by local manufacturers and service providers and MNCs. The network of APCR is spread over the length and breadth of the country and has reached 10 states by now. It is also working as a support group for the organisations and movements committed to promotion of Justice and Equity in India.
What were the immediate factors that led to the formation of APCR?
The main cue that we got was from the state-led Gujarat genocide of innocent Muslims. It was felt that there should be an organisation so as to keep an eye on the acts of violation of human rights and bring the culprits to justice, be it state or individuals. The illegal detentions of innocent people under draconian laws like POTA AND TADA, further changed the earlier apprehensions into the strong feeling for an organisation, to deal with the gross negligence and injustices. Four years later the vision was finally materialised and APCR came into existence. Since then we have been working on issues of human rights violation and other atrocities and making the voices of the weak and oppressed heard.
What is the reason for the recent rise in the illegal picking up of Muslim youths in Delhi? Has the matter died down?
See whenever there is bomb blast or any other so-called terror activity, the police and the law enforcement agencies get active and in order to prove that they are not sitting idle and are taking action, they pick up individuals. And it is not only about New Delhi or some particular states, in fact it is happening in every part of the country. And as per the question as to whether it has died down or will rise again, I will again say that it is just about terror related cases. Whenever bomb blasts take place, illegal picking up by law enforcement agencies will rise and there is no question of dying out or rising up.
How do you see the word Terrorism?
Terrorism according to me is nothing but a politically motivated word and is used for facilitating the political agenda of the parties. According to me, terrorism does not exist. It is only being used and re-used just for political gains. Arms industries are raking in big bucks simply in the name of terrorism. People are being exploited just for the same purpose. So terrorism has become such a thing that it fits into anything and can be moulded as per the requirement.
Is this illegal picking up confined only to Muslims or it is happening with other communities and groups as well?
Actually it happens with every poor and marginalised community, be it Muslim, tribal, etc. The only difference is that there is an international feeling of hatred against the Muslims, whereas the rest of the groups do not face the ire worldwide. The cases of exploitation and illegal picking up can be witnessed in the Naxal-affected areas as well. According to a recently released report on one of Naxal affected areas, there are thousands of people who have been put behind the bars in the name of Naxals and among them there are a large number of women. They have been languishing behind the bars for years without any trial and without even knowing as of what sin of theirs they are in jails. The tragedy is that even the jailor himself does not know the crimes for which they have been detained. So I think it is happening everywhere with the poor and marginalised communities.
We are aware of the various guidelines that the Constitution and the Supreme Court have chartered and that must be followed by the police. Yet we see policemen easily flout the rules. What you think is the reason for this?
To answer this question we must go back to history. The nature of Indian police and its foundation and formation is based on the ‘anti-people’ tendency. The seeds of this ‘anti-people’ tendency were sown soon after the first war of independence that India fought with the British in 1857. It was only after that the British formed the Police Act of 1860 under which the main duty of the police was loyalty to the government and the tragedy is that even after independence there have been no changes in the Act. During Emergency in 1975, there were grave violations of civil rights and police was accused of following the diktats of the government. After the Emergency there was a furore and many commissions were established which submitted various reports so as to bring reforms in police, however even after that no changes or reforms were made in the functioning of police. There has been no change in police training, working and recruitment.
And the reason why police flout all the guidelines is because it is not accountable for its actions. APCR has been demanding accountability of police as well.
How can a common man arm himself and protect the civil and human rights which he is entitled to?
I believe there is only one way to empower ourselves and protect our human and civil rights. The first and foremost is that we must be aware of our rights; unless and until we are aware of them, we cannot do anything. When we are aware of our rights, it becomes our duty to disseminate this information to others so that they can also become aware. After awareness the next step is organisation. We must organise ourselves and struggle and should do a continuous struggle so as to make an impact, because only a collective struggle can lead to a significant result. Hence I always use three words: awareness, organisation and struggle. These three words would lead to empowerment and we would be in a better position to negotiate for our rights.