By TCN News
Boston: Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has criticized the UP State Government for merely accepting the Nimesh Commission Report and deferring the “Action Taken Report” until the monsoon session of the state assembly. There is mounting evidence that Mujahid’s death was a case of custodial killing, including pictures and video footage of the dead body that show that the deceased was subjected to brutal violence before his death.
“Accepting the Commission’s report without releasing an ‘Action Taken Report,’ is a case of too little too late. The government needs to take prompt action on the Commission’s recommendations,” said Mr. Ahsan Khan, President of IAMC. “This case is representative of the growing menace of impunity with which law enforcement across multiple states illegally detain, torture and frame Muslim youth in some cases using planted evidence, destroying entire families in the process,” added Mr. Khan.
IAMC had initiated a nationwide campaign to petition the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, as well as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, calling for decisive action that would expose and punish those responsible for this wrongful death. IAMC has also launched an online petition to this effect.
Noting the efforts of Rihai Manch and the individuals struggling for justice in this case, Mr. Khan said, “They deserve our gratitude for their perseverance in forcing the state to acknowledge the misdeeds of its law enforcement machinery.”
The Nimesh Commission Report was instituted to investigate the arrest of Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid on terror charges in 2007. The report had been submitted by Justice R. D. Nimesh on August 31, 2012 but accepted only now, while organizations struggling to secure justice for the late Khalid Mujahid are demanding action on the report’s recommendations
As expected, the Commission’s report has established claims by family members of Qasmi and Mujahid that both were arrested well before the date given by the police, and kept in illegal custody. Moreover, the report has recommended prosecution of police personnel involved in arresting the duo, a step that is yet to be taken by the state government [2].
IAMC calls on the state government to act on the recommendations of the Nimesh Commission and facilitate an independent probe by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) into the issue of illegal detentions and custodial torture.
Indian American Muslim Council is the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with 13 chapters across the nation.
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