Custodial Death is a Form of Violence by Government: JIH - Radiance Viewsweekly

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, during a press conference at its headquarters on 1 June, expressed concern over a chain of custodial deaths of innocent Muslims and strongly condemned any kind of violence committed either from police, people or the government. The Jamaat holds that the government should look into the threat perception either by Naxalism or terrorism judiciously and must not adopt double standard in tackling the issue. Instead of cosmetic operation, the root cause must be found out and addressed accordingly by the government in an unbiased manner. 

Engineer Mohammad Saleem, Secretary JIH, addressing media persons, said that not only the police personnel are to be blamed in the brutal murder of Khalid Mujahid while being escorted from Faizabad court but the government is also responsible directly or indirectly for the killing. To him the basic question is who is responsible in the murder of Khalid Mujahid and what is required to be done so that it is not repeated again and again.

In the recent attack by Naxals on a Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh that killed dozens of politicians he said that there is a possibility of political rivalry and some kind of nexus between some political leaders and Naxals cannot be ruled out. He emphasised that violence in any form either by people or by police or by the government must be condemned in strongest possible words and Jamaat is against any kind of violence. Jamaat is likely to meet Union Home Minister on the issue of custodial killings.

The Jamaat is of the view that custodial killings of either Qateel Siddiqui or recently of Khalid Mujahid who was to be released soon are looked upon as a conspiracy by the police or by the respective state governments to shield police officers responsible for their arrest on false charges or on concocted evidence. The possibility of some kind of understanding between police officials and the government cannot be ruled out.

The Jamaat has welcomed the refusal of compensation by the family of Khalid Mujahid offered by the government and demanded action against police officers responsible for his death.

According to the findings of Asian Human Rights Watch in the last 10 years there have been 14000 custodial deaths, of which 1500 were killed in police custody and 12700 in judicial custody. Approximately, there are 1000 Muslim youths languishing in various jails across India. What is also of equal concern as compared to terrorism is Naxalism and out of 640 districts, 83 districts are Naxals dominated districts and the Naxals are trying to spread to 231 districts. As per media reports, the Naxals have claimed to overthrow and get hold of the country by 2050? When will the government rise up to recognise the real threat perception instead of drumbeating on terrorism?

The Jamaat has demanded a high level probe into the Chhattisgarh attack so that the real culprit could be exposed and brought to book. It has also asked the tribal people to shun violence because violence in no way can solve the problem, rather it will aggravate it further.