“Cannot Be Any Compromise On Hate Speech At All”: Supreme Court

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 6, 2023 | top-stories

Supreme Court said primary duty of the State to protect its citizens from any such hate crimes.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday observed that there is a growing consensus around hate speech and stressed there is no scope for hate crimes on the basis of religion in a secular country such as India.

“There cannot be any compromise on hate speech at all,” the top court said and added that it is only if the State acknowledges the problem of hate speech that a solution can be found.

It also said that it is the primary duty of the State to protect its citizens from any such hate crimes.

A bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, “When action is not taken against hate crimes then an atmosphere is fostered which is very dangerous and it has to be rooted out from our lives. There cannot be any compromise on hate speech at all.”

The top court was hearing a plea of a Muslim man who has alleged that he was assaulted and abused in the name of religion on July 4, 2021, by a “screwdriver gang” of criminals as he had boarded a car to go to Aligarh from Noida, and that the police has not bothered to register any complaint of hate crime.

The bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, that, “Nowadays there is a growing consensus around hate speech. There is no scope for hate crimes in the name of religion in a secular country like India. It has to be rooted out and it is the primary duty of the state to protect its citizens from any such crimes.”

“If a person comes to the police and says that I was wearing a cap and my beard was pulled and abused in the name of religion and still no complaint is registered, then it is a problem,” it said.

Justice Joseph said action of every state officer augments respect for the law. Otherwise, everyone will take the law into their own hands, he said.

The bench, which sat till 6 pm hearing the matter, said, “Will you not acknowledge that there is a hate crime and you will sweep it under the carpet? We are not saying anything adverse. We are only expressing our anguish. That is all.”

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner Kazeem Ahmad Sherwani, said it was on January 13 that this court had asked the state government to produce the case diary that police had registered the FIR after two years and that too with all bailable offences barring one.

KM Nataraj conceded that there were lapses on part of police officials and said that a special investigation team has been constituted headed by an ACP-rank officer and disciplinary action has been taken against erring police officials.

The bench said, “You set an example and let such people face consequences for dereliction of duty. It is only when you take action against such incidents that we will come at par with developed nations. Yes, there has been clear lapse and there is nothing wrong in admitting a mistake”.

KM Nataraj said that on July 4, 2021, when the alleged incident had taken place, the victim had gone to a police outpost in Sector 37 in Noida where no senior police official but constables were present. Hence, no complaint was registered, he said.

“Then he went to the hospital in Jamia Nagar and gave a statement to the Delhi Police that he was robbed, assaulted and suffered injuries. No where he said that it was a case of hate crime or was assaulted because he was Muslim,” KM Nataraj said.

Justice Nagarathna said, “At any point of time the victim cannot be met with disparaging remarks. Victim should not make it look as if he is a perpetrator of crime”. Justice Joseph said be in minority or majority, certain rights are inherent in human beings.”

“You are born into a family and raised in one. We have no choice on our religion, but we stand out as a nation. That’s the beauty, the greatness of our nation. We have to understand this,” he told KM Nataraj.

Justice Joseph referring to a recent incident in Rajasthan said a mute person was attacked but it was later found that the victim was Hindu. “If you ignore this (hate crime), then one day it will come for you,” he said, adding that there is no doubt that some people have a communal attitude.

The ASG said that eight FIRs have been registered against the gang members and action has been taken against them.

The bench then asked when the first FIR was registered against the gang members and how many people were arrested and were they the same people, who attacked the victim and when were they bailed out.

KM Nataraj said he will file an affidavit giving details of all the FIRs but pointed out that the first FIR was registered in June 2021 against the “screwdriver gang” members and they have not discriminated in attacking Muslims or Hindus.

Advocate Ahmadi said it took two years to acknowledge that there was a criminal incident and in two affidavits filed by the Uttar Pradesh government, police have said that there was no hate crime.

“On July 5, 2021, a police patrol had come to my house and asked not to press for hate crime angle”, he said, adding that the victim’s beard was pulled and stripped and made fun of for being circumcised in a car.

The bench said that it cannot issue a pan-India direction on the victim’s petition under Article 32, as it may not be a case symptomatic of what is happening across the country or otherwise it will flood the courts.

KM Nataraj said police has not denied that there was not a criminal incident but no where it was found that it was a hate crime and the victim has tried to take advantage of media hype and changed its statements.

The bench asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a detailed affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on March 3. On October 21 last year, the top court had asked Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi to crack down hard on those making hate speeches, observing, “where have we reached in the name of religion, what have we reduced religion to is tragic”.

Holding that the Constitution of India envisages a secular nation, the court had directed the three states to promptly register criminal cases against the offenders without waiting for a complaint to be filed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Watch: Mercedes Owner Throws Cash On The Ground At Petrol Station, Female Attendant Breaks Down

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 5, 2023 | top-stories

The clip shows a luxury car owner throwing money out of the window

People often let a false sense of pride get the best of them without realizing that such behaviour can be hurtful to others. Recently, a car owner’s disrespectful behaviour towards a gas station employee in China left the internet fuming. The video shared on Reddit shows a luxury car owner throwing money out of the window after refueling at a gas station, leaving the staff in tears.

The video was shared with a caption that reads, ”Throwing money on the ground for gas station worker.”

Watch the video here:

In the 50-second undated clip, a black Mercedes car can be seen entering a gas station for refueling. The female attendant can be seen promptly filling the petrol in the car, following which she proceeds to ask the owner for payment. Instead of respectfully handing her the money, the owner goes on to throw a few notes on the ground. Though she picks up the notes after the car leaves the station, she breaks down in tears, as she felt humiliated. At the end of the video, she can be seen wiping her tears.

Internet users who watched the clip were angered by the video and criticized the car owner for his rude behaviour. Some also urged the authorities to ban the entry of the car at all gas stations.

One user reacted to the incident and wrote, ” This is so disheartening. Seeing her wipe away her tears….how do people live with themselves treating someone this way?” Another commented, ” It shows people’s real character when you see how they treat those less fortunate than themselves.”

A third added, ”Why? Why do people need to be mean? There’s NO REASON! It costs NOTHING to be nice!” Another wrote, ” I believe karma does catch up to people like this…..who knows what this lady is going through. I want to give her a hug, this hurts.” A fifth wrote, ” I believe karma does catch up to people like this…..who knows what this lady is going through. I want to give her a hug, this hurts.”

According to local media, the motorist said he did not mean to throw the banknotes on the ground but was in a hurry at the time of the incident. However, people were not convinced by the explanation.

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Pakistan’s Former President Pervez Musharraf Dies After Prolonged Illness

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 5, 2023 | top-stories

New Delhi:

After a long bout of serious illness, former Pakistan President and chief of Army staff Pervez Musharraf died today at the American Hospital in UAE’s Dubai after spending years in self-imposed exile. He was 79.

There’s no official communication if his body will be brought back to Pakistan, though his family has been trying to bring him back home since last year.

Mr Musharraf’s organs were malfunctioning because of an ailment called amyloidosis. This disease affects connective tissues and organs, inhibiting normal functioning. It’s a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body.

Facing charges back home for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, Mr Musharraf has been living in Dubai for the last eight years. He had earlier expressed his desire to spend the “rest of his life” in his home country, and wanted to return to Pakistan as soon as possible.

The former President was the tenth president of Pakistan after a successful bloodless military coup in 1999. He served as the 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan (CJCSC) from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th top general from 1998 to 2007.

He was known as the architect of the Kargil war, the man who ordered his soldiers to enter India to cut off Leh from Srinagar.

In the war that followed in the summer of 1999, Pakistani soldiers, whose presence he denied, were decimated in the high mountains of Kargil. It was a catastrophic military failure for Mr Musharraf, who had pushed forward with the plan, keeping his Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif mostly in the dark.

Almost unbelievably, two years after Kargil, Mr Musharraf emerged stronger than ever.

Nawaz Sharif, who tried to prevent Mr Musharraf from returning to the country while he was on an official tour of Sri Lanka, was arrested, jailed, and subsequently sent to exile.

With the support of his Army, and in a bloodless coup, Mr Musharraf appointed himself President of Pakistan in 1999.

Pakistan’s start-and-stop democratic process would grind to a halt for the next 7 years.

It was as President that Pervez Musharraf came to India in July 2001.

Born in New Delhi in 1943, Mr Musharraf was four years old when his parents joined the mass exodus by Muslims to the newly-created Pakistan. His father served in the foreign ministry, while his mother was a teacher and the family subscribed to a moderate, tolerant brand of Islam.

He joined the army at the age of 18, and went on to lead an elite commando unit before rising to become its chief. He took power by ousting the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who had tried to sack him for green lighting an operation to invade Kashmir, bringing Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

On March 9, 2007, Mr Musharraf unconstitutionally suspended Pakistan’s then Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, triggering massive political protests that weakened the military ruler.

Following elections the next year, he was pressured by political parties to quit as President in August 2008. In November that year, after the 26/11 attack, India-Pakistan ties deteriorated.

The General was later arrested on charges related to the arrest of judges.

Under house arrest, Mr Musharraf faced a deluge of cases, and was accused of subverting the constitution. He was initially prevented from leaving Pakistan, but in March 2016, his name was removed from the exit control list, and he was allowed to travel to Dubai.

In December 2019, a special court in Pakistani sentenced General Pervez Musharraf in absentia to death for suspending Pakistan’s constitution in 2007, a symbolic order since Dubai does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.

Mr Musharraf challenged the order and in January 2020, the Lahore High Court annulled the death sentence and held the earlier trial to be unconstitutional.

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Amid Assam Child Marriage Crackdown, A Suicide And Protests

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 4, 2023 | top-stories

Relatives of men arrested for alleged child marriage outside Mayong police station in Morigaon

Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the clampdown against child marriage in the state will continue. Over 2,000 people have been arrested in the massive crackdown on child marriages in Assam.

A woman allegedly died by suicide over fears her father would be arrested as she was married off when she was a minor. Another woman came to a police station and threatened to die by suicide unless her husband and father, who were arrested yesterday, were released.

In Dhubri district’s Tamarhat, hundreds of women surrounded a police station and blocked the highway in protest against the arrested of a man on charges of child marriage.

The massive police crackdown against child marriage continued today in Assam with 2,258 arrested in 4,074 cases across the state. Mr Sarma said the crackdown on child marriage will continue and if needed, will go on till the 2026 Assam assembly polls.

Mr Sarma’s statement comes at a time when hundreds of protested in front of a police station in Assam’s Dhubri district against the arrest of people whom they claimed as “innocent”.

The woman who died by suicide was from Assam’s South-Salamara Mancachar district. She was a mother of two children and her husband died of COVID-19.

In the second incident, a 23-year-old woman came to Golakganj police station and threatened to die by suicide if her husband and father were not released.

“The crackdown against child marriage will continue till the next assembly polls. Strict action will be taken against those involved in child marriage,” Mr Sarma told reporters.

“The sections are different. For below 14 years, section will be non-bailable and above 14 years section will be bailable. We have tracked down 8,100 people involved in child marriage cases. After arrests, awareness will be created against this social menace,” Mr Sarma said.

“Before the 2026 assembly polls, the crackdown against child marriage will continue and in Assam no child marriage will take place. Long term steps will be taken to control the Kazi,” Mr Sarma said.

The highest arrests were in Biswanath, Dhubri, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Hojai.

Tension prevailed at Tamarhat police station in Dhubri over the detention of a man on charges of child marriage. Hundreds of women blocked the police station and highways.

The police had arrested Muktar Hussain from Tamarhat yesterday on charges of giving marriage certificates to minors.

Hundreds of women from his family and others in the village protested saying he was only a tailor and not linked with any Kazi.

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3-Month-Old Baby Poked 51 Times With Hot Rod To Treat Pneumonia, Dies

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 3, 2023 | top-stories

In tribal-dominated areas of Madhya Pradesh, the act of poking hot rods is turning fatal.

Shahdol:

In a shocker from Madhya Pradesh, a three-month-old girl suffering from pneumonia was poked 51 times on the stomach with a hot iron rod as part of “treatment” by a quack. The child, who had breathing difficulties, died 15 days later at a hospital.

The incident took place in a tribal-dominated area in Shahdol district.

Officials said her body, which was buried, will be taken out for postmortem, which will take place on Saturday.

“When the women and child development officials reached the hospital, they found that the shocking case of blind faith took place 15 days ago and the child was not treated for pneumonia which deteriorated her condition”, Shahdol Collector Vandana Vaidh said.

“A local Anganwadi worker counselled her mother and requested her not to poke the child with a hot rod,” Ms Vaidh added.

In many tribal-dominated areas of Madhya Pradesh, the practice of poking with a hot iron rod to “treat” pneumonia is common.

Dr Vikrant Bhuria, doctor and President of Youth Congress, said, “Being poked with bars can lead to death, it’s a way to subside the pain, but the problem is that the infection can supersede which can result in death.”

“Such practices are still prevalent and I request the Chief Medical Officer of the area to register a complaint and take strict action,” BJP spokesperson Dr Hitesh Vajpayee said.

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US Says Considered Shooting Down China Spy Balloon As Biden Sought Options

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 3, 2023 | top-stories

The official said the balloon flew over the US northwest.

Washington:

The Pentagon said Thursday it was tracking a Chinese spy balloon flying high over the United States, reviving tensions between the two countries just days ahead of a rare visit to Beijing by the top US diplomat.

At President Joe Biden’s request, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and top military officials considered shooting the balloon down but decided doing so would endanger too many people on the ground, a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.

“Clearly, the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

The official added that the balloon had flown over the northwest United States, where there are sensitive airbases and strategic nuclear missiles in underground silos, but that the Pentagon did not believe it constituted a particularly dangerous intelligence threat.

“We assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective,” the official said.

The discovery of the aircraft comes just days before an expected visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with managing heightened tensions between the two powers at the top of the agenda.

Blinken’s visit to Beijing, which follows a meeting last November between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit, will be the first trip to the Asian country by the United States’ top diplomat since 2018.

In addition to ongoing disputes over trade and intellectual property, relations between the two countries have frayed particularly over democratically-governed Taiwan, which China has pledged to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The United States has been selling arms to Taiwan to defend itself, and Biden has said Washington would help protect Taiwan if China attacked.

The defense official said that the balloon entered US airspace “a couple days ago,” but that American intelligence had been tracking it well before that.

Austin, who was in the Philippines, held discussions Wednesday with top Pentagon officials after Biden asked about options for dealing with the balloon.

Fighter jets were flown to examine it while it was above Montana as discussions took place.

‘Seriousness’ of issue

But the Pentagon decision was “not to take kinetic action due to the risk to safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field,” the official said.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder confirmed the balloon was still being tracked over US airspace.

“The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic. It does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Ryder said in a statement.

China has sent surveillance balloons over the United States in the past.

However, this one has lingered in US airspace much longer, the senior defense official said.

“We are taking steps nevertheless to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information,” the official said.

Austin was in the Philippines this week to strengthen US defense cooperation, including gaining wider access for Pentagon forces at Philippine military bases, in a move that highlights the US view of China as a threat to East Asia.

The defense official said the “the seriousness of the issue” with the balloon had been raised with Beijing officials.

“We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people in our own land.”

Tensions over Taiwan reached a furor last year when Nancy Pelosi, then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, chose to visit the island.

After Republicans gained control of the chamber in January, questions have been raised over whether her successor will make a similar trip.

“China’s brazen disregard for US sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed, and President Biden cannot be silent,” current Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Thursday evening.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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