Threats against Ram Puniyani
On 6 June 2019, human rights defender and academic Ram Puniyani received two separate calls from unidentified individuals who verbally abused him and threatened that he would be in danger if he did not stop his human rights work and leave the country within 15 days.
Ram Puniyani is a human rights defender and a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay). He has dedicated the past 20 years of his life to promoting human rights and communal harmony in India, and is a well-known advocate for rationalist thought in the country.
On 6 June 2019, human rights defender and academic Ram Puniyani received two separate calls from unidentified individuals who verbally abused him and threatened that he would be in danger if he did not stop his human rights work and leave the country within 15 days.
Ram Puniyani is a human rights defender and a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay). He has dedicated the past 20 years of his life to promoting human rights and communal harmony in India, and is a well-known advocate for rationalist thought in the country.
On 6 June 2019, Ram Puniyani received a phone call at 8.30pm from an unidentified caller who demanded that the human rights defender stop his “anti-Hindutva” activities or face consequences. The caller also verbally abused Ram Puniyani before telling him that he had 15 days to leave the country. After five minutes, the human rights defender received another call from an unidentified person who aggressively asked to speak to the “Doctor” (referring to Ram Puniyani), but hung up immediately after the human rights defender replied that he was not there.
On 7 June 2019, Ram Puniyani filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the Powai Police Station regarding the threatening phone calls. Later on, he met with the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) to discuss potential security measures to be put in place for his protection. The Mumbai Police has also initiated a probe into the case.
On 8 June 2019, Ram Puniyani was granted 24-hour police protection following a meeting he had with Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sangramsinh Nishandar. The police protection will be in place until the investigation into his case, which is being led by the DCP’s office, is concluded.
This is not the first time that Ram Puniyani has been intimidated by unidentified persons. On 9 March 2019, three people in plain clothes claiming to be police officers visited the human rights defender at his home on the pretext of following up on his application for a passport. After Ram Puniyani told the “officers” that he had made no such application, they proceeded to make some general enquiries about his family as well as his previous affiliation to IIT Bombay before leaving. Ram Puniyani had also filed an FIR at the Powai Police Station about this incident, along with relevant CCTV footage, but no action had been taken by the police to investigate the matter or identify the visitors.
These recent threats against Ram Puniyani come in a context of rising Hindu extremism in India that has led to an increase in attacks against and killings of human rights defenders promoting communal harmony and rationalism in the country. On 5 September 2017, prominent journalist and human rights defender Gauri Lankesh was killed after receiving threats from Hindu nationalists for speaking out against communalism.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the threats against and intimidation of Ram Puniyani, as they are believed to be directly linked to his peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders recognises these threats as part of an ongoing attempt to silence advocates of rationalist and secular thought in the country.
