New Delhi, January 27, 2022 (PPI-OT): New Delhi-based the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has said that India is witnessing severe rights abuses against minorities induced by systematic hatred in the country.
The APCR said this during a press conference, which 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 Rajasthan.
The APCR representatives during the press conference said, religious and other minority groups are suffering persecution, discrimination and systematic marginalisation in India.
The press conference was an attempt to bring into limelight the deplorable state of minorities in India.
Advocate Syed Saadat Ali, who is the president of Rajasthan chapter of the Association urged justice loving citizenry of the country to come forward in support of the victims of violence in word and spirit.
He further said, “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. “The pinnacle of an atmosphere of hatred and divisiveness between communities is worrisome.”
State president of Jamaat-e-Islami India Muhammad Nazimuddin stressed 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 APCR 2021 reports documenting violence against Christians and Muslim were also released to substantiate 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.
“Set up in 2006 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.
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