Sensitize police that Indian Muslim is Indian: Justice Nariman

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman has said that the police force needs to be sensitized about the ‘Indianness’ of Muslims in the country. Also, shielding law enforcement agencies from political interference will help reduce communal tension and promote brotherhood. In a preface to a report on the violence in several states during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in April last year, Justice Nariman wrote,

What was the whole matter (VIDEO) “In view of the chapter on the Preamble and Fundamental Duties of the Constitution of India, there is a primary need to sensitize the police force in all the states of India to these constitutional values and fundamental duties of the citizens. This can be done by first telling them that the Muslims living in India are Indians. It is important to emphasize that Indian Muslims are not a homogeneous group of people, but are divided into sub-groups with similar cultural identities to other Indians belonging to different religious groups.

What was the whole matter Once this basic fact is implemented in the police force of all the states, things can get much better. Along with this, some way should be found to stop political interference in the work of police in all the states. All this should ensure a fresh start on the long and arduous path of achieving brotherhood, which alone ensures the dignity of every citizen of India and more importantly, the unity of our great nation.

Cannot decide complaints related to criminal or atrocious acts: Supreme Court “What is the condition of our country today after 75 years of independence?” In response to this question, Justice Nariman referred to the findings of a report titled ‘Varieties of Democracy (VIDEM) Annual Report 2023’ released by the University of Gothenburg. According to the report, in the period from 1972 to 2020, except in the years 1975 and 1976 i.e. during the Emergency, and in the years 2015 and 2020, India has been included in the group of electoral democracies.

Electoral autocracy and closed autocracy. The basis of this is how independent these countries were. Justice Nariman expressed concern that in recent years India is slipping towards the third group ie electoral autocracy. Another graph indicated a steady decline from 2012 to 2022 as far as democratic values are concerned, he added. Moreover, a decline has also been registered in the Academic Freedom Index, showing that there has been a substantial decline in the freedom to think and write over the years. In the preface, on the need to prevent ‘otherization’, Justice Rohinton wrote that first of all the police forces need to be told that Muslims are Indians, who have different faith and beliefs. Not only this, but it also needs to be pointed out that Indian Muslims are not a homogeneous group, but are divided into several sub-groups, which have cultural identities similar to those of other Indians, comprising various religious groups, he said. He gave an example- “The Muslim of Kerala is culturally similar to other Keralites, while he has little in common culturally with the Muslims of West Bengal or Punjab, or the Muslims in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Kerala Muslims, Kerala Hindus and Christians would have much in common culturally. What the report said The report by the Citizens and Lawyers Initiative, a civil society organization, concluded that communal violence occurred in at least nine states in April 2022, and incitement and low-grade violent incidents in three other states “religious processions”, Those who were evicted on the occasions of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti were furious. These processions were followed by targeted attacks on Muslim properties, businesses and places of worship. The report claimed that though this was not the first time that India witnessed mob violence under the guise of religious festivals. The report states that religious processions have been hijacked by extremist ‘Hindutva’ organizations over the years.