Demanding removal of his name and all false allegations against him from the chargesheet (FIR 39/20)Â
We, the 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, 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 |
| A | 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 |
| 145 | Abha Bhaiya |
| 146 | Deepika Joshi, Researcher, Chhattisgarh |
| 147 | Indranil Mukhopadhyay Radha Holla Bhar |
| 148 | Dimple Oberoi Vahali, Independent Activist |
| 149 | Dipa Sinha, RTFC |
| 150 | Ayesha, RTFC |
| 151 | Ranjan De, Film Maker, Delhi |
| 152 | Jagdish Patel, Gujarat |
| 153 | Abhiti Gupta, Delhi |
| 154 | Gooru Murthy, SOCHARA |
| 155 | Gouranga Mohapatra, JSA/BGVS, ODISHA |
| 156 | Poonam Kaushik, Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan Delhi |
| 157 | Nachiket Udupa, Concerned Individual |
| 158 | Vikash Prakash, Co-ordinator, Ekjut |
| 159 | Tejaswi Chhatwal, JNU |
| 160 | Anuradha Kapoor, Feminist Activist |
| 161 | Aruna Burte, Individual, Pune, Maharashtra |
| 162 | Padma Deosthali, Mumbai |
| 163 | Sunita Sheel, Pune |
| 164 | Shruti Arora |
| 165 | Priyanka, Concerned citizen |
| 166 | Chahna Gupta, Concerned citizen |
| 167 | Aditya Shrivastava, Right to Food Campaign |
| 168 | Bebaak Collective |
| 169 | Dolphy Dsouza, Police Reforms Watch |
| 170 | John Dsouza, PUCL |
| 171 | Lara Jesani, PUCL |
| 172 | Bilal Khan, Ghar Bacaho Ghar Banao Andolan |
| 173 | Sneha Makkad, Delhi |
| 174 | Binju Abraham |
| 175 | Ahmad Matin Khan, Emergency Medicine Consultant |
| 176 | CA, Karim Khan |
| 177 | Sabah Khan, PUCL |
| 178 | Campaign Against Hate Speech |
| 179 | Dr. Salma Saifi, Homoeopathic panacea |
| 180 | Dr. Uma Bhrugubanda, Academic, Hyderabad |
| 181 | Dr. Vishwanath Azad, Convenor, Jharkhand Sarvoday Mitra Mandal |
| 182 | FORWARD TRUST, Bangalore |
| 183 | Health For All Campaign |
| 184 | Indira C, Delhi |
| 185 | Kanchan Yadav, concerned citizen |
| 186 | Naavu Bharatiyatu Karnataka |
| 187 | Neelanjana Das, JSA Chhattisgarh |
| 188 | Nisha Biswas, Kolkata |
| 189 | Roopa Rawat, Nurse |
| 190 | Dr. Savitri D., Co-convenor, MFC |
| 191 | Rupsa Mallik, New Delhi |
| 192 | SAHELI, Delhi |
| 193 | Prabha N, New Delhi |
| 194 | Prasanna Saligram –public health researcher, JSA Karnataka |
| 195 | Rohini Kandhari, public health researcher |
| 196 | Sandhya Srinivasan, Mumbai |
| 197 | Sayan Das from CSMCH, JNU |
| 198 | Richa Chintan, Delhi |
| 199 | Garima Jain, Concerned citizen |
| 200 | Susheela Singh, Delhi |
| 201 | Shraddha Chickerur, University of Hyderabad |
| 202 | Bijayalaxmi Rautaray, Bhubaneswar, Odisha |
| 203 | Drishti Chawla, Concerned citizen |
| 204 | Shreya Munoth, Advocate, Delhi |
| 205 | Radhika Khajuria, Gender & Health Rights Activist, New Delhi |
| 206 | Aparna |
| 207 | Snehal Shah, Independent Researcher, Delhi |
| 208 | Surbhi Shrivastava |
| 209 | Sangeeta Chatterji |
| 210 | Dr. Bindhulakshmi Pattadath, Associate Professor, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai |
| 211 | Vijayakumar S., Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali |
| 212 | Women against Sexual Violence & State Repression (WSS) |
| 213 | Anupama Potluri, Hyderabad |
