By IANS,
New Delhi : Several activists and political leaders, including CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Sunday demanded that “the harassment and victimisation of innocent Muslims youths” by security agencies in the name of fighting terror be stopped.
In a convention on “Politics of Terror”, organised here by representatives of Left and other political parties, they asked the government to stop the arrests of “innocent Muslim youths”.
Political leaders, human rights activists, lawyers, professors and lecturers of various universities participated in the convention.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad said: “The situation is deteriorating day by day for the Muslim community.” Police is targeting Bihar’s Muslim youths, he said.
“After Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, Bihar’s Muslim youths are on the hit-list of police and central agencies,” Yadav alleged at the meet.
Districts of Bihar like Sitamarhi, Madhubani and recently Darbhanga have witnessed such arrests, he said.
Darbhanga’s native Fasih Mahmood, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative was arrested by Delhi Police on charges of a 2010 bombing incident at Jama Masjid here.
The 35-year-old engineer from Bihar, employed in Saudi Arabia, was arrested at Delhi airport Oct 22 when he arrived after his deportation from that country.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Karat said: “The agencies are misusing the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The Muslim youths are their soft target. Those youths are arrested on allegations of terror (and are) very easily booked under this law.”
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ramvilas Paswan, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and independent member of the Rajya Sabha Mohd. Adeeb also condemned the arrests of Muslim youths.
Several Muslim youths have been acquitted by the courts in the past few years after they were found innocent of terror charges, they said.