IN what has emerged as a pattern of activists who speak out against the government being harassed, the authorities in Uttar Pradesh have detained Dr Kafeel Khan under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). Under the provisions of the Act, he can be kept behind bars for a year without any charges being filed and without access to a lawyer.
Dr Khan is accused of making an inflammatory speech at a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on December 13 last year. News outlets have cited this​ remark to prove his anti-national credentials: “Tum hume nahi hata paoge, hum 25 crore hai” (you will not be able to throw us out, we [Indian Muslims] are 25 crore). While his speech was passionate, only by a wild stretch of the imagination can it be described as instigating violence. By invoking the NSA against Dr Khan, the Yogi Adityanath regime has only exposed its own politics of vendetta.
Dr Khan’s wife wondered how his speech could be seen as inflammatory when he was only echoing the sentiments expressed by many others and in a much milder way. She questioned the basis of his detention under the NSA and asserted that such intimidatory tactics would not stop people like her from speaking out against the government’s unjust policies and excesses.
Two days after Dr Khan gave his speech, the police used excessive force on the AMU campus: they fired tear gas shells, entered hostels, vandalised the premises and injured scores of students. There were allegations that the police fired live ammunition. A first information report (FIR) filed at the Civil Lines police station under Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153 B and 109 of the Indian Penal Code accused Dr Khan of provoking the students, vitiating the university’s peaceful atmosphere and disturbing communal harmony.
This story is from the March 13, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 13, 2020 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
