Petition to Free Liberal Activist Ms. Rehana Fatima From Jail

To The Hon. Chief Minister of Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram

Sir,

We seek your urgent assistance to bring justice to an innocent woman who has been the victim of Hindu extremism. On November 27, 2018, liberal activist Rehana Fathima was arrested and placed under police custody on a complaint filed by Hindu activists accusing her of hurting their religious sentiments. We believe this complaint is baseless, and hope it will be dismissed by the Kerala high court. However, it is a grave injustice that Rehana - who is a mother of two young children - has been in jail for weeks, even though she has not been found guilty by the court.

REHANA SHOULD HAVE OBTAINED BAIL

We believe the court did not grant bail to Rehana because the Kerala state government’s public prosecutor sided with the Hindu activists, and opposed her request for bail. We condemn this move on the part of the public prosecutor. It is an established principle that accused persons should be released on bail until a court finds them guilty, and that they should be jailed only if they might endanger others, destroy evidence, or abscond. None of these are true in the case of Rehana. She is an employee of a public sector company (BSNL), and is the mother of two young children, so there is no reason to suspect that she might abscond. On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that she will try to be at home with her two small children. There is no reason to believe that Rehana might attack others. She is a peaceful and non-violent activist who is often the victim of violent attacks from extremists, but she has never been the perpetrator of violence. It is also absurd to allege that Rehana might destroy evidence, when her trip to Sabarimala was televised by Kerala TV channels; she was given special protection by Kerala police who escorted her to the temple (from where she was turned away by violent Hindu activists); and her actions were widely followed on social media. Rehana did not operate in secrecy. What she did was in full public view, so there is no evidence for her to destroy. She was not in Sabarimala to unleash violence or attack anyone; in fact, she was the victim, and without police protection she might have been attacked, injured, and even killed by the Hindu activists. Clearly, it is a grave injustice that Rehana is in jail. We demand that she be released on bail immediately.

COMPLAINT AGAINST REHANA WAS BASELESS

The complaint against Rehana is absurd, and we request the Kerala state government’s public prosecutor to support her, instead of siding with the Hindu activists who filed the case. The complaint is that while wearing the black dress of a pilgrim to the Sabarimala temple, Rehana posed for a photo that exposed part of her thigh. This complaint is absurd for several reasons. Firstly, male devotees to Sabarimala are often scantily dressed, are frequently topless, often expose their thighs and more, and some have even been arrested for undertaking criminal activity while wearing the dress of a pilgrim. Second, naked Hindu saints are a common sight at Kumbh Mela and other pilgrim sites, and naked sculptures at Khajuraho and other Hindu sites are famous. Why should Rehana’s partially exposed thigh offend the petitioner’s religious sentiments when male devotees in similar circumstances do not? Third, we note that the complaint was filed by an organisation called Pancha Divya Desha Darshan, which seems to be a paper organisation that does not have a proper address, phone number, or a full set of office bearers.

MISUSE OF IPC SECTION 295A

According to press reports, Kerala police registered a case against Rehana under IPC section 295A, which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. Section 295A of the IPC is frequently misused by religious extremists to silence and oppress others. The vast majority of cases under 295A result in the accused being set free by the courts, and we expect that Rehana will also be set free. The only real purpose of 295A is to hold the accused in jail for a few weeks or months until the court sets them free. Anyone can claim to be outraged by what someone else says or does, and so anyone can use, misuse, and abuse 295A. A Hindu can file a case against a Muslim for saying there is no god but Allah; a Christian can file a case against a Hindu for denying that Jesus is the son of god; a Hindu can file a case against a anyone who eats meat; and all of them could file cases against atheists for not believing in god; since they could all claim that their religious sentiments have been insulted in one way or the other. Section 295A is a disgrace to a free society, and should be scrapped.

REHANA WAS MERELY FOLLOWING THE COURT’S JUDGEMENT

Rehana came to visit the Sabarimala temple peacefully in October, but she was sent back by Kerala police due to violent opposition by Hindu extremists. Rehana’s visit to Sabarimala was in accordance with the directives and statements of the Supreme Court and the Kerala state government, both of which held that women could enter the Sabarimala temple. Rehana came to Sabarimala peacefully; did not engage in violence; did not do anything unlawful; cooperated with Kerala police; was unarmed and defenceless; and faced attacks from Hindu extremists. Rehana is clearly the victim in this police complaint, and the aggressors are the same Hindu extremists who tried to attack her at Sabarimala. Instead of supporting the Hindu extremists who filed the complaint, the public prosecutor should have supported Rehana. If Rehana tried to visit the Sabarimala temple in accordance with the Supreme Court’s order, how could that hurt Hindus’ religious sentiments? If we allow Hindu extremists to get away with this argument, will it not provide an opportunity to every religious fundamentalist in India to attack others?

APPEAL TO URGENTLY RELEASE REHANA

All the above points clearly demonstrate that Rehana’s arrest and continued imprisonment has been deeply unfair and unjust. We appeal for help from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which has often been at the forefront of progressive movements in Kerala. We urge the Kerala state government to rectify the grave injustice that been inflicted on Rehana and have her immediately released on on bail. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

A group of liberal progressive thinkers from Kerala