Even as the teacher and parent arrested for alleged sedition in Bidar in Karnataka face at least another 5 days in prison, citizens and activists turned up at the police headquarters in Bengaluru on Thursday morning, 6 February demanding action from the newly appointed state police chief Praveen Sood over what they call ‘misuse of sedition law’.
“We want to ask the police have they read the Constitution? Have they read the Juvenile Justice Act? Why are they treating children as adult accused? Have they read the Supreme Court orders on sedition? There has been no incitement to violence,” asked advocate Vinay Sreenivasa, questioning why ministers like CT Ravi and Somashekara Reddy were walking free after ‘calling for riots’.
Meanwhile, the near daily quizzing of children of Class 4-6 at Shaheen Urdu Primary School has stopped for now after Bidar Police were served a notice by the local Child Welfare Committee over the illegal interrogation of students, done without informing the CWC.
Upon emerging from a meeting with Sood, advocates claimed he said that he doesn’t defend the actions of Bidar police, and said that cops were only ‘speaking’ to kids. He reportedly assured that cops will be sympathetic regarding the women’s bail and agreed on the need for guidelines on use of sedition law.
Talking to The Quint, Praveen Sood said that a group of lawyers had met him and submitted a memorandum. He said that lawyers discussed various aspects of the case and he assured them their memorandum will be looked into.
“We found out from social media about what Bidar police were doing. I went along with the DSP on 1 February to observe and saw that the atmosphere was not good. Children are supposed to be counselled and not questioned. What they have done is illegal,” CWC chairperson Kavitha Hushare told The Quint, adding that they had written to the requisite authorities for further action.
Dr Jayashree, member from Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, also visited the Bidar school on Wednesday, and assured school authorities that there would be no more visits from the police.
‘Sedition Law Used With Communal Angle to Suppress Dissent’
Avani, an advocate, said that the use of sedition was being used with a communal angle.
“There is a larger question over the use of sedition law, but here the use of sedition itself is communal. There was another play that re-enacted the Babri demolition, this was conducted by hundreds of students. The SC has held that the demolition was an egregious violation of law, and there were still no arrests. But arresting a mother and teacher without possibility of bail till 11 February is something we object to,” she said.
‘How do we Trust the Police Now?’
Many citizens said that they had lost faith in the police force who they said were acting against innocents when they were meant to be protecting them.
“I used to believe in active democracy. We need to take a strong stance against this police action, as the protectors are protecting criminals and jailing innocent people. Earlier a cop used to inspire confidence, how can we trust them now? This is a system that discriminates against the poor,” said Noor Fathima, a spiritual ecologist.
‘Cops Have Used Excess Force’
KS Sharada, a member of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, said that the police should be educating children if they think they have done something wrong, not interrogating them for hours.
“A child is under trauma, the mother is in jail. She is all alone. This is a violation of human rights and child rights. The police has used excessive force,” said .
After the delegation of eight members met the top cop, advocates said that they would write to the home minister and CM for urgent quashing of the case.
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