India: Girl Granted Conditional Bail Refuses to Distribute Qurans
Richa Bharti says this violates her fundamental rights and she will challenge the order in a higher court.
Bharti was arrested on July 12 for sharing an objectionable post against the Muslim community on Facebook. The police took her into custody from her home and forwarded her to jail the same evening. Three days later she was released on bail on the condition that she would gift five copies of the Quran at various education institutions.
Bharti said although she respects the court order, it was an infringement of her fundamental rights, GNews reported.
“No, I am not ready to follow the court’s order for distributing Quran … If today I am being told to distribute Quran, tomorrow I could be asked to offer Namaz [prayers] and then to convert to Islam. I’m not going to do that,” she told the media on Wednesday.
Questioning the court’s ruling, she asked: “Has any Muslim ever been asked to read Hindu scriptures for insulting Hindu religion?”
She said she never imagined that she would be taken to court for sharing a Facebook post and that she would ultimately have to go to jail.
In another twist to the story, the Ranchi District Bar Association protested the court’s order. On Wednesday, a delegation of lawyers from the Bar Association met a top legal authority and demanded the immediate transfer of the judge who passed the order. They also announced they would boycott the said judge until he was transferred elsewhere.
Bharti was granted bail by the judicial magistrate (First Class) Manish Kumar Singh. While granting the bail on Monday, the judge had directed Bharti to immediately donate one copy of the Quran to Anjuman Islamia Committee and another four copies to libraries within a fortnight.
The Bhartitya Janata Party (BJP), which is in power in Jharkhand, has questioned the court ruling and expressed shock. “The ruling has stunned all of us. We never came across such kind of verdict in the past,” Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo told the media on Wednesday. Shah Deo along with other BJP leaders also visited the house of the woman and assured her of their support.
However, advocate general Ajit Kumar found nothing wrong with the court order.
“Those who are protesting over it must understand the meaning behind the order. It is aimed at promoting communal harmony in the society,” Kumar said.
Most Commented 