Indian Supreme Court: Discrimination with Minorities
By Zaheerul Hassan
On 12 April 2013, India’s Supreme Court orders the execution of a Devender Pal Singh Bhullar liberator and rejected his mercy appeal. The verdict of court will lead to more death sentences being carried out. Devender Singh is from northwestern Punjab and, who was convicted over a car bombing in New Delhi in 1993, had appealed for his sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment on the grounds that he had spent two decades on death row. He was an active hardcore member of Khalistan movement and always opposed congress government’s policies against minorities. He used to openly criticize Indian armed forces operation against Golden Temple. Notably, over 20000 innocent Sikhs have been gun downed in Operation “Blue Star” which was conducted against Sikhs on 5th June 1984 by Indian Army. Anyhow Devender Singh challenged the right of the state to execute mentally ill convicts, claiming he had developed psychological problems while languishing in prison, including schizophrenia. But Supreme Court Bench out rightly rejected his appeal without considering mental sickness of the petitioner.
The ruling will also be followed by the apex courts in the cases of other prisoners whose executions have also been held up for decades, including three men convicted over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
However, it is not the matter of criticizing Indian Supreme Court due to her current decision against one of the liberator of Sikh Movement. In fact, it is being apparently felt that the court is probably having bias approach towards, Christians, Muslims and Sikhs. Death sentences to Davender Singh, Ajamal Kissab, and young Kashmiri Afzal Guru are illustration of unjust decisions of the Indian courts. Moreover, not punishing RAW’s terrorist Col Prohit for bombing Pakistani passengers of Samjhauta Express, burning 730 houses and 95 churches including killing women and children of Christian community of Orissa in 2007 and responsible of launching “Operation Blue Star are some of the conspicuous examples of discriminatory behavior of Indian courts towards the minorities.
Indian courts have also been failed to provide justice to the Maoists and Kismiris. Nonetheless, more than 400 locals are on death row in India and waiting for the finality of the judgment but the Though, Supreme Court of India maintained Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s punishment and ordered to send him jail but the main focus of verdicts of the court was to allege Pakistani supreme intelligence agency “ISI” in Mumbai bomb blast on 12 March 1993. In this connection, the apex court said that conspiracy to target India’s financial capital was hatched by Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memom and it was executed with the help of Pakistani authorities.
Anyhow, the Hindutva mindset is prevailing all over India particularly in ruling political elite, establishment and armed forces. In this context, top Bollywood Muslim star Shahrukh said “I sometimes become the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India.” Salman Khan has also been convicted for 1 year and 5 years for poaching of two Chinkaras at Bhawad and one Black Buck at Ghoda Farm (Mathania) in the intervening nigh of 26-27 September, 1998 and 28-29 September, 1998 respectively.
In 2008 prominent Indian actress, Member of Parliament and renowned social activist Shabana Azmi in an interview with local TV, Azmi said with a tinge of bitterness: ‘I cannot get a house in Mumbai. I wanted to buy a flat in Mumbai and it wasn’t given to me because I was a Muslim and I read the same about Saif Ali Khan.’
Notably, Sanajay Dutt is a son of film actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt, made his acting debut in 1981. In fact extremists Hindu did not believe that Sanajy is from their community being a son of Nargis Dutt. Anyhow, discriminatory actions against minorities have become inbuilt phenomena of major pillars of India. In Gujarat whenever Hindu-Muslims riots occur, RAW and CBI use to file the crafted cases against Muslims. Reportedly, the minorities in India are feeling highly insecure and considering themselves third rated citizens of the country. They are joining and supporting the movements of Independence. The organization of human rights should take notice of the situation while visiting Kashmir, Nagaland, Punjab and Maoists area and force Indian Supreme Court to punish Col Prohit and responsible of launching “Operation Blue Star”.
The writer can be approached through zameer36@gmail.com
