Delhi Riots: ‘Dr Anwar Falsely Referred, Remove Name from Chargesheet’

Condemning the inclusion of Dr M A Anwar’s name in a chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the Delhi riots, public health professionals, health networks, women’s groups and civil liberties alliances and networks, and academics among others released a statement on July 4.

Dr Anwar, who runs a clinic named Al Hind Hospital in New Mustafabad, had come to the rescue of several [over 600] injured persons during the riots that took place in Northeast Delhi, earlier this year, triggered by clashes between supporters and opposers of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. 

However, the Delhi Police have named him in a chargesheet dealing with the murder of a 20-year-old waiter, Dilbar Negi.

The statement, which has been endorsed by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Medico Friend Circle, All India Drug Action Network, Right to Food Campaign and People’s Union for Civil Liberties among others, read: “Dr. Anwar and Al Hind played a significant humanitarian role in saving the lives of people who were affected through provision of urgently needed medical services in a situation fraught with violence and fear. Al Hind was one of the few hospitals, which provided treatment for hundreds of patients who were injured, some with grievous bullet injuries and fractures, some traumatised by the violence, etc. and rendered to each person a full measure of service and devotion to humanity and human dignity.”

It added, “The naming of Dr. Anwar in the charge-sheet indicates the abuse of the law and its process at the hand of the police and appears to be communally motivated.  This is an absolute violation of the right to life and liberty, equality, freedom of speech and expression, and to dissent as a citizen.”   

Read the full text of the statement below:

STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF DR. M.A. ANWAR, AL HIND HOSPITAL

DEMANDING REMOVAL OF HIS NAME AND ALL FALSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM FROM THE CHARGESHEET (FIR 39/20)

We, undersigned medical professionals, public health professionals, health networks, women’s groups and civil liberties alliances and networks, academics, former health secretaries, bureaucrats, lawyers, writers, film makers, and other concerned organizations and concerned individuals strongly condemn the malicious naming of Dr. M. A. Anwar in the charge-sheet of FIR 39/20, Gokulpuri Police Station, dated 28 February 2020.  Dr. Anwar, the proprietor of Al Hind Hospital in New Mustafabad provided medical care to several people who were victims of the targeted violence in north east Delhi in late February 2020, which resulted in the death of more than 53 people, with hundreds of people injured. 

Dr. Anwar and Al Hind played a significant humanitarian role in saving the lives of people who were affected through provision of urgently needed medical services in a situation fraught with violence and fear. Al Hind was one of the few hospitals, which provided treatment for hundreds of patients who were injured, some with grievous bullet injuries and fractures, some traumatised by the violence, etc. and rendered to each person a full measure of service and devotion to humanity and human dignity.   

Dr. Anwar has been falsely mentioned in this charge-sheet alleging instigation of the local people against the government on the issue of CAA-NRC (Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens) which led to violence in the area. 

We would like to assert that Dr. Anwar as a medical professional, followed the code of medical ethics, and treated every person who was injured in the riots and who approached his hospital with empathy and diligence. His prompt action to help injured people during the riots was praised by many persons, including the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, and reports on the violence that recorded the role of Al Hind hospital and its owner, Dr. Anwar in helping victims of the  violence, irrespective of their religion or caste or class. Several medical teams working in the area during and in the aftermath of the violence, witnessed Dr. Anwar’s responsible, untiring response  as a medical professional,  providing healthcare in the most challenging circumstances in the midst of  targeted violence against the Muslim community  in that area at tremendous risk to his own life. Conscientious medical professionals in several parts of the world believe that resistance to oppression and violence go hand in hand with provision of ethical healthcare is irrespective of the context, caste, religion or the background of the patient. 

Thus, it is shocking that a person, who has saved the lives of many through his prompt and timely actions, has now been falsely referred to in the charge-sheet alleging instigation! 

Apart from a violation of his Constitutional and democratic rights as a citizen of this country, the fallacious references to Dr. Anwar in the charge-sheet is a frontal attack on a doctor, an emerging pattern evident from the attacks on other doctors committed to the cause of the people during the ongoing COVID pandemic, which has become the wont of the State. We strongly condemn the targeting and harassment of Dr. Anwar and this is undoubtedly a vindictive attempt at targeting a medical professional despite his incontrovertible humanitarian work.  The naming of Dr. Anwar in the charge-sheet indicates the abuse of the law and its process at the hand of the police and appears to be communally motivated.  This is an absolute violation of the right to life and liberty, equality, freedom of speech and expression, and to dissent as a citizen. 

The state authorities must instead acknowledge the evidence of the large-scale physical and psychological trauma caused to residents as a consequence of the targeted violence and the  care and support extended by the hospital and the commitment of Dr. Anwar.

We urge the police to immediately remove Dr. Anwar’s name from the charge-sheet of FIR (39/20), Gokulpur Police Station, dated 28 February 2020, as these allegations are unwarranted, fallacious and defamatory. We demand that the police desist from harassment and intimidation and that no arrest be made on the basis of prejudiced and unwarranted allegations and investigation. 

Endorsed by:

1. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA)

2. Medico Friend Circle (MFC)

3. All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN)

4. Right to Food Campaign (RTFC)

5. National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM)

6. New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI)

7. National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW)

8. People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL)

9. Majdoor Kissan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS)

10. National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights (NAMHHR)

11. K. Sujatha Rao, IAS (Retd.) Former Union Health Secretary. 

12. Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, Member, Constitutional Conduct Group

13. Keshav Desiraju, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary to Government of India, Dept. of Health & Family Welfare, Dept. of Consumer Affairs.

14. N. C. Saxena, IAS (Retd), Former Secretary, Planning Commission

15. Kamal Kant Jaswal, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary to the Govt. of India,  Department of Information Technology , Constitutional Conduct Group. 

16. Julio Ribeiro, IPS (Retd.), Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania

17. Sharad Behar, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Madhya Pradesh

18. Niranjan Pant, (Retd.)  Dy Comptroller and Auditor General of India

19. Amitabha Pande, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary Inter State Council, Government of India.

20. Deb Mukharji (Retd.) Indian Foreign Service. Former ambassador to Nepal.

21. Salahuddin Ahmad, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief  Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan

22. Shafi Alam, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoI

23. G. Balachandhran, IAS (Retd.), Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

24. Nitin Desai, IES (Retd.), Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of  Finance, GoI

25. Gopalan Balagopal, IAS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal

26. Rachel Chatterjee, IAS (Retd.), Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh

27. K. P. Fabian, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Italy

28. Gourisankar Ghosh, IAS (Retd.), Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI

29. Suresh K. Goel, IFS (Retd.), Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI

30. S.K. Guha, IAS (Retd.), Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI

31. Rahul Khullar, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

32. Arun Kumar, IAS (Retd.), Former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, GoI

33. P.K. Lahiri, IAS (Retd.), Former Executive Director, Asian Development Bank

34. Sonalini Mirchandani, IFS (Resigned), GoI

35. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, IFS (Retd.), Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

36. Avinash Mohananey, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim

37. Alok Perti, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI

    1. Selvaraj, IRS (Retd.), Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI

38. Navrekha Sharma, IFS (Retd.), Former Ambassador to Indonesia

39. Vappala Balachandran, IPS (Retd.), Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Author and Columnist

40. Sushil Dubey, Former Ambassador to Sweden

41. Vibha Puri Das, (Retd.),  Secretary, GOI, Ministry of Tribal Affairs

42. G. Sankaran, Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (control) Appellate Tribunal

43. C. Balakrishnan, (Retd.) Secretary, Coal, Govt of India.

44. K. John Koshy, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Information Commissioner, West Bengal 

45. N. Nagalsamy  IA&AS (Retd.), Former Principal Accountant General of Tamil Nadu and Kerala

46. P. R. Dasgupta, IAS, (Retd.), Former Chairman, FCI and member of Constitutional Conduct Group. 

47. Sudhir Kumar, IAS (Retd.), Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal

48. Hindal Tyabji, IAS Retd.), Chairman of the J&K Public Service Commission 1998-2003 

49. Siraj Hussain, IAS (Retd.), Ex Union Secretary, Agriculture, Govt of India, New Delhi.

50. Madhu Bhaduri

51. Kalyani Chaudhuri, (Retd.), Additional Chief Secretary, Govt of West Bengal, Member of Constitutional Conduct Group

52. Ashok Kumar Sharma, IFS (Retd.)

53. Meena Gupta, IAS (Retd.), Formerly Secretary to GOI in the Ministry of Environment and Forests 

54. Dr. Raju Sharma,  IAS, (Retd.)

55. V. P. Raja, IAS. Retd Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) Member

56. Devasahayam MG

57. Aruna Roy, MKSS

58. Prateep Lahiri

59. Sumantra Guha

60. N. K. Raghupathy, Constitutional Conduct Group

61. Wajahat Habibullah, Former Chairman National Commission for Minorities 

62. Harsh Mander, Aman Biradari

63. Dr. T. Sundararaman, Peoples Health Movement

64. Dr. Mira Shiva (Public Health Physician) 

65. Dr. Yogesh Jain, Chhattisgarh

66. Amar Jesani, Indian Journal for Medical Ethics

67. Dr. Syeda Hameed, Delhi

68. Sarojini N, Public Health Practitioner, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan

69. Deepa V, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Delhi

70. Veena Johari, Mumbai

71. Inayat Kakar, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Punjab

72. Dr. Vandana Prasad, Public Health Professional

73. Dr. Anant Phadke, Pune

74. S. Srinivasan, LOCOST

75. Dr. Veena Shatrugna, Medical Scientist (Retd.)

76. Dr. Priyadarsh Ture, Co-Convenor, Medico Friend Circle

77. Dr. Ravi Narayan, Bangalore

78. Dr. Nidhin Cyril, Co-Convenor, Medico Friend Circle

79. Dr. Vikas Bajpai, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU

80. Dr. Narendra Gupta

81. Dr. Shakeel, CHARM, Patna

82. Dr. Sunita Baskar Abraham, Public Health Physician, Bangalore

83. Dr. Aparna Hegde, Founder, ARMMAN; Assoc Prof (Hon), Urogynecology, Cama Hospital, Mumbai and Founder, Center for Urogynecology and Pelvic Health, New Delhi

84. Dr. Sonali Vaid, Public Health Doctor, New Delhi

85. Dr. Priyank Jain

86. Prabir KC, Public Health Consultant, Kolkata

87. Dr. Vasundhara Rangaswamy, Physician and microbiologist, Independent

88. Nandini Sundar, Sociologist

89. Farah Naqvi, Writer & Activist, Delhi

90. Kavita Srivastava, Rajasthan State President, PUCL

91. Annie Raja, NFIW

92. Suroor Mander, Karwan e Mohabbat

93. Ravi Kiran Jain, President, PUCL

94. V. Suresh, General Secretary, PUCL

95. Brinelle Dsouza, TISS, JSA-MUMBAI, Justice Coalition of Religious - Maharashtra &  Goa

96. Prof. Mohan Rao, Former Professor, JNU

97. Nandita Narain, Delhi University

98. Shabnam Hashmi, Social Activist, Delhi

99. Kalyani Menon-Sen, Feminist Learning Partnerships

100. Navsharan Singh, Aman Biradari

101. Natasha Badhwar, Karwan e Mohabbat

102. Sandeep Pandey, Socialist Party (India)

103. Dr. John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council [2004-2014], President, All India Catholic Union [2004-2008]

104. Dr. Sagari Ramdas, Food Sovereignty Alliance

105. Asha Kilaru, Bangalore Birth Network

106. Vineeta Bal, Pune

107. Dr. Hafiz Muhammed K 

108. Dr. Saima Furqan, Independent Doctor

109. Rita Manchanda, Delhi

110. Chayanika Shah, Forum Against Oppression of Women, Mumbai

111. Dr. T. K. Sundari Ravindran, Retired Professor, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology

112. Jashodhara Dasgupta, Independent Researcher, New Delhi

113. Pamela Philipose, Journalist, New Delhi

114. Sheba Chhachhi, New Delhi

115. Vani Subramanian, Independent Film Maker, Delhi

116. Devika Singh, Child Rights Worker 

117. Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, Public health doctor 

118. R. Srivats

119. Nikhil Dey, MKSS

120. Dr. Mohit P. Gandhi, Ph.D. Student, JNU

121. Dr. Satendra Singh (Individual Capacity), University College of Medical Sciences & GTB Hospital, Delhi

122. Ramani Atkuri, Public Health professional, Bhopal

123. Arundhati Dhuru, NAPM

124. Bittu K. R., Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology, Ashoka University; Transfeminist, WSS 

125. Akhila Vasan, Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali 

126. Dipta Bhog, Women's right Activist

127. Sneha Rajaram, Writer, Bangalore Lata Singh, JNU

128. Manisha Gupte, Gender and Health Rights Activist

129. Ravi Duggal, Independent Researcher and Activist

130. Suhas Kolhekar, National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM)

131. Sulakshana Nandi, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Chhattisgarh

132. Dr. Sunil Kaul

133. Mishika Singh, Lawyers for Detainees

134. Lawyers For Detainees

135. Dr. Karishma Thariani

136. Karan Seth, Lawyers for Detainees

137. Karen Gabriel, St Stephen's College, Delhi University

138. Kiran Kumbhar, Harvard University

139. Malini Ghose, New Delhi

140. Meera Sanghamitra, NAPM

141. Mr. Shadan Farasat, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

142. Kai Friese, Journalist

143. Shankar Singh, MKSS

144. Avijit Dutt, Actor