In December of 2019, the violent clash that erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district between anti – CAA protesters and UP Police, resulted in the death of five men. Asif, Aleem, Mohsin, Asif Hussain and Zahir, were the five men who were killed ruthlessly in the clash. Meerut was the first district in UP, where applications were moved in court to get FIRs registered against the Police Officials for these deaths. The families of the men believe that Police that was sent to control and annex the clash are responsible for the death of their kin.
In a video report by The Quint, the reporters traveled to West of Uttar Pradesh, in Meerut to meet the families of the killed men and return to the ground for a reality check. According to the report, minorities in other parts of UP like Bijnor and Kanpur were afraid of speaking up, in Meerut, the families were out front, unafraid and open about the incident and hope for justice. After a year of the clash, the reporters returned to the families and found out, that the applications await filing. None of the FIRs were registered even after the families made repeated attempts to get them filed in court.
Asif Hussain’s father has since, been running around in different courts and Police stations to get an FIR registered and seek justice. In the report, he said, “I have been running around, no one listens to our plea. We have applied through posts at least four times now and it is all in vain. It has been a year since, we did not receive a single reply, no testimony or anything that may bereave our pain. There is absolutely no progress”.
He also said that there has been no proceedings in their case, like other cases. There has been no inquiry that takes place in similar cases, the concerned authority must look into the matter and help them out.
The families of the killed regret that they did not get to see their kin properly before they were buried. Asif’s father claimed that the officials did not give their family enough time to call their relatives and sisters before the burial. According to UP Police, Asif received bullet injuries from other protesters and was killed in the clash. Whereas Asif’s father claims that, there were no official reports or paperwork explaining the death of his son. The bullet was not specified.
Asif’s family claims that an eyewitness, pivotal to the case, mentioned that Asif and Aleem died due to the bullets that were fired by the Police and not the protesters. UP Police has claimed in their charge sheet, that all five men were killed by the firings from other protesters.
Aleem’s brother Sallahuddin in the video report by The Quint said, “My brother did not come home to me. He left our home and he did not come back. He went to Allah instead.
Sallahuddin even claims that he has evidence that backs his allegations with probable cause. He said, “The policemen who were stuck inside were the ones who killed my brother. They shot him straight in his head. We did our investigations and even asked the boys who were jailed. They all said the same thing. It was the policemen who killed my brother”.
When asked about the proof, he told the reporter that there were policemen with pistols in the exact same spot where his brother was murdered. Sallahuddin said that he did not make efforts to travel to Police stations and talk to the SSP, DM and other officials, because he can not trust them with the evidence. He believes the investigations would have been then stagnated.
Zahir’s elder brother, Shahid said, “Who would want the police as their enemy ? Everyone cares about themselves, who would want themselves in trouble ?”.
All five families have approached the court under section 156/3 of CrPC to get FIRs registered, according to their lawyers. The Quint in their report also tried reaching out to the DM and SSP Meerut with questions regarding the case, but did not get any response.