Kashipur Muslims facing the wrath of police following “ I love Mohammad” procession

Kashipur Muslims facing the wrath of police following “ I love Mohammad” procession

S.M.A. KAZMI

Dehradun, Sept 26

Nadimuddin, lawyer and a senior RTI activist of Kashipur town in a letter addressed to the Udham Singh District Magistrate, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, Governor, Nainital High court and National Human Rights Commission through email has demanded an end to the harassment and restoration of constitutional rights, seeking justice for the residents of Allikhan area, a predominantly Muslim majority area in Kashipur town of Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand.

Nadimuddin, has written 46 books on legal awareness and is a leading RTI activist who has been raising various issues related to general masses and governance in the state.

He charged that the area had been under siege by the police since September 21 after some Muslim youth took out a march carrying placards of “I love Mohammad”.

The Police said that the youth who were carrying out the march without permission clashed with the police and beat up a police official. When police tried to intervene and stop them, the mob turned violent and attacked the police personnel with sticks and stones. They abused the police and caused damage to government vehicles. The windows of a Dial-112 vehicle and the bonnet of another police vehicle were severely damaged. The mob tore the uniforms of the police personnel.  Cases were registered and several Muslim youths have been arrested and publicly beaten up.

Nadimuddin in his plea said that based on his independent investigation from impartial people of the area it has come to light that the beating of a police official was not linked with the “I love Mohammad” procession on the night of September 21. He charged that the media wrongly linked the beating of a police officials with the Muslim procession. He further said that people are afraid to speak the truth due to fear of police brutality and harassment.

Giving the sequence of events based on his investigation, Nadimuddin said that on the night of September 21 children some of them even minors voluntarily started a procession carrying poster of “I Love Mohammad” in the locality. Passerby and nearby residents watched the children who were participants in the procession. Soon, the Police station incharge of the area on getting the information reached the spot and persuaded the children to end the march which they did at Allikhan chowk and they dispersed.

Soon after, news of the procession, the lathi charge of the police and the beating of the jawan began to circulate on social media.

In a viral video shot near Balmiki Basti, half a km away from the march site, some youth were also seen assaulting a police official. The people of Allikhan mohalla said that their children who took “I love Mohammad” march had nothing to do with the incident near Balmiki Basti.

However, after 11pm on September 21, Alikhan and Thana Sabik area were closed by the police and virtual curfew was imposed with more than twenty thousand residents kept like prisoners in their homes and this has been going on. Since then there has been crackdown by the police in the area and based on CCTV footage, the youth involved in the “I Love Mohammad” march, the people who were passerby and even the shopkeepers and the customers present in the market at that time were picked up and taken to the police station and the police checkpoints.

Nadimuddin charged that according to the viral video on social media, they were beaten up illegally publicly. Even the near relative of the youth who were not found at their home and elders have been taken away. “Even after five days, most of them have been illegally confined and starved and not allowed to meet their family members and their lawyers,” Alleged Nadimuddin.
Blaming the people for the incident of beating up of a police official, the administration and the police targeted the entire Allikhan and Sabik area by putting barricades and setting up police check points and the shops shut down.

An undeclared curfew has been imposed from 7 pm to 7 am People are not being allowed to go out of their houses and shops. Along with this, a team of administrative officials of 10-12 people is going door-to-door to check the ration cards and install electricity smart meters.
Nadimuddin further charged that the municipal officials brought bull dozers in the area and while taking action against alleged encroachments broke the drains without any notice. The broken drains have resulted in dirty waters flowing in the area making it difficult to move. In his petition, he said that real culprits of beating up of a police official should be identified and punished as per law but there should be an end to violation of basic Human rights and fundamental rights by the police and civil administration.

It was in February 2024 that six persons were killed in police firing in Banphoolpura area and hundreds of residents were booked for rioting and arson during an attempt by civil authorities to demolish a mosque and a madrassa alleged to built on government land.

Meanwhile, a fact-finding team by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights has alleged that Muslims in Uttarakhand’s Kashipur neighbourhood are facing collective punishment after a religious procession turned violent earlier this week, with residents reporting demolitions, police intimidation and the detention of children.

The report, “Kashipur Silence: Punitive Policing and the Burden of Dissent”, says the September 21 “I Love Muhammad” procession in the Alikhan area began peacefully but ended in clashes after police allegedly harassed a group of boys who lingered at the site. Police insist the march, involving 400 to 500 people, was unauthorised and that officers were attacked and vehicles vandalised.

Seven people, including Samajwadi Party leader Nadeem Akhtar, were arrested, and police filed cases against about 500 others. Residents said the crackdown that followed was targeted only at their Muslim-majority ward.

“Bulldozers came the next morning without notice. They broke down our shops, even small vegetable stalls,” one shopkeeper said, according to the report. “We have proof of what was destroyed, but no one dares to speak openly. We are too afraid.”

The report says 20 to 25 shops and stalls were demolished, electricity meters forcibly changed, and ration cards re-verified with threats of cancellation. Families described receiving sudden house tax notices with strict deadlines.

Witnesses alleged that children as young as 10 were picked up by police, beaten in custody and sent to juvenile homes in Rudrapur. Parents told the fact-finding team their sons denied mistreatment in front of officers, but later admitted to being assaulted.

“My boy whispered to me that they beat him with sticks,” one father said. “But he begged me not to complain. He was terrified,” the report mentioned.