By TwoCircle.net Staff Reporter,
Mumbai: A number of secular Non Government Organizations (NGOs) gathered together in Azad Maidan of Mumbai under the black banner to protest against disorderly killing of an innocent Muslim techie Mohsin Sadiq Shaikh (28 years) in Hadapsar area of Pune by the activists of radical outfit Hindu Rashtra Sena. They demanded compensation of Rs. 15 lakhs for the family of killed techie along with a government job to one of the member of his family as Mohsin was the only bread winner for family, besides an immediate ban on Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS).
The protest was held by the different NGOs – DYFI-SFI-AIDWA (Democratic Youth Federation of India-Students’ Federation of India- All India Democratic Women’s Association), AISF (All India Secular Forum), Communalism Combat, Minorities Federation, Jan Sanskriti Manch and NAPM (National Alliance for People’s Movement), All India Milli council and Movement for Human Justice. The protest was attended by more than couple of hundred people including around 70 activists, journalists, academics, lawyers etc along with a strong media presence. The protestors included a diverse group of men and women- Hindus, Muslims and a few Sikhs.
Though police permission had been denied, the groups concerned went ahead with the protest, given that the right to peacefully protest is constitutionally guaranteed to every citizen. The protesters not only demanded a ban on Hindu Rashtra Sena but also insisted for instant arrest of its members who took part in the vandalism and beating of innocent people in Pune.
The idea behind the protest was to see the youth’s murder in the context of the threat that is increasingly being posed to the secular spirit of the nation. One cannot help but see the murder of the youth as a component of the larger hate propaganda of the communal forces in the country.
Dr. Azeemuddin of Movement for Human Justice said that police has so far not arrested main responsible miscreants for violence in Pune who also belong to Hindu Rashtra Sena having names – Karamveer Sambhaji and Kuldeep Parsang .
Ms. Arti Shekhar, one of the protester said, “The brutal killing of an innocent youth who was not connected with uploading of morphed images on Facebook is inhuman and condemnable issue. The government should not take the issue lightly as he was the only breadwinner for his family and justice should be delivered to his family”.
Forum for Communalism Combat strongly condemned the unprovoked killing of Muslim techie Mohsin Shaikh and said that only a year before anti superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was killed in the day time in Pune whose culprits have not been arrested till date by police and now this incident of killing of an IT professional has occurred in the same city and therefore we demand that the Pune police arrest all those who were behind such inhuman killing so that offenders do not walk scot free on the streets of Pune.
Mr. Javed Anand of DYFI said, “Mohsin was an innocent person who was not connected with the uploading of derogatory images on social networking site and hence government should compensate his family as he was the only one taking care of the family”.
Mr. M A Khalid of Milli Council said,” The killed IT professional was innocent and was unnecessarily killed by Hindu radicals for being a Muslim and hence his family must be compensated of Rs. 15 Lacs by the government and as he was the sole bread winner for his family one of the member of his family should be given government job so as to make the permanent loss suffered by the family”. He further added,” Police should be vigilant of any anti social activities in the society so that no other innocent Mohsin Shaikh loses his life and for that purpose Hindu Rashtra sena whose members have been arrested by police for killing of Mohsin Shaik must be banned from working legally”.
Mr. Haroon Mozawala of Khair Ummat Trust said that how long the minorities will suffer at the hands of fascists and that to protect such arbitrary persecution of minorities the government should take proper security arrangements.
All India Secular Forum (AISF) sent a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Raj Nath Singh, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, State HM R R Patil , Maharashtra Police DG Sanjeev Dayal and Pune police commissioner Satish Mathur. The forum demanded through investigation of innocent Mohsin Shaikh’s brutal killings at the hands of radicals belonging Hindu Rashtra Sena and also requested for strict actions on the members of Hindu Rashtra Sena.
Though it initially appeared that the police may arrest the protestors, no such thing happened and the protest was peacefully carried out. In that sense then, the protest also became a comment on the increasingly shrinking space and freedom to protest and the ways in which the State seems to be curbing the democratic ethos that India stands for.
In Pune people from Jamat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema Hind also presented a memorandum to Pradeep Deshpande, Pune DCP of special branch and have appealed for arrest of Hindu radicals behind the vandalism and violence in Pune.
Meanwhile, during the ongoing budget session of Maharashtra state assembly, the State Minority Minister Mohd Arif Nassem Khan raised the issue of Pune violence by Hindu Radicals and asked State HM R R Patil to deal strictly with members of Hindu Rashtra Sena and to propose for its ban to the central government.