India has hit out at the Office of the United Nations Human Rights Commission for its statement on Monday in support of journalist Rana Ayyub. The statement called out India for its “relentless misogynist and sectarian attacks online against Rana Ayyub..'' which it said needed to be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the Indian authorities and that the judicial harassment against her be brought to an end at once.
India's mission at the United Nations, Geneva, promptly hit back with a tweet saying that the allegations of “so called judicial harassment are baseless and unwarranted''. It said that “India upholds the rule of law, but is equally clear that no one is above the law. We expect the Special Rapporteurs to be obejective and accurately informed. Advancing a misleading narrative only tarnishes @UNGeneva's reputation,'' it tweeted.
The human rights commission, in its statement said that Ayyub, an independent, investigative journalist, continued to be the victim of intensifying attacks and threats online by far right Hindu nationalist groups. The experts of the UNHCR, special rapporteur to the right to freedom of opinion, Irene Khan, and special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor noted that the “lack of condemnation and proper investigation by the government, coupled with the legal harassment it has inflicted on Ms Ayyub, has only served to falsely legitimise the attacks and the attackers and further endangered her safety.''
The “experts” noted that on February 11, Ayyub's bank account and other assets were frozen “in response to seemingly baseless allegations of money laundering and tax fraud, related to her crowd funding campaigns to provide assistance to those affected by the pandemic...'' They added that the Indian government is “not only failing in its obligation to protect Ms Ayyub as a journalist, but through its own investigations...it is also contributing to and exacerbating her perilous position....''
According to sources, India will send a note verbale from its permanent commission in Geneva to the OHCHR and also take up the matter at the UN office in Geneva.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had on February 11 attached assets worth Rs 1.77 crore linked to Ayyub on the basis of an FIR in Ghaziabad alleging that she illegally acquired money for the public in the name of charity. The complaint alleged that funds of over Rs 2 crore were raised on the crowd funding platform Ketto and were withdrawn in the bank accounts of her sister/father. It said fake bills were found to have been prepared by her to claim expenses on relief work.
According to ED, instead of using funds for relief work, she had allegedly parked some of them in a separate current bank account. She also created a fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakh from the funds and did not use them for relief work. The agency attached the fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakh, the accrued interest, the bank balance of over Rs 57 lakh and Rs 70.08 lakh.
