ACTIVIST RIYAZUDDIN HAD FILED A COMPLAINT WITH NHRC AND HAD BEEN FOLLOWING IT UP FOR OVER A YEAR
Gulbarga: The efforts of a Gulbarga based Social and Human Rights Activist, Riyazuddin, who was fighting a legal battle to get ex-gratia amount for Jharkhand’s Tabrez Ansari’s family. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered an ex-gratia amount of Rs. Two lakh for the family of Ansari who was lynched by a mob in Jharkhand in June last year.
Ansari’s lynching had taken the country by storm as the videos of the incident wherein the victim was tortured and harassed for over 18 hours had gone viral on social media platforms. In the videos, the assaulters were also seen forcing the victim into chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. The incident had caused an uproar over the communal divisiveness in the country.
Riyazuddin, an activist from Gulbarga had filed a complaint with the NHRC after the incident, seeking immediate arrest of the accused and an ex-gratia amount of Rs. One Crore for the victim’s family. As the NHRC ordered primary ex-gratia of Rs. Two Lakh, Riyazuddin spoke to Vartha Bharati and has reacted to the development.
“When I came to know about the incident on 18 June 2019 through various news sources, I had filed a complaint with the NHRC on June 25, 2019, demanding immediate arrest of the accused, action against the police officers who were accused of dereliction of duty during the incident. I had demanded the suspension of these officers and had sought an ex-gratia amount of Rs. One crore to victim’s family” Riyazuddin told Vartha Bharati.
“The NHRC has now ordered Jharkhand Government to pay primary ex-gratia amount of Rs. Two Lakh. After the NHRC added that the police had not taken any action against the accused, now chargesheet has been filed against 13 accused. A departmental inquiry has been ordered against police officers who failed their duty during the incident and the Jamshedpur Superintendent of Police has sought report of the inquiry in six weeks” Riyazuddin informed Vartha Bharati.
“The Police personnel did not allow Tabrez to get medical attention despite him being critically injured in the incident. They also did not allow the family of Tabrez to meet him. They are all accountable for the death of Tabrez” he added.
Riyazuddin has been actively involved in similar activism and had filed similar complaints in the case of the murder of Dalit kids Roshni (12) and Avinash (10) who were killed in Madhya Pradesh in September 2019. The accused in the case Rameshwar and Hakeem were both arrested and the NHRC had ordered Madhya Pradesh Government to pay ex-gratia of Rs. 4, 12,500 each to the families of the victims.
