Indian police seen torturing children who protested against the blasphemous statements by the BJP members. Photo: Twitter
LONDON: A video showing Indian police beating a group of Muslims in custody has been viewed by millions after it was shared by an elected member of the ruling BJP party who praised their brutal actions as a "gift" to the men, reports BBC.
No action has been taken against the officers involved. The families of those who were attacked say their loved ones are innocent and should be freed. "This is my brother, they are beating him a lot, he's screaming so much."
Zeba breaks down in tears, hands shaking, as she holds her mobile phone to watch a harrowing video of her younger sibling Saif. The distressing footage shows two Indian policemen taking aim at a group of Muslim men in custody, including Zeba's brother.
The officers can be seen thrashing the men with rods which they swing like baseball bats. The sound of the thwack as each blow lands is punctuated by screams. Saif, 24, was one of dozens of Muslim men who were rounded up and detained by police last week.
Thousands demonstrated at the town's mosque after Friday prayers, joining nationwide protests over blasphemous remarks made by Nupur Sharma, a national spokesperson for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The party later suspended her amid an outcry from Muslim nations, and said it opposed insulting any religion. The protests in Saharanpur were largely peaceful, with crowds marching from the mosque past shops in the city.
As tensions rose, some stores owned by members of India's Hindu majority were attacked, and two businessmen sustained minor injuries. Officers used batons to disperse some of the crowds.
Police documents accuse Saif and 30 others of being involved in rioting, instigating violence, voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant and endangering life, among other charges.
The family, which ekes out a modest living selling cardboard, says Saif wasn't even at the protests and is innocent. The video, which clearly shows police brutality, went viral after it was shared by an elected official from the BJP, Shalabh Tripathi, who posted it with the caption, "a return gift for the rebels".
Tripathi is a former media adviser to one of India's most powerful politicians, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, where this incident happened. There has been no condemnation of the footage from party officials, or anyone in the BJP government.
Human rights groups say there's been a growing climate of intolerance in India since the BJP swept to power in 2014, with a rise in hate speech and attacks targeting the country's Muslim minority.
The BBC has gathered testimony from half a dozen Muslim families who say their relatives were beaten in police custody at Kothwali police station in Saharanpur, after they were detained on Friday.
Officials say they've arrested 84 people they accuse of violence in Friday's protests. Across town from the police station, the force of the law has been displayed in other ways - bulldozers have destroyed parts of the homes of two Muslim men officials accuse of instigating violence. Millions of Indians live in makeshift homes without proper planning permissions, but using this as a means of punishment has become a more common tactic deployed by the BJP.
The orders to demolish illegally constructed properties belonging to those accused in recent protests have been endorsed at the highest level. And, in a tacit reference to Muslims who worship on Fridays, his media adviser Mrityunjay Kumar tweeted a photo of a bulldozer with the caption "After Friday, there is a Saturday."
Last Saturday afternoon, a digger arrived at Muskaan's house and started to demolish the front gate. A group of India's top legal experts, including former judges and pre-eminent lawyers, have petitioned the country's Supreme Court over these latest instances of police beatings and the unwarranted use of bulldozers.
Their letter accuses Mr Aditynath of emboldening the police to "brutally and unlawfully torture protesters", and says these latest actions are "shaking the conscience of the nation". "Such a brutal clampdown by a ruling administration is an unacceptable subversion of the rule of law and a violation of the rights of citizens, and makes a mockery of the Constitution and fundamental rights guaranteed by the state."
Rights group Amnesty international has also accused India's government of suppressing any form of dissent: "The government of India is selectively and viciously cracking down on Muslims who dare to speak up and peacefully express their dissent against the discrimination faced by them.
"Cracking down on protesters with excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and punitive house demolitions by Indian authorities is in complete violation of India's commitments under international human rights law and standards," Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India Board, wrote in a statement.
