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Padubidri: Fishing boat capsizes; all 7 fishermen on board rescued Alleged atrocity on lawyer: Punjalakatte SI suspended Moral policing at jewellery shop: 4 arrested Bajrang Dal activists try to assault youth, girlfriend in Mangaluru SC to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea against release of 11 convicts on 13 Dec Nusrat Noor: First Muslim Woman to Top Jharkhand Public Service Commission
Latest News:
Padubidri: Fishing boat capsizes; all 7 fishermen on board rescued Alleged atrocity on lawyer: Punjalakatte SI suspended Moral policing at jewellery shop: 4 arrested Bajrang Dal activists try to assault youth, girlfriend in Mangaluru SC to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea against release of 11 convicts on 13 Dec Nusrat Noor: First Muslim Woman to Top Jharkhand Public Service Commission
New Delhi, 20 Feb 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: It seems unending trial and tribulation has become a permanent fate for the 31 members of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), including the 6 convicts who have been languishing in jail for over a decade. While the 25 SIMI members complain that they have more often been forced to chant Jai Sriram for food, the six convicts have been on hunger strike for the last month in protest against “inhuman and barbaric” treatment meted out to them allegedly by jail authorities.
Dr. Abu Faisal, Qamruddin , Kamran, Saduli PA and Shibily, who have been on hunger strike in Central Jail Bhopal from last month , are surviving on saline water now. In October 2020, they did the same before being admitted to hospital following deterioration of their health conditions. Family members of the accused have been complaining about all sorts of harassment – mental, physical – inside the jail after the 2016 ‘jail break’ incident followed by the controversial police ‘encounter’ in which eight SIMI activists were killed.
The convicts, who are in solitary confinement, complain that policemen often knock their doors at night only to ask about their “well being” while in daytime, on several occasions, they were given food or water only after chanting Jai Sri Ram. The cops also desecrated the Holy Quran before them.
The relatives of the accused have written a letter to several Muslim organizations. Some points from the letter.
1-Misbehaving and abuses.
2-Threatening.
3-Religious abusing including desecration of Holy Quran.
4-Caging in solitary confinement for 23 hours continuously.
5- Slapping false jail cases.
6- No treatment of sick , old medicine being served.
7-Making wake up after two hours whole the night.
8- Giving sleeping pills at night and in case of no reply from inside slapping of jail cases.
9- No letter to or from home allowed.
10-Giving less time to the visitors and harassing them during meeting.
11-All prisoners were allowed to talk to relatives on phone during Lockdown but they were denied the same.
12-Despite order from jail authority, no complaint box was provided.
13- Treated like slave and sub- humane by police in jail.
NHRC report confirmed complaints of abuses
The investigation of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has confirmed the complaints of abuses and harassments in jail.
“The Commission had taken serious note of the complaint and sent a team to investigate the matter in June 2017. The investigation team interacted with prisoners, their families, jail authorities, lawyers and social activists. Following complaints that the violence had escalated again after a brief lull, in December 2017 a second team made a short follow-up visit,” the report said.
The NHRC report said that prisoners are being brutally beaten up by jail staff. Several prisoners had injury marks which the staff could not explain. Prisoners being deprived of sleep, too.
In a shocking revelation, the report said that “jail staff seem to harbour religious antagonism to these prisoners which is reflected in inhuman treatment”. The prisoners complain that they are forced to chant slogans against their religion and are beaten up if they refuse.
Unfair trials
Surprisingly the trial of 10 accused (Safdar Nagori – Zahirul Hasan Ujjain MP, 2. Mohammad Ansar – Abdul Razak Kerala, 3. Qamruddin Nagori – Chand Mohammad Ujjain MP, 4. Amil Parvez – Qazi Saifuddin Ujjain MP, 5. Kamran Siddiqui , Khandwa MP, 6. Shibly – Abdul Karim. Kerala 7. Shaduly – Abdul Karim Kerala, 8. Hafiz Husain – Karnataka 9. Mohammad Yaseen – Fareed Khan 10. Ahmed Baig Mirza – Hyderabad ) were going on in different cities of Madhya Pradesh while they were lodged in Sabarmati jail , Ahmedabad . Later all of them were found guilty of sedition, collecting arms and waging war against the government of India. After the court decision they were shifted to Bhopal Central Jail from Sabarmati Central Jail . Now their trial is going on in Ahmedabad through video conferencing but they are facing torture in Central Jail Bhopal.
Media trial
We request media people to highlight our sufferings as the media is very hostile to us and always coming out with negative news about us. Our families are undergoing unthinkable trauma and sufferings, said Khalil , cousin of one of the accused Aqeel.
It’s disgusting that they are being presented before a judge through videoconferencing with saline water on their nose and hands, he added.
The families of prisoners want proper treatment by jail authorities.
‘We want fair trial and proper treatment of the accused as per legal and constitutional rights. They are being treated worse than animals. They are not being provided even with brush and toothpaste as jail authority claims they can use toothbrush in jail breaking, It is really tormenting,’ said Haidar Hussian Nagori, elder brother of Safdar Nagori.
However Bhopal Central Jail Superintendent Dinesh Nargave has denied the allegations .
They are being provided with all necessary things as per law, he told Muslim Mirror.
When asked ‘then why they are on hunger strik ? ‘lnfact they don’t want to live in solitary confinement’ was his explanation..
The BJP government banned SIMI in 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks in US. The ban was lifted in August 2008 by a special tribunal, but was reinstated by K.G.Balakrishnan, then Chief Justice, on 6 August 2008 on ‘national security grounds’.
However most of its members including its national president Dr. Shahid Badar were acquitted by courts after several years in Jail.ll
Fajr | فجر | |
Dhuhr | الظهر | |
Asr | أسر | |
Maghrib | مغرب | |
Isha | عشا |