NEW DELHI ,January 27: The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has said that India is witnessed severe rights abusesa against minorities induced by systematic hatered in India. The press conference was organised by Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), a human rights group that monitors and documents violence against religious minorities was attended by Religious leaders from Muslim, Christian and Buddhist communities and other social activists at Pink City School of Jaipur city in Indian state Rajistan.
APCR has been advocating against hate speech and hate crimes for a long time to mitigate the menace of hatred in India.In the recent past religious and other minority groups has severely suffered from persecution, discrimination and systematic marginalisation in India, the press statement said.
The press meet was an attempt to bring into limelight the deplorable state of minorities in India and to build a general solidarity among the persecuted communities deprived of their rights with the rise of Hindutva extremism.
Advocate Syed Saadat Ali, who is the president of Rajasthan chapter of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) urged justice loving citizenry of the country to come forward in support of the victims of violence in word and spirit.
He further pointed out, “We are a secular nation and every citizen has the right to profess, practice and propagate the faith or belief of his choice but some people want to rip off these rights to serve their self-interests,”
Bishop Oswald Lewis, president of the Jaipur Christian Diocese, said, “We all have lived together in India for centuries with love and brotherhood. The pinnacle of an atmosphere of hatred and divisiveness between communities is worrisome and it’s our duty to take India on the path of development through love and harmony.”
State president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Muhammad Nazimuddin stressed on the point that since the Independence, a group has been angry from the framers of constitution, including Mahatma Gandhi, who preferred India to be a secular nation and guaranteed equal rights to all its citizens.
“Though India has been facing the brunt of thousands of communal riots for decades losing precious human lives and destruction of public and private property, but recent surge in the attacks against Christians and Muslims across the country is alarming. These incidents are the by-products of the constant efforts of certain groups, enjoying the state impunity, to marginalize minorities through their systematic hate and vilification campaigns.” he said.
State president of Indian Buddhist Mahasabha, T C Rahul said, “Our country is multi-religious, non-Hindu people have been living in the country for thousands of years, but as the atmosphere of hatred has been created today, attack on any religious community is fatal for the unity and integrity of the India.”
Sawai Singh, the state President of Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA) said, “Today, some people in the garb of religion are preaching hatred, but it seems they don’t have the knowledge of religion at all. This trend is very dangerous and people from all faiths and communities must stand in unity to resist the sinister plans of these hate mongers.”
In the conference, the Hindi translations of our 2021 reports documenting violence against Christians and Muslim were also released to substantiate our claims with facts and figures. A report titled “Christians Under Attack in India”, a joint initiative of the United Christians Forum (UCF), Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and United Against Hate (UAH) which documents more than 300 incidents of violence against Christians that took place in the first nine months of year 2021.
Another report that documents the state accesses unleashed during an eviction drive in Assam’s Darrang district last year which left two people dead and around 20 injured, involved police of using excessive force against the displaced people who are from Muslim community to ensure unlawful eviction without following the due process of law.
APCR has been advocating against hate speech and hate crimes for a long time to mitigate the menace of hatred in our country. We also provide legal assistance to victims of hate-based crimes and discrimination. We firmly believe in our constitutional scheme and are working to preserve it to harness justice for all.
“Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) is a civil rights advocacy group dedicated to the protection and advancement of civil and human rights in India. It was set up in the year 2006 to defend the rights of the underprivileged and marginalised sections of society. The network of APCR is spread over the length and breadth of the country engaged in the promotion of equity and justice.