Former BBC journalist Qurban Ali moved SC over hate speech in India where calls are made for genocide and ministers touch their feet.
A public interest litigation filed in January last year by Former BBC journalist Qurban Ali and former Patna High Court judge Justice Anjana Prakash among a dozen petitions on hate speech clubbed together by the Supreme Court.
Ali is among the petitioners. Maktoob journalist Shaheen Abdulla, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, had also filed a plea over hate speech allegedly targeting the Muslim community. However, it is only Ali who has allegedly received threats via video from Yati Narsinghanand – one of the accused in the Dharm Sansad hate speech case which initiated the slew of petitions.
“Calls were made for genocide and the participants claimed several ministers touch their feet,” Qurban Ali, referring to an event by the Dharm Sansad in 2021, told
@akanksha_kumar3 on being asked what led him to move the Supreme Court over hate speech.
“Calls were made for genocide and the participants claimed several ministers touch their feet,” Qurban Ali, referring to an event by the Dharm Sansad in 2021, told @akanksha_kumar3 on being asked what led him to move the Supreme Court over hate speech.https://t.co/HV3hOwWr7k
— newslaundry (@newslaundry) January 11, 2023
Ali’s PIL particularly demands a new set of guidelines on the police role in such matters.
What Initiated This
In December 2021, the Dharm Sansad, a religious congregation, started a controversy after participants called for violence against Muslims, as per videos widely circulated on social media. Dasna priest and the event’s organizer Yati Narsinghanand was subsequently arrested.
“Calls were made for genocide and the participants here claimed that several ministers touch their feet. So, in a way, it was an open challenge to the Constitution,” Ali told Newslaundry on being asked what led him to knock on the doors of the apex court.
On Wednesday, December 28, an FIR was registered against BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur at Kote Police Station in Karnataka’s Shivamogga over her controversial speech at the southern region annual convention of Hindu Jagran Vedike.“Keep your daughters protected. Keep firearms in your homes. Keep the knives used to chop vegetables sharp, if nothing else. If our vegetables will be cut properly, the heads of our enemies will also be cut well. I’m not sure when or what situation will come up. Everyone has the right to self-defense. We have the right to respond appropriately if someone breaks into our home and attacks us,” Thakur said.
Raising unease about the alleged lack of action by the government, Ali said, “Attempts were repeatedly made to label our allegations as false. This is nothing but an attempt to wage a civil war in the country. Though we did manage to halt a similar event from taking place in the state of Himachal Pradesh.”
However, the legal fight also brought with it a fresh set of challenges; among them, an alleged threat. But that’s not all. Even the respective state governments have slammed the petitioners while they were asked to file responses in the form of affidavits. Uttarakhand’s DGP has even questioned the locus stand of the petitioners, claiming that this amounts to an “abuse of legal process”.
Asked whether the petition is directed at only BJP-governed states, Ali said, “This is nothing but a figment of imagination. We, in fact, are saying that irrespective of the party whose government is in power, action should be taken against those trying to vitiate the atmosphere.”
The PIL seeks new guidelines. However, in July 2018, the Supreme Court had come up with a set of suggestions – known as the ‘Tehseen Poonawalla Guidelines’ – that talked about the need for district-level nodal officers to avert incidents of mob violence.
“We are not asking for a new law, we are saying law enforcement agencies should try and preempt such gatherings”
“We are not asking for a new law, all we are saying is that the law enforcement agencies should try and preempt such gatherings. There shouldn’t be any excuse why action can’t be taken when such a crime like hate speech is happening in broad daylight,” Ali said.
