People’s Union for Democratic Rights

A civil liberties and democratic rights organisation based in Delhi, India

On July 22, 2024, the fourth annual Brajmandal Abhishek Yatra passed peacefully through the Nuh district in Haryana. Last year, the same yatra was characterised by violence, followed by state repression that casts a shadow till today. In the wake of Nuh: A report on state repression examines the weaponisation of state machinery against Nuh residents in the aftermath of July 31, 2023.

The report, through testimonies, details the gamut of police excesses unleashed on Nuh residents: indiscriminate raids, large-scale arrests, illegal detention, and custodial torture. Physical and communal abuse continued in jail custody, and these violations were also committed against juveniles and Rohingya refugees.

The report further analyses the questionable nature of police investigation—which resulted in 441 arrests across 60 FIRs—through a random sampling of 100 bail orders in Nuh violence cases. The report specially analyses four FIRs to which Sections 10 and 11 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) were added in January-February 2024. It also examines the biased nature of prosecution along communal lines.

The report examines the costs of this repression, which has brutalised a random set of Muslim youth, destroyed homes and livelihoods, and impoverished families through deprivation of breadwinners and the hardships of procuring lawyers and multiple sureties for bail. Families in Nuh, which is the eighth-poorest district in the country, face continuing intimidation and harassment, demonstrating that the price of peace today cannot be forgotten.

For the report click below
In-the-wake-of-Nuh

Please follow and like us: