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Mahua Moitra moves UN over alleged exclusion of Muslim officers from Amit Shah events

Mahua Moitra moves UN over alleged exclusion of Muslim officers from Amit Shah events

TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Kalyan Banerjee and Mahua Moitra leave after a hearing before the full bench of the Election Commission of India Photograph: (ANI)

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TMC MP Mahua Moitra has approached the UN Special Rapporteur alleging that Muslim IAS and IPS officers were excluded from Amit Shah’s Bengal events.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra has approached the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, alleging that senior Muslim IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal were excluded from official events linked to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visits to the state on account of their religion.

Moitra, in her letter to Prof Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), alleged that three senior officers, specifically Siliguri Police Commissioner Waquar Raza, West Bengal Police's Special Task Force chief Jawed Shamim and IAS officer Khalil Ahmed, were asked to leave West Bengal in July and August during Amit Shah's visit.

"The one factor these three officers share, and the one factor that sets them apart from the colleagues who were permitted to remain, is their religion," said Moitra.

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She had previously highlighted the issue in a social media post. A complaint was later filed against the TMC MP in Diamond Harbour over the post.

She described the incidents as a pattern of deliberate exclusion. Moitra said such conduct could have implications for the confidence and security of the minority community. She sought preservation of CCTV footage, tour diaries and other records relating to Shah's visits. She urged the Special Rapporteur to seek an explanation from the government of India. She cited provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in her complaint

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She claimed that such exclusion was particularly significant because Shah heads the Union Home Ministry, which oversees several central police, border and intelligence agencies.

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Kushal Deb is a mid-career journalist with seven years of experience and a strong academic background. Passionate about research, storytelling, writes about economics, policy, cult...Read More

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