Arbitrary Detentions

Arbitrary detentions

• A senior Kashmiri journalist Khalid Gul was arrested in December in connection with an old case filed in 2017. His residence had been searched in November in connection with another case. Kashmir, of all Indian territories, has been worst affected by arbitrary detentions.  A recent report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, flags India, in particular its use of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, for widespread incarceration of journalists. Seven journalists are in prison under the law, including Kashmiri journalists Aasif Sultan, Fahad Shah, and Sajad Gul, who continue to be behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases.

• Siddiqi Kappan, another journalist, continues to be in detention since October 2020, charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. On December 23^rd, the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh granted bail to Kappan. However, he has remained in prison in a case against him by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A co-accused in the case, Atikur Rahman, meanwhile continues to remain imprisoned despite urgent health appeals by the family.

Detentions under anti-conversion laws

Several individuals from the Christian community have also been reported arrested on frivolous accusations.

• On November 28^th, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested 9 Christian pastors in Azamgarh on charges of conversion activities under the state’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act.

• On November 12^th, five Christian men were arrested in Karnataka’s Mandya on charges of forceful conversion, and sent to 14 days judicial custody under the newly passed Karnataka anti-conversion law.

• On November 1^st, at least 12 persons were arrested to allegedly attempting religious conversion in Ramnagar, Karnataka.

These arrests have been made under ‘anti-conversion’ laws across different states. The laws purportedly protect freedom of religion and are against forced conversion, with the most recent one being the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, passed in September. This makes Karnataka the ninth state in the country to have a bill penalizing what are considered ‘forced conversions’ and used especially to target Christians, as demonstrated in the cases above. By November, about 30 Christian pastors had been jailed in Uttar Pradesh under the state’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, according to an appeal made to a senior police official by Christian leaders in the state.  

• On December 26^th,  Pastor Paulus Masih was arrested in Uttar Pradesh, for speaking to a mass gathering on Christmas Day in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh.

• In another arrest in Uttar Pradesh under the state’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, Pastor David Asthana was arrested on December 26^th in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

Arrests under preventive detention laws

• In October, three Muslim men were arrested by Assam Police in Northeast India and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with other sections of the Indian Penal Code for alleged terror links.  The men, Mohar Ali, Abdul Baten and Tanu Dhadumia are connected with opening a Museum celebrating the culture of Bengali speaking Muslims, in the region. The Museum was also sealed two days after the arrest by local authorities on grounds of it being made on housing given as part of a government scheme.

• Four Muslim clerics and three activists were detained in September-October 2022 , under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) of 1978 which gives detention without trial powers to the state.

• November 2022 marked one year since the National Investigation Agency arrested Kashmiri Human Rights Defender Khurram Parvez, charging him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. According to a joint statement by various international NGOs, his detention continues to be politically motivated and a violation of his rights.

• September 2022 marked two years in detention for Umar Khalid, who has been charged by the Delhi Police under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for his alleged involvement in the 2020 Delhi riots. His trial is yet to commence. In December, he was granted  bail for one week to attend his sister’s wedding. Two other Muslim men continue to be in jail on similar charges, Sharjeel Imam and Khalid Saifi, and have been denied bail in the past.

• On November 1^st, the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh, granted bail to Haseen alias Ishu, who was in jail since August 22, 2020, for allegedly participating in CAA protests. The bench of Justice Manish Mathur observed that the accused had not been named in the FIR and there was no evidence on record to indicate that he was a part of the mob that participated in the protest. This case demonstrates violations of fair trial rights and the use of arbitrary detentions against minority communities.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act – India’s principal anti-terror legislation, and that invoked by authorities in several cases reported above  – continues to be a tool that is liberally used by law enforcement agencies to target human and minority rights activists and organisations. Denial of fair trial rights is inbuilt in UAPA provisions.  As per data released by National Crime Records Bureau in December, UAPA had a 3.8% conviction rate in 2021 (Table 2.1). The top three states with the highest arrests and convictions in 2021 were Jammu & Kashmir (under Central rule, 645 arrests, no convictions); Uttar Pradesh (321 arrests, 52 convictions) Assam (189 arrests, no convictions). See Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for an analysis. 

• Over 200 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI), a Muslim organisation working for human rights of deprived groups, were reported detained in September, in a nation-wide crackdown against the organisations. This followed the banning of PFI and its affiliates, and charges of terrorisms brought against it, under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Reporting of several of these arrests hint at their being unlawful in nature. Recently Muslim religious and charitable organisations in Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, among other states, have been targeted on similar lines, accused of terrorist and secessionist activities, resulting in mass detentions and suspension of activities. Below are illustrative cases of some of the PFI arrests, hinting at their unlawful nature.

  • Mohd Shoeb, a 22-year-old college student, said he was taken into “illegal custody” at 3 am from his house in Shaheen Bagh on 27 September and at no point did the Delhi police tell his family members the reasons for bringing him into custody and where he would be held, according to a report by Article-14. On 28 November, additional sessions judge Sanjay Khanagwal granted bail to Shoeb and seven other Muslim men accused by the Delhi police of being members of the recently banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and advocating, abetting and assisting unlawful activities of banned organisations—the Rehab India Foundation, All India Imams Council and the PFI. While granting bail to the eight men, Khanagwal said the Delhi police had provided no “incriminating material”, bank details or call records to support their allegations that the accused were aiding and assisting any unlawful organisation, given that they were in custody from before the ban was made public on 28 September 2022.

  • On December 29^th, the National Investigative Agency arrested Advocate Muhammed Mubarak, a lawyer practicing in the Kerala High Court, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for alleged connections to the Popular Front of India. He has been remanded in judicial custody by the Court till January 13^th.

Table 2.1: Conviction rate under UAPA (Ministry of Home Affairs)