Civil Liberties

Citizenship Tangle https://scroll.in/article/1071151/assam-is-putting-in-place-a-citizenship-regime-that-excludes-muslims-but-do-bengali-hindus-benefit A new government order asked border police to refer undocumented immigrants who came to India before 2015 to foreigners’ tribunals – only if they are Muslim. The contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, passed in 2019 by the Narendra Modi government, provides a fast-track to citizenship to refugees from six minority communities belonging to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Only Muslims are denied this relief. The stipulation is that they should have entered the country, even if illegally, before December 31, 2014. The act, which has been criticised as exclusionary and discriminatory against Muslims, triggered widespread protests across the country in 2019. Some of the fiercest protests were held in Assam and five were killed in the winter of 2019. Assamese nationalists feared that the law would open the door to lakhs of migrants from India’s neighbourhood, swamping the northeastern state. The protests pushed back the implementation of the law by four years – the rules were notified only in March this year. by Rokibuz Zaman 26/07/2024

Sheikh, who is popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been in jail since 2019 in an alleged case of terror funding.

https://scroll.in/article/1070204/why-baramulla-mp-engineer-rashid-has-been-in-jail-since-august-2019 

The maverick politician pulled off an upset in Baramulla, defeating National Conference leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah, even though he had contested the election from jail. Earlier this week, he was granted custody parole by a Delhi court to allow him to be sworn in.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who was previously Rashid’s lawyer, told Scroll that Rashid’s speeches that the agency is using as evidence are all of a political nature – “speeches that any politician would give” – and contain nothing that could be linked with violence or terrorist activities.

by Vineet Bhalla & Safwat Zargar

05/07/2024

This is the second time in two years that the high court has acquitted him and others of all charges. On October 14, 2022, a division bench, comprising Justice Rohit B. Deo and Anil Pansare, overturned the Gadchiroli session court’s judgment. The state immediately moved the Supreme Court, and eventually, the high court’s verdict was overturned. Justice Deo resigned soon after. The case was freshly heard on the apex court’s direction, and once again, the very same court, comprising Justice Vinay G. Joshi and Justice Valimiki S. Menezes, acquitted Saibaba and others.

https://thewire.in/rights/it-is-only-by-chance-that-i-came-out-of-prison-alive-g-n-saibaba

The trial in the lower court was handled by Nagpur-based human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling. Soon after the trial was completed in the Gadchiroli sessions court, Gadling was arrested in the Elgar Parishad case. Saibaba, on Thursday, said that his lawyer Gadling was targeted only for handling his case.

“A lawyer who has all along fought for justice, who has represented hundreds and thousands of Dalits and Adivasis from the region in court, and such a man is in jail. If justice has to be fully achieved in my case, then Gadling should be released,” he said.

by Sukanya Shantha

08/03/2024