AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) president Asaduddin Owaisi made a contentious comment in response to the Madhya Pradesh government’s action against miscreants who threw stones at the Ram Navami procession in Khargone. Owaisi has claimed that the bulldozing of the rioters’ and stone pelters’ homes is a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
He said, “This is clearly a state complicit violence & grave violation of the Geneva Convention. Under what law the govt of Madhya Pradesh has demolished the houses of the Muslim community?. It clearly shows CM’s biased attitude towards Muslim minority.”
“The governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Goa failed in controlling and stopping the violence during the Ram Navami procession,” he further added.
The governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Goa failed in controlling and stopping the violence during the Ram Navami procession: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi pic.twitter.com/IEoePdK9Hc
— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2022
It is interesting to note that the Geneva Conventions are a body of Public International Law enacted that originated in 1864 and finally updated in 1949 after World War II. It is often known as the Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts, whose goal is to provide protection, basic humane treatment, and a fundamental guarantee of respect to people who become victims of international armed conflicts.
The conventions are a set of four laws that are detailed and must be obeyed by all signatories. During a conflict, the First Geneva Convention shields injured and sick soldiers, medical and religious staff, medical units, and medical transportation on land. The Second Geneva Convention safeguards injured, ill, and shipwrecked military troops at sea. The third is for prisoners of war and the fourth safeguards civilians, including those in occupied territory.
All of these conventions are to be applied only in case of international armed aggression except Article 3 of the fourth convention. Article 3 of the Fourth Convention applies in the event of a ‘non-international armed conflict’ happening within the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties.
Therefore, the statement made by Owaisi does not align with the actual body of the Geneva Conventions. There is only one article that applies in a ‘non-international’ scenario and that too only in case of an ‘armed conflict.’ even though the stone pelters have committed a serious crime, they are not armed aggressors and hence do not invite the application of the Geneva conventions.
Also, the action was taken on the illegal possessions of the perpetrators. On Sunday, miscreants threw stones during the Ram Navami procession, prompting the Khargone authorities to take harsh action. The authorities bulldozed the unlawfully constructed buildings.
