Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind files petition in Allahabad High Court as well after SC against unlawful arrest
New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court by the Legal Aid Committee of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, seeking to quash the case registered against the innocent accused including two women arrested in the name of “Love jihad” Case from Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, and their immediate release from jail.
This petition says that the governments are harassing the Muslims in the name of Love Jihad, and violating the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution of India. The petition is likely to be heard next Tuesday or Wednesday, said Gulzar Azmi, head of Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra Legal Aid Committee from Mumbai.
Giving the details of the case, he said that the families of the accused had sought legal help from President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani then we approached the High Court for the release of the accused, and a petition has been filed for the release of the accused. The petition filed by Advocate Arif Ali, Advocate Mujahid Ahmad and Advocate Furqan Khan, states that by taking undue advantage of its powers, government is harassing Muslims in the name of love jihad, and depriving them of their fundamental rights provided by the Constitution of India.
Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, while reacting strongly to the law brought under the guise of so-called Love Jihad law to restrict religious freedom in some states, said: “Such legislation is against the guiding principles of the Constitution of India, and it is an attack on the freedom and sovereignty of the citizens while the Constitution not only gives full religious freedom to every citizen of the country but also gives them full freedom to express their likes and dislikes.”
He said that at the time of making the law, it was claimed that it would be applied equally to all, and no sect would be discriminated, but in an important state like Uttar Pradesh, this unconstitutional law is being used against a particular sect. He further said that the affidavit filed by the Uttar Pradesh government in Allahabad High Court in a similar case recently is a mirror of this sad truth.
According to the affidavit, out of the 85 people who have been prosecuted under the law so far, 79 are Muslims, while others belong to the Christian community.
Maulana Madani also said that newspaper reports show that in Uttar Pradesh, especially in such cases, if the boy is a Hindu, police do not even register a complaint despite all the efforts of the girl’s family, on the contrary police also provide protection to such couples.
He further said that such incidents are enough to show that the law is being used against minorities and especially Muslims. The Sitapur incident is an example of this in which housewives have also been arrested and imprisoned while they did not commit any crime.
At last, Maulana Madani said that this is a case of injustice and serious violation of human rights so the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has decided to seek legal procedure against it. At the same time, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has become the intervener in the second petition challenging the law in the Supreme Court.
