The Bombay High Court's bench in Aurangabad has declared that the Maharashtra Police are not permitted to conduct mock exercises that portray members of a certain group as terrorists. This decision was delivered at the hearing of a PIL (public interest litigation) submitted by social activist Sayed Usama.
The PIL claimed that the police drill represented Muslims as terrorists. The PIL cited two particular cases, one in which an officer disguised as a terrorist during a mock drill wore clothing often worn by Muslim males and chanted slogans such as "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allah-u-Akbar," indicating that the terrorist was Muslim.
The court stated that the petitioner, a social activist and apparently a Muslim, raised a matter of public interest and objected to the police department portraying Muslims as terrorists during mock drills. The court has also directed the public prosecutor to provide the court with mock drill rules.
The case has been scheduled for a hearing on February 10, and no mock drills representing members of a certain community as terrorists are permitted until then.