New Delhi: First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed against the two lawyers who were part of the fact-finding team, that visited Tripura to investigate the communal violence in the state, who got served notices under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Earlier the Tripura police sent notices to Advocate Ansar Indori (Secretary, Human Rights Organization, National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) and Advocate Mukesh, Civil Rights Organization People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL, DELHI) and asked them to “immediately delete these fabricated and false statements/comments made/circulated by you in the social media.” The notices have also asked them to appear before the West Agartala Police Station by November 10, 2021.
Apart from the UAPA, the police have also invoked charges under sections 153-A and B ( Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming information), 503 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke the breach of peace) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of IPC.
Speaking to the Leaflet, Mukesh said that he was part of the team that went to Tripura to know the ground reality. “On social, I just shared what I saw,” he added.
Fact-find report
The fact-finding team comprising of Supreme Court lawyer Ehtesham Hashmi, Advocate Amit Srivastav (Co-ordination Committee, Lawyers for Democracy), Advocate Ansar Indori and Advocate Mukesh, released a report at the Press Club of India on Tuesday.
The report titled “Humanity under attack in Tripura; #Muslim lives matter” revealed that if the BJP government in Tripura wanted to, they could have stopped the violence but they chose to give a free hand to the Hindutva mobs in the state.
The report argued that Hindu nationalist organisations such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) carried out rallies and had brought JCB machines (normally employed in heavy construction work) along with them.