By TCN Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Taking strong note of the hateful and highly provoking article of Subramanian Swamy, President of Janata Party, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has written to Election Commission of India (ECI) urging it to deregister Swamy’s Janata Party.
Swamy’s article titled “Analysis: How to wipe out Islamic terror” was published in the DNA newspaper on 16th July 2011, three days after the heinous serial Mumbai bombings. The article was then prominently posted on the website of the Janata Party, making it evident that the views therein are the views currently held by the Party and its President. “Articles similar to the offending article have also figured prominently on the Janata Party website. Hence, this Commission will petition you to cancel the registration of the Janata Party,” NCM chief Wajahat Habibullah wrote in his letter to ECI dated 30th July.
Subramanian Swamy
In support of his request, NCM chief highlighted the offending parts of the article of Swamy which constitute a criminal offence. Some of the offending parts of the article are as as follows:
“Hindus cannot accept to be killed in this halal fashion, continuously bleeding every day till the national finally collapses…
Muslims of India are being programmed by a slow reactive process to become radical and thus slide into suicide against Hindus…
That they do I will not believe unless they acknowledge with pride that though they may be Muslims, their ancestors were Hindus. If any Muslim acknowledges his or her Hindu legacy, then we Hindus can accept him or her as a part of the Brihad Hindu Samaj (greater Hindu Society) which is Hindustan. India that is Bharat that is Hindustan is a nation of Hindus and others whose ancestors were Hindus. Others, who refuse to acknowledge this, or those foreigners who become Indian citizen by registration, can remain in India but should not have voting rights (which means they cannot be elected representatives)…
Strategy: Remove the masjid in Kashi Vishwanath temple and the 300 masjids at other temple sites…
Declare India a Hindu Rashtra in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus…
Annex land from Bangladesh in proportion to the illegal migrants from that country staying in India…”
The minority commission came into action after the strong written protest lodged by young law graduate Shehzad Poonawalla.
“The Commission has received a complaint dated 29.7.2011 from Shehzad Poonawalla, regarding the commission of a criminal offence. At Annexure A hereto is a copy of the said complaint. After perusing this complaint and the article written by Shri Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party, in the DNA Newspaper, (as downloaded from the websites of the Janata Party and the DNA) on 16.7.11, the National Commission for Minorities is of the view that the said article amounts to the commission of a criminal offence. Accordingly, the Commission, after looking into the complaint, has decided to take up this issue by making this complaint to you,” reads the NCM letter to ECI.
Full Text of the NCM letter to ECI
30th July 2011
Sub: Request for deregistration of Janata Party as a political party
Reference: Article titled “Analysis: How to wipe out Islamic terror” written by Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party, published in the DNA Newspaper on 16.07.2011
1. I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, Government of India, established in accordance with the provisions of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
2. The Commission has received a complaint dated 29.7.2011 from Shehzad Poonawalla, regarding the commission of a criminal offence. At Annexure A hereto is a copy of the said complaint. After perusing this complaint and the article written by Shri Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party, in the DNA Newspaper, (as downloaded from the websites of the Janata Party and the DNA) on 16.7.11, the National Commission for Minorities is of the view that the said article amounts to the commission of a criminal offence. Accordingly, the Commission, after looking into the complaint, has decided to take up this issue by making this complaint to you.
3. This article figures prominently on the website of the Janata Party and is available at http://janataparty.org/articledetail.asp?rowid=30. It can be viewed by people throughout the country. It was downloaded from the Janata Party website. Most important, it therefore follows that the views therein are the views currently held by the Party and its President. Articles similar to the offending article have also figured prominently on the Janata Party website. Hence, this Commission will petition you to cancel the registration of the Janata Party.
4. The offending parts of the article abovementioned which constitute a criminal offence are, inter alia, as follows:
“Hindus cannot accept to be killed in this halal fashion, continuously bleeding every day till the national finally collapses…
Muslims of India are being programmed by a slow reactive process to become radical and thus slide into suicide against Hindus…
That they do I will not believe unless they acknowledge with pride that though they may be Muslims, their ancestors were Hindus. If any Muslim acknowledges his or her Hindu legacy, then we Hindus can accept him or her as a part of the Brihad Hindu Samaj (greater Hindu Society) which is Hindustan. India that is Bharat that is Hindustan is a nation of Hindus and others whose ancestors were Hindus. Others, who refuse to acknowledge this, or those foreigners who become Indian citizen by registration, can remain in India but should not have voting rights (which means they cannot be elected representatives)…
Strategy: Remove the masjid in Kashi Vishwanath temple and the 300 masjids at other temple sites…
Declare India a Hindu Rashtra in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus…
Annex land from Bangladesh in proportion to the illegal migrants from that country staying in India…
Goal 5: Denigrate Hinduism through vulgar writings and preaching in mosques and churches to create loss of self respect amongst Hindus and to make them fit for capitulation.”
5. This article promotes or attempts to promote, on the ground of religion, disharmony and feelings of enmity, hatred, and ill-will between Hindus and the minorities. It promotes hatred against Muslims which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between Hindus and Muslims and it is likely to disturb public tranquility. The article imputes that Muslims cannot, by reason of their being Muslims, bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India or uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India. The article asserts and propagates that Muslims, by reason of their being Muslims, should be denied and deprived of their rights as citizens of India to vote. According to the article, all minorities must be told to acknowledge their Hindu ancestry failing which they should be denied voting rights. The article asserts and pleads that all Muslims are under an obligation to acknowledge their Hindu ancestry and this causes and is further likely to cause disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between Muslims and Hindus. The article and its publication is a deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage the religious feelings of Muslims and deliberately and maliciously distorts history and facts to insult the Muslim religion and the beliefs of the Muslims. The article was written and published with the intent to cause fear and alarm to the public in general and Muslims in particular because it seeks to induce sections of the public to remove 300 masjids and deprive Muslims of their right to vote. The article and its publication were intended to incite persons to commit offences against the state and against public tranquility. The article and its publication was intended to incite Hindus to commit offences against Muslims by removing their masjids and denying Muslims the right to vote and further promotes international odium by calling on the public to promote hostilities against Bangladesh for the annexation of land.
6. Poonawalla is therefore right when he says:
“The term “Halal” is closely associated with Muslim culture and has an unmistakable reference point to Muslims given that “Halal”, in common everyday parlance and ordinary usage, involves a short recital of “kalma” and a religiously mandated procedure to slaughter any meat meant for consumption as food. To use the term “Halal”, which has a level of sanctity and religious attachment for Muslims, in an insulting manner to hurt religious sentiments deliberately and maliciously as has been done by the accused and to insinuate that Islam as a faith is predisposed to violence, is a violation of section 295(A) of IPC 1860”
7. The article and its publication also promotes disharmony and ill-will among Hindus inasmuch as the majority of Hindus who do not agree with the mindset of Subramanian Swamy have been stigmatized and denigrated in the article as if they are not true Hindus. Almost all Hindus ascribe to the constitutional mandate of India as a secular nation and do not believe that in order to be a true Hindu one must ascribe to the notion of India as a “nation of Hindus”. The statements abovementioned were deliberately and maliciously made with the intention of outraging the religious feelings of the majority of Hindus and insulted the religious beliefs of Hindus who believe that Hinduism is a compassionate, flexible and peace loving religion and that Hindus coexist with other religious communities in a secular state governed by a secular constitution. This community of persons – secular Hindus in India – have had their religious feelings outraged by the incitement, in the article to Hindus to remove 300 masjids, annex the lands of the Bangladesh and deny Muslims the right to vote.
8. The article and its publication also promotes disharmony and ill-will between Hindus and Christians inasmuch as Goal 5 abovementioned has insulted the religious beliefs of Muslims and Christians by falsely stating that mosques and churches denigrate Hinduism by promoting vulgar writings and preaching’s.
9. The recent events in Norway where a person with fundamentalist views mercilessly killed innocent civilians and was unrepentant shows how important it is for democracies to take hate speech crimes that incite people to violence against communities very seriously and to stamp it out with all the power available in the legal system.
10. This complaint is being made to you to have the registration of the Janata Party granted under section 29 A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 cancelled.
11. 29 A of the Act allows for registration of political parties. Sub section 5 lays down certain requirements for the Memorandum or Rules and Regulations of the political party in the following terms:
“such memorandum or rules and regulations shall contain a specific provision that the association or body shall bear faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy, and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.
12. The requirement of law is that a political party while obtaining registration or to continue to maintain its registration is required to abide by the principle of secularism and bear faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India. The article of Subramanian Swamy abovementioned clearly shows that he and his Party does not abide by secularism as set out in the judgments of the Supreme Court , that the Party stands for “Hindu Rashtra”, that the Party has a pronounced anti Muslim stand which is hostile to secularism and therefore, since the stand of the Party is contrary to the Constitution of India and actively opposed to constitutional provisions, the Janata Party has lost the right to continue to enjoy registration under the Act and must be deregistered by the Election Commission of India.
13. In conclusion I draw to your attention to the definitive ruling of the 9-Judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai Vs. UOI (1994 3 SCC 1), wherein the Court declared that “secularism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The relevant provisions of the Constitution by implication prohibit the establishment of a theocratic State…”.
Sincerely
(Wajahat Habibullah)
Shri SY Qureshi
Chief Election Commissioner of India
Nirvachan Bhavan
New Delhi.
Copy to Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister, Minority Affairs, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, New Delhi for information
(Wajahat Habibullah)
[Photo courtesy: newsreporter.in]