STOP persecution of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, India
STOP persecution of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, India
Why this petition matters
In the last 8 years since the Hindu right wing party; BJP, formed the Government in the center, Muslims in India have been targeted and harassed with impunity. The government and the state-sponsored media machinery have done everything in their power to promote malicious propaganda against Muslims, creating a hostile public opinion and an over-all anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. All this is done with an ill-intention of keeping public attention distracted from the real issues related to hunger, unemployment, lack of healthcare and other essential public services in the country.
In 2019, the government of India passed an amendment to Citizenship Act (CAA). The CAA fast-tracks citizenship of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before 2015. However, it excludes Muslims, a move that has been denounced for undermining India's secular constitution. And, when combined with the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), it puts millions of Indian Muslims at risk of legal nightmares, if required to prove their citizenship.
Since the election of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister in 2017, the persecution of Muslims in UP has been more blatant than in any other part of India. Before his selection for the chief minister's post, Yogi had many cases against him for anti-Muslim provocative, hate-speeches. He ordered to arrest, prosecute and seize properties of Muslim protestors during anti-CAA protests in 2019. Posters were put out with the names and faces of protestors to humiliate them; fines were slapped on alleged protestors for destroying public property. Later on, the Supreme Court of India slammed the Yogi government for illegal actions and directed it to return the money taken from the protestors.
After the recent derogatory comments on the Prophet Muhammad by the BJP spokesperson, the Indian Government faced strong backlash from the international community, prompting the Government to suspend/expel 2 spokespersons. Protests were carried out in many places across India on June 9th. In few places protests turned violent, leading to killing of 2 Muslim youths in the police open firing in Ranchi, Bihar.
In UP, across many cities, police have arrested more than 200 people for participating in protests. There are videos of police mercilessly beating, the arrested Muslim men. On June 12th, the family house of a student activist, Afreen Fatima and her father Mohammed Javed, was demolished in broad daylight by the civic authorities of Prayagraj (Allahabad). Their crime? They are "suspected" to have instigated violence during the protests. No crime is proven, but a harsh punishment is already inflicted.
Through this petition, I am urging the UP government to STOP discrimination based on religion in Uttar Pradesh. Stop targeting and maligning Muslims for political gains; treat all citizens with respect and humanity, and work for their welfare.
Media links:
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/06/12/asia/india-demolish-houses-islam-remarks-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-61777306.amp