IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – August 16th, 2010

by Publisher on August 16, 2010

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

News Headlines

SC asks SIT to reinvestigate Naroda, Gulbarg cases (Aug 9, 2010, Times of India)

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the riot cases is learnt
to have been asked by the Supreme Court to re-investigate the Naroda
Patia, Naroda Gaam and Gulbarg Society cases. Apparently several
anomalies are cropping up in the SIT investigation in the post-Godhra
cases. The SIT in its report submitted to the SC on the preliminary
inquiry into the complaint filed by Zakia Jafri against chief minister
Narendra Modi and 61 bureaucrats, police officers and politicians, has
found only former junior home minister Gordhan Zadaphia, retired
additional DGP MK Tandon and IGP PB Gondia, guilty.

This suggests
that the agency set up by the SC which questioned Modi for over nine
hours, did not find any evidence against him so far. The Zakia petition
deals with the larger conspiracy, charging these people with omission
and commission during the riots. The same SIT, under former CBI director
RK Raghavan which is investigating the three cases individually, had
earlier cleared Tandon and Gondia before the court in the trials that
are going on, in the Naroda Patia, Naroda Gaam and Gulbarg cases where
175 persons were killed in all on February 28, 2002.

In the Zakia
inquiry report, Zadaphia has been charged of criminal involvement and
the cops of criminal negligence. However, in the special trial court
here, the SIT had said that it had not found enough evidence against the
accused cops to chargesheet them in the Gulbarg and Naroda cases.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) which is a co-petitioner in Zakia’s
petition says, "We have been demanding further investigation by the SIT
into the nine trials currently afoot and had even pointed out that the
presence of three Gujarat based officers in the SIT had rendered SIT
somewhat compromised".

It has now been reliably learnt that the
SC has asked superintendent of police Himanshu Shukla to reinvestigate
these three cases and report directly to it. Shukla, who has been in the
SIT since it’s constitution in 2008, was earlier involved in the
investigations into the post-Godhra murders of British citizens in
Prantij taluka of Sabarkantha district. Recently, the Gujarat government
moved the high court to cancel the bail of prime accused in the Naroda
cases, Babu Bajrangi, which has been posted for hearing on August 30.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6284164.cms

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Sohrabuddin case: SC grants three more months for CBI probe (Aug 12, 2010, Hindustan Times)

The Supreme Court today granted three months’ extension to the CBI to
complete its investigation into the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case in
which Amit Shah, the former Gujarat minister and a close aide of Chief
Minister Narendra Modi, has been arrested. The order in this regard was
passed amidst strong protest by Shah’s lawyer and senior advocate Ram
Jethmalani who questioned the apex court direction of a CBI probe into
the case.

He alleged that the bench which gave the order for a CBI
probe on January 12 included Justice Tarun Chatterjee (since retired)
who was himself was under the scanner of the probe agency which was
investigating the UP Provident Fund scam case. Solicitor General Gopal
Subramanium, who is assisting the court in the matter, took strong
objection to Jethmalani’s submission and said if such was the case, then
Gujarat government should have pointed it out at that stage only.

Even
the bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha expressed its
displeasure on submission made by Jethmalani and asked him to refrain
from mentioning about the former judge. Jethmalani made the submission
after the bench wanted to know from him as to on what ground the January
12 decision of the court ordering the CBI probe in the case could be
recalled. After the counsel from all the sides were pacified, the bench
went ahead with the hearing and passed the order giving three months’
extension to the CBI to complete the probe.

The bench declined the
plea of Shah that he should be given time to respond to the CBI plea
seeking extension of six months to carry out its investigation. "We are
not inclined to give time to reply to the plea of the CBI," the bench
said, adding, "since the investigation is not complete three months time
is granted to the CBI". The court said that extension was granted as
the CBI has to investigate the larger conspiracy involving the killing
of Prajapati, an eyewitness to Sohrabuddin’s killing in November 2005.
Prajapati was also killed in a police encounter in 2006 end. The court
directed the CBI to file a status report about its investigation after
three months in a sealed cover.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/585686.aspx

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Amit Shah had active role in fake encounter: CBI (Aug 13, 2010, The Hindu)

Recoveries made during the custodial interrogation of the former
Gujarat Deputy Superintendent of Police, Narendra Amin, accused in the
Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, and evidence as revealed in the
conversation between two other accused would clearly show how the former
Gujarat Minister, Amit Shah, gave instructions for the killing of
Kausar Bi, wife of Sohrabuddin, the CBI said in its status report filed
in the Supreme Court.

The agency said that after the fake
encounter of Sohrabuddin, Kausar Bi was shifted to the Arham Farm, near
Gandhinagar, from Disha. At the Arham Farm, one of the accused directed
Mr. Amin to liquidate Kausar Bi and dispose of her skeletal remains as
she was an eyewitness to the abduction of Sohrabuddin. The CBI said it
came to light that the Sohrabuddin gang was holding out extortion
threats to the proprietors of R.K. Marbles, Sangam Textiles and others
in Rajasthan. The Sohrabuddin gang also had a dispute with Hamid Lala
gang, which was acting as a protector of the marble lobby and collecting
protection money.

In gang rivalry Hamid Lala was murdered.
Extortion threats by the Sohrabuddin gang created panic and fear among
businessmen in and around Udaipur, Rajasthan, who approached the police
officers and senior political functionaries, and the accused from
Rajasthan conspired to eliminate Sohrabuddin. As regards the motive of
the accused from Gujarat, the CBI said evidence revealed that it was
extortion. "There is evidence of nexus among criminals, police officers
and politicians in Gujarat. Some of the accused from Gujarat were making
use of the Sohrabuddin gang for extortion. There is also evidence that
after the elimination of Sohrabuddin, the threat of killing by similar
encounters was used for purposes of extortion."

The CBI said:
"The Gujarat police, in order to create a recent case against
Sohrabuddin, stage-managed a firing [incident] using his own gang
members on the premises of Popular Builders, owned by Patel Brothers, in
Ahmedabad on December 8, 2004. One of the accused and Amit Shah used
the said firing for extorting money from Patel Brothers. They directed
Patel Brothers to give statements against Sohrabuddin and others,
failing which they would face dire consequences. When they did not toe
their line, both brothers were made accused in the said case." The
report said investigation revealed that Mr. Shah tried to
influence/threaten witnesses to conceal the truth from the CBI about the
fake encounter of Sohrabuddin, thereby tampering with evidence.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article567030.ece

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Top cop Kuldip Sharma booked for 1984 encounter killing (Aug 11, 2010, Times of India)

The state CID (crime) on Tuesday booked its former boss and senior
IPSofficerKuldip Sharma for the encounter killing of four gangsters when
he was Kutch SP in 1984. The move is being seen as a score against
Sharma, who is believed to be guiding the CBI in its probe into the
Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Sharma, who is additional
DGP, was superseded earlier this year, and his petition challenging the
supercession before Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) was dismissed
last month. The government has decided to set up a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case which has been reopened after
26 years. In February 2010, Jusab Juma Mamad of Kutch met DGP SS
Khandwawala and complained that his father and other family members were
killed by the officer. In 1984, Sharma was SP of Kutch which was a hub
of bullion smugglers.

On May 10, 1984, Umarwali Mamad and Fakir
Mamad Budha were killed in a police encounter and Juma Wali Mamad and
his son Ibrahim went missing. The family had complained to police then,
but no FIR was lodged. DGP Khandwawala forwarded the application to the
CID (crime) and on Sunday night the officers recorded the statement of
Jusab Mamad. On basis of the statement, Sharma, sub-inspector A S
Bishnoi and others were booked for murder and abduction. This complaint
will be probed by the Rajkot division of the CID (crime).

When
Sharma was heading the CID (crime) in 2005, probe by the agency’s
economic offences cell in the Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank
scam, had revealed that prime accused Ketan Parekh had defaulted after
borrowing Rs 1,300 crore from the bank. The CID arrested him, but he had
got out on bail.

Then Sharma had written to state chief
secretary seeking to prosecute then minister of state for home Amit Shah
who he charged of having taken Rs 2.5 crore for helping Parekh. Sharma
attached proof of Shah and Parekh having struck a deal in his letter to
the CS. This was the beginning of friction between Sharma and Modi
government.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6290214.cms

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Govt gets HC rap for its approach in Ishrat case (Aug 12, 2010, Times of India)

Gujarat High Court has come down heavily on the state government for
the way it has objected to metropolitan magistrate SP Tamang’s report in
the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The state government got a rap for
siding with police officers and for trying to create obstacles in
possibility of finding out truth. The petitioners’ counsel had expressed
surprise over the state government’s reaction to the Tamang report and
objected to any investigation by Gujarat police. The state government
continued to object to CBI probe and Tamang report also by siding with
one of the involved officers GL Singhal.

The state government’s
support to ATS SP Singhal and its attempt at character assassination of
Ishrat and Javed Shaikh made the high court pull up the government for
its partisan approach. "It would hardly be fair on the part of the state
to side with any persons, who are referred to or found to have been
involved in the incident," the court observed against the government.

The
high court also reminded the state government what are its duties as a
sovereign power. "The role of the state being a welfare State is
expected to be of an independent and neutral role, without siding with
either parties, may be its own officer or the citizen in a case when the
matter pertains to commission of offence. The attempt on the part of
the State would be to explore the truth and to supplement the action in
furtherance of tracing or exploring the truth. The welfare State cannot
be expected to throttle any process, including that of by initiation of
any action in the Court of law, which may have adverse effect in putting
the law into motion," the court advised Gujarat government.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6301786.cms

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Dara encounter: CBI gets evidence against cops (Aug 11, 2010, Times of India)

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which has been directed by the
Supreme Court to look into the encounter death of notorious criminal
Dara Singh, has examined the wireless log’ of Jaipur police control room
pertaining to the day when Singh was gunned down on October 23, 2006.
As per the log records, it was first announced on the wireless network
that the cops had "caught Dara Singh while his accomplice had fled."
However, minutes after this message, another message said "one had been
killed in the encounter and another managed to escape."

The CBI
has come to the conclusion that the first message was communicated to
the control room when Dara Singh was not killed. And the second message
suggest that Singh was killed in the fake encounter and then it was
communicated to the control room that he fired bullets at the chasing
police party following which the cops had to return fire. This finding
can land many cops including then ADG (crime) AK Jain, then DIG (SOG)
Ponnuchami, ASP Arshad Ali and a former minister of BJP government in
trouble.

Going by the police version, ASP Arshad Ali got a
tip-off from an informer that two dacoits were travelling on an
Ajmer-bound bus on the day of the incident. During checking, police
found two suspects and asked them to come down from the bus but they
allegedly tried to escape. When the police challenged them, one of them
allegedly fired on the police party and fled. The police then chased
them and fired on them while they were hiding behind Rajendra Nagar LPG
godown. Dara Singh was killed while the other person escaped. They also
claimed to have seized a country-made pistol in his possession. In fact,
the finding of the wireless log had not been easy for CBI.

After
the CBI inquiry was ordered into the incident by the Supreme Court in
April this year, the CBI tried to get the wireless log from the control
room, but were informed that the log had been destroyed. They were
reportedly told that the wireless log is generally destroyed from time
to time. Meanwhile, CBI officials came to know that the family members
of the victim who had approached SC had acquired the wireless log by
filing an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Sources
claimed the documents have now reached the agency and they are proving
to be definitive evidences against some police officers. Sources also
said that after getting the wireless log, the CBI was about to move
against RPS officer Arshad Ali who was heading the investigation at the
time and was planning to grill him, but they had to back out when a CBI
witness approached Rajasthan High Court alleging torture by the
officials of the agency. After the encounter, Singh’s wife Sushila Devi
lodged an FIR with Mansarovar police under Sections 307, 332, 353 of IPC
and Section 3/25 of the Arms Act against four police officers and one
other for the fake encounter killing of Dara Singh.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6290050.cms

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Malegaon suspects to be quizzed on Guj blast (Aug 12, 2010, Hindustan Times)

The National Investigation Agency suspects that two apparently
unconnected bomb blasts that took place two years ago, in Maharashtra’s
Malegaon and Gujarat’s Modasa, might have been the handiwork of the same
right-wing Hindu network. As a result, the Agency, which the central
government set up in 2008 to combat terror, is likely to soon question
those accused in the Malegaon case about the Modasa blasts, both of
which struck on September 29, 2008.

It obtained the necessary
permission last week from the special court trying the Malegaon accused,
after filing an application in which it argued that examining the
accused in this case was crucial for identifying those involved in the
Modasa explosion. The Malegaon accused are being tried under the
Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act or MCOCA. "Some fresh leads
have emerged," said an officer from the Agency who is involved in the
investigation, on condition of anonymity. "It is not a co-incidence that
the two blasts happened on the same day."

The investigations
revealed that similar motorcycles were used in both blasts. But besides
this, nothing has emerged to link the blasts more directly. The Malegaon
blasts killed eight people and injured more than 80, while one person
died in the Modasa explosion. Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad has
arrested 11 people so far in connection with the Malegaon blasts,
including Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur, Dayanand Pande and Prasad Purohit, a
suspended lieutenant colonel, all three of who belonged to Abhinav
Bharat, a right-wing Hindu group. Purohit began this group 2007 to
"propagate a separate Hindu Rashtra with its own Constitution,"
according to the charge sheet that the police filed.

The Gujarat
police have not arrested any one so far in connection with the Modasa
blast. Because the central government felt the Gujarat police had made
no headway on the Modasa case, it transferred it to the National
Investigation Agency last month. But now the Agency has more data. The
"fresh leads" that it is following have come from three sources, the
official said. The first came from the Agency’s examination this month
of three laptops that belonged to Pande, the second from its questioning
of a few of Thaukur’s and Pande’s Uttar Pradesh-based associates. It
also gleaned details about how Purohit’s group functioned from the
MahaMalegaon suspects to be quizzed on Guj blast.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/585454.aspx

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Indian Americans urged to dissociate from Sadhvi Ritambhara (Aug 12, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Indian Muslim Council USA has appealed the Indian American community
to disassociate itself from the alleged hate-mongering speeches of
visiting Hindutva activist Sadhvi Rithambara.

"Indian Americans
need to focus on leveraging the strategic relationship between India and
America for the betterment of the citizens of India and America – not
on the narrow minded ideological loyalties," the Council said in a
statement. "Let us promote harmony and progress and reject politics of
hate and intolerance starting from our community halls, synagogues,
churches, mosques and temples," it said.

Noting that Sadhvi
Ritambhara is currently being tried by Indian courts for inciting
religious violence, the IMC-USA said her speeches during a previous US
visit had caused considerable controversy. "When her earlier speaking
engagement was cancelled by the City of Hollywood, Florida, it
embarrassed and divided Indian American community in Florida," it noted.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/585529.aspx

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Azads killing: Some unanswered questions (Aug 10, 2010, Rediff)

The July 2 killing of Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, the Communist
Party of India-Maoist spokesman, has raised several questions, which the
government and the police are reluctant to answer. The Andhra Pradesh
police claimed Azad, a member of the Communist Party of India-Maoist
central committee and politburo as well as its national spokesman, was
killed in the forests of Adilabad district early on July 2. The police
said Azad and another Maoist were killed in a lengthy exchange of fire
with security personnel. In angry response, the Maoists claimed that
Azad was picked up in Nagpur a day earlier, flown to Adilabad by
helicopter, and executed in cold blood along with a man named Hemchandra
Pandey. In May, Home Minister P Chidambaram invited Swami Agnivesh, who
had led a peace march in Chhattisgarh in April, to mediate with the
Maoists and explore the possibility of a cease-fire, which would likely
result in peace talks with the central government. With Chidambaram’s
permission, Agnivesh met with senior Maoist leaders Kobad Gandhy at
Delhi’s Tihar jail and Narayan Sanyal at Raipur jail in Chhattisgarh to
begin the peace process. He also wrote to the Maoists, informing them
about the government’s interest in a dialogue, to bring about a peaceful
resolution to the Leftist insurgency that has crippled life in many
districts in the country.

Azad responded on the Maoists’s behalf,
expressing willingness in possible talks with the Centre and indicating
that his organisation could think of a cease-fire. One sticking point
was Chidambaram’s insistence on a date for a cease-fire, which the home
minister felt would indicate the Maoists’s intentions. Once a cease-fire
- the duration of which could extend for three days or six months or
longer – was in place, Chidamabaram told Agnivesh talks could begin. In
late June Agnivesh wrote again to Azad, suggesting three likely dates in
July when the cease-fire could go into effect. Azad was carrying
Agnivesh’s letter with him the day he died. Here are some questions, the
answers to which will go some way in making clear just what happened on
the night of July 1 and the morning of 2. Was Azad indeed picked up
from Nagpur, as the Maoists claim? The Maoists claim Azad was scheduled
to meet with a local contact named Sahadev in Nagpur at 11 am on July 1
and travel to the Dandakarnya forests, but he never turned up for the
meeting. Azad, it is believed, was on his way to meet with senior
Maoists in the Dandakarnya forests to discuss Chidambaram’s proposal and
likely dates for a cease-fire. Azad had been underground for more than
35 years. He had successfully survived capture and death at police hands
all those years. If he had indeed been captured in Nagpur, what led
this cautious man to lower his guard?

If the Maoists’s claim
about Azad being arrested in Nagpur is true, who tipped off the Andhra
Pradesh police about his presence in the Maharashtra city? What proof do
the Andhra Pradesh police have to show that Azad was indeed in Adilabad
at the time of the encounter? The Andhra Pradesh police version is
there were 20 Maoists who were in the Adilabad forests. If the police
version is correct, what evidence do they have of the presence of the
other Maoists in the area? Again, if the police version is correct, how
come only two people – especially the two who were said to be in Nagpur -
were killed? Do the police have any evidence to prove that the Maoists -
if at all they existed – initiated an attack; again if at all an
encounter occurred in Adilabad? Has a case of murder been filed against
the policemen and an investigation initiated, as the courts have ruled
in all cases of encounter deaths? If Azad had been picked up in Nagpur,
the Andhra Pradesh police team would have discovered Agnivesh’s letter
on the Maoist leader when they searched his person. Even if they were
unsure about who he was – the only photograph of Azad in police records
was about 35 years old, from his days at an engineering college – the
letter would have indicated his identity as a top Maoist leader, and his
importance.

Surely, it was in the interest of the government’s
campaign against the Maoists to keep Azad alive and in custody. Who took
the decision to kill him? And why? Surely, a police officer of the rank
of superintendent of police – clearly aware of the consequences – could
not have taken such a important decision. So where did the final
decision come from? Was the Andhra Pradesh police team in touch with
senior officers in Hyderabad – and New Delhi – at any point during the
alleged encounter? Was Hemchandra Pandey, the man killed with Azad, a
Maoist? His wife says he was a freelance journalist, but a Maoist site
on the Internet later identified him as a comrade. Was the latter
information genuine? Pandey’s colleagues say he was in his Delhi office
till 2 pm on July 1. How could he have participated in the gun battle in
Adilabad, which the police claim began at 11.30 pm July 1? Villagers in
Sarkepally, near the area where Azad and Pandey’s bodies were
discovered, say they did not hear gunshots. How does the police respond
to this? Maoists claim they do not have a presence in Adilabad. Why do
the police think Azad was there? Interestinglty, one of India’s top-most
officials, who is involved with matters of internal security, told
Rediff.com that Azad’s death was the result of divisions within the
Maoist leadership over the peace process.

Speaking on deep
background, the official said Azad’s belief in peace talks were not
shared by some other Maoist leaders who were keen on continuing the
violent offensive against the Indian State. His inference was that the
hostile Maoist faction had tipped off the Andhra Pradesh police about
Azad’s presence though the official would not be drawn into discussing
the location. Agnivesh has told Rediff.com that Home Minister
Chidambaram has ruled out a judicial probe into the killings. The
minister told Agnivesh that the Centre has no jurisdiction to order such
an inquiry since the incident occurred in Andhra Pradesh, and law and
order is a state subject. At his July 20 meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh,
Agnivesh revealed to Rediff.com that he had requested the prime
minister to ask Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah to invite a
judge of national eminence to investigate Azad’s killing. Dr Singh,
Agnivesh felt, had reacted favourably to his request though the prime
minister would not commit to such a line of action, requesting the swami
to continue his efforts to mediate with the Maoists and end the
violence that has claimed so many lives.

http://news.rediff.com/special/2010/aug/10/special-azads-death-some-unanswered-questions.htm

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Boys death in police custody sparks protest (Aug 11, 2010, Hindustan Times)

A teenage Dalit boy was allegedly beaten to death in police custody,
sparking protests by locals and prompting the police to baton charge.
Rishi Kumar, 19, was picked up by police on Monday night from Nithora
village in connection with a loot incident. He was brought to the Loni
police station here, police said.

Kumar, who police claimed was
beaten up by the public before he was brought here, died yesterday noon
while being taken to hospital. Alleging that the boy had been beaten to
death in police custody, his family members, along with local residents,
staged a blockade on Delhi-Saharpur road.

Police batoncharged the
protesters in which four persons, including two women, were injured,
sources said. Rubbishing the allegations, SSP Ghaziabad Raghubir Lal
claimed Kumar died due to injuries he sustained after being beaten by
public soon after the loot incident.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/585313.aspx

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Opinions and Editorials

The lid is off – By Anupama Katakam and Venkitesh Ramakrishnan (Aug 14, 2010, Frontline)

If the investigations into the fake encounter in which Sohrabuddin
Sheikh was killed proceed unhindered, the case could well turn out to be
a watershed in the history of the country’s law and order machinery,
especially in relation to the linkages between politics and policing.
Already, the investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
have yielded many firsts and unearthed many shocking facts. For the
first time, a Minister, and one who handled the portfolio of Home, has
been arrested in a case of a faked encounter. Investigations have
revealed that the political leaderships in Gujarat and Rajasthan
colluded and used police officers to engineer a series of extrajudicial
killings – including those of Sohrabuddin’s wife, Kauser Bi, and
associate, Tulsi Prajapati. The administrative machinery, the police
force and political organisation were apparently used to portray the
killings as a result of anti-terrorist operations. These revelations
have also laid bare the consistent anti-minority streak in the political
ideology of Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments. The case is still
at the investigative stage, but it has already created an explosive
situation as a grisly story of extortion, contract killings, rape,
bribery and corruption emerges. The plot may well include some very
high-profile names in the political and administrative corridors of
Gujarat, Rajasthan and, maybe, in some other States.

At least one
very powerful man is already in the net. Amit Shah has been arrested
over charges of kidnap and murder, and lawyers and investigators say
this is just the beginning. A senior BJP functionary and until recently
Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s right-hand man, Amit Shah is being held
responsible for derailing Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
investigations into the killings by using his influence as the Minister
of State for Home. He reportedly stonewalled all leads that led the
police to his door. He was arrested after the CBI, it is reported,
gathered damning evidence of his involvement in the encounter, though
police sources say that it will be a hard task to keep him in custody.
As many as 18 policemen, including seven senior officers, were arrested
in 2007 in the case. Among the officers were Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) of Police D.G. Vanzara, who is a notorious encounter specialist,
M.N. Dinesh, Rajkumar Pandiyan, Abhay Chudasama and N.K. Amin. Amin
recently filed an application to turn approver. If the court agrees, his
testimony is expected to corroborate many facts that the CBI has
uncovered. "If Shah can be arrested, then the CBI clearly means
business, and we are certain many more big fish will be caught," said
Mukul Sinha, lawyer for Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin Sheikh, whose
petition in the Supreme Court set the ball rolling in the case.

Such
a turn was not expected at all when Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a petty
criminal, died in what was called an "encounter" on November 26, 2005,
in Ahmedabad. The police in Gujarat claimed he was a dreaded terrorist
on a mission to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Kauser Bi and
Tulsi Prajapati were portrayed as accomplices of the "terrorist". Though
investigations started soon after on the Supreme Court’s directions,
the political and policing machinery involved in the killing was able to
sell this for several years. In January 2010, the Supreme Court
entrusted the case to the CBI. It was only then that the murky details
began to surface. The story, as it now emerges, seems to be this.
Sohrabuddin, a small-time gangster and extortionist, was harassing
marble merchants in Rajasthan and had become inconvenient to some people
in the trade who were close to the BJP’s political leadership in
Gujarat and Rajasthan. The marble traders apparently turned to some
Gujarat politicians and policemen to get rid of the nuisance. The
"encounter specialists" in Gujarat realised, explained Mukul Sinha, that
killing Sohrabuddin in an "encounter" would accomplish several things.
To begin with, it would be lucrative because they would be paid
handsomely by those who wanted Sohrabuddin eliminated. If they could
establish that he was a terrorist plotting to assassinate the Chief
Minister, it would also bring them rewards in their jobs. As for Modi,
he would be able to brag about how his life was under constant threat
from Islamist elements. Indeed, the anti-minority mindset that is
evident in the Sohrabuddin episode is of a piece with the communal
animosity that was on display in the 2002 pogrom. So, an execution was
plotted, says the CBI. The CID reports reveal that in the early hours of
November 23, 2005, Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi and Prajapati were travelling
in a bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra when some policemen
drove up in a car, stopped the bus and pulled the three of them out.
Sohrabuddin and his wife were taken to a farmhouse near Ahmedabad. Early
on November 26, Sohrabuddin was taken to Ahmedabad and shot dead. His
body was found ridden with bullets pumped in by at least four policemen.
Witness accounts in the CID report say Vanzara was part of the team
that shot him. The "dreaded terrorist" story was put out the next
morning, with the policemen claiming that they had to kill him in
self-defence as he had fired at them. The policemen who "caught" him
were lauded for their efforts.

Kauser Bi’s body was never found.
According to reports, soon after Sohrabuddin was taken away, she was
shifted to another farmhouse, raped and eventually killed with a lethal
injection. Her body was burnt and the ashes were dumped in a well at
Illol village, from where Vanzara, incidentally, also hails. The well
was sealed soon after. Rubabuddin spoiled the party for Vanzara and his
colleagues. In January 2006, he wrote to the Supreme Court seeking an
investigation. Taking cognisance of his plea, the court instructed the
Director General of Police, Gujarat, to make inquiries. The DGP
forwarded the court’s instruction to the State CID. Geeta Johri, IGP,
CID (Crime), took charge of the investigation, which was registered as
Enquiry No 66./2006. Geeta Johri constituted a team led by Police
Inspector V.L. Solanki to investigate the killings. Solanki and his team
visited Hyderabad, Jharnia (Sohrabuddin’s village) in Madhya Pradesh
and the site of the kidnap in the process of their investigation and
recorded statements from several witnesses. The team submitted four
interim preliminary inquiry reports to Geeta Johri, dated September 1,
2006, December 7, 2006, December 15-16, 2006, and January 1, 2007. The
reports gave detailed accounts with the names of the policemen involved,
locations, timings and every other detail regarding Sohrabuddin until
he was brought to the first farmhouse, owned by Girish Patel. A police
source said that at this stage Geeta Johri’s version of what happened
was fair and accurate. Indeed, the preliminary CID reports finally
nailed Vanzara, Dinesh and Pandiyan.

But at this point Amit Shah
entered the picture. In his capacity as Minister of State for Home, he
is accused of having put pressure on Geeta Johri to derail the
investigation. Geeta Johri mentioned this in a letter she wrote to the
then DGP P.C. Pandey, which is now in the CBI’s possession. According to
Mukul Sinha, Geeta Johri had probably realised what had happened and
stumbled upon the Rajasthan link. "She was close to uncovering the real
story, but a huge hurdle developed in the form of political pressure,"
he said. It is believed that Prajapati was killed days before she was
due to interrogate him. Prajapati was in police custody after being
hauled off the bus with Sohrabuddin and his wife. On December 28, 2006,
he was killed by the police in Banaskantha. The police version was that
he had escaped from custody and fired at the police when they caught up
with him, so he had to be killed. "They couldn’t risk him being
interrogated by her," a police source said. Between January and May
2007, Amit Shah allegedly tried hard to derail the CID investigation.
According to a statement issued by Solanki at a media conference, he
summoned Geeta Johri, G.C. Raigar, and Solanki and asked them to change
the course of the investigation. Solanki and Raigar repeated this
allegation in their testimony to the CBI. Apparently, none of them
agreed to do the Minister’s bidding. Geeta Johri was eventually replaced
by the then Deputy IGP, State (CID), Rajneesh Rai, who also refused to
comply. Indeed, Rai arrested the top officers involved in the crime on
the basis of Geeta Johri’s reports. As the heat started mounting, Amit
Shah replaced Raigar with O.P Mathur as head of the CID. He removed Rai
and brought back Geeta Johri in May 2007. This time, she apparently
agreed to twist the case to suit her bosses. The second phase of the
investigation saw two more reports, which lacked credibility. Geeta
Johri appeared to draw up a story showing the policemen killing
Sohrabuddin for promotions and rewards. She steered clear of any
political link-ups. … The Sohrabuddin case holds out the promise that
encounter killings can be probed properly if the investigating agencies
get a free hand and a clear brief. However, many lawyers and activists,
including the Delhi-based advocate Rebecca John, who represents victims’
families in many encounter killing cases, point out that unless the
Union and State governments commit themselves to zero tolerance of
encounter killings, the Sohrabuddin investigation may turn into a
one-off event. "What we require is legislation that makes it mandatory
to have a simultaneous FIR and a parallel charge sheet against erring
police officers in cases where there is an allegation of encounter
killing," she said.

http://www.frontline.in/fl2717/stories/20100827271700400.htm

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Trail Of Symbols: Babri Demolition To Gujarat Holocaust! – By Anil Pundlik Gokhale (Aug 13, 2010, Countercurrents)

On 20th August, we are approaching the 70 th anniversary of
assassination of Leon Trotsky, the architect of the October revolution
in Russia and pioneer of the art of insurrection. His writings on
Fascism are the only credible articles of Marxist analysis of class
characteristics of Fascism and Nazism and complex relationship it
establishes with large industrial and finance capital. His "What is
National Socialism?" provides us enormous insights into tragic trail of
historical events that followed in India since 1980′s, Babri demolition
till Gujarat holocaust. .The significance of these horrific events
compel us to trace the origins, growth and first order symbolic triumph
of Hindutwa fascism in India after prolonged period of seven decades
since 1920′s. It shows how political liberalism and secularism trembles
when threatened by combative organized Hindu Nationalists supported by
large Industrial and finance capital. What began with installation of
idols of Rama in Babri Mosque in 1947, grew in pell-mell and received
catastrophic impetus in 1980′s which finally crippled the state. Fascism
is built on the foundations of mass movement of petty bourgeoisie in
despair and when it looses its precarious volatile independence from
classes below it and above it and takes shelter into mysticism of
symbols inherited from ‘resurgent past’. Intention of this write up is
to disclose the anatomy and construction of symbols forming perpetual
source of fascist violence in the name of ‘classless and casteless
resurgent Hindu community’.

Since 1980s, for last twenty five
years, capitalism in India has been shedding its skin, through series of
economic slumps and rural draughts but it unfurled its global
aspirations of emerging as imperialist super power. It made huge leap
for integration into corporate global business and finance capital and
rapidly assimilated modern technology. Centralization, concentration of
global investment was accompanied by ruthless smiting down of gains of
trade union movement over decades and throwing to the winds old
industrial structure to the whims of closures and ‘disinvestments’. As a
result, working classes threw out massive army of unemployed, ‘surplus
labor’ adding to the chronically unemployed mass of lumpens. But ruins
of petty bourgeoisie was significant and phenomenal, across all regions
and states in India creating most volatile political situation. Urban
middle classes saw their hopes sinking with shutting down of old
industry and found itself in neck deep trouble. It was joined by
sections of mass of uprooted poor peasants and traditional caste based
artisans which form the bulk of OBCs. Never before their plight was so
acute as shear pace of the economic slumps from 1981 till 1990′s brought
complete misery into their life. The lowly caste based status prevented
their entry into modern education system and also into new occupations.
Recessionary slumps turned into sharp growth in anarchic and erratic
socio political agitations in rural and urban India. The dramatic change
in class structure brought with it inflow of unemployed, traditional
middle peasants, OBCs and small farm holders into cities and fused their
miseries with plight of the semi urban and urban middle classes. Their
cultural fusion created awesome mass of deranged, lunatics and hysterics
striving for spiritual liberation and schizophrenic invalids possessed
by ‘evil spirits’. Sections of them surrendered themselves into the arms
of Hindu saints and sadhus. Embracing communal rituals and amalgamation
with psychical life of chronically unemployed is reflected in to the
jump in the estimated strength of instinctually starved mass of sadhus
of India to six million. Road to heaven and mokshya paved through the
ascetics preached by earthly demy gods. The vast communities of
unemployed Sadhus formed the ready made cannon fodder for religious-
political organizations. Spiritual ascetic leadership could compress all
types of dissatisfactions of large mass of petit bourgeoisies and
middle classes and could swing behind it large chunk of unemployed
working population forming the backbone of anti-liberal revolt inspired
by phantasised past.

The extermination threat from advancing
capitalism exploded on job reservations bringing about vertical split in
the ranks of OBCs. Job reservation for Muslims in sate and central
government within extremely limited opportunities was viciously
projected by VHP as systematic plan hatched against the fundamental
rights and interests of SC and OBCs. Scramble for jobs and with little,
almost no schooling in class struggle, lifted the lead of social
political repression over centuries. From the bottom of the social order
rose the silt of symbols of blood, hatred and sacrificial imagery. It
invoked rebellion of sections of OBC against their fathers to establish
their own casteless Hindu identity freed from Brahmin domination! In Ram
Janmabhumi or Babri demolition movement the propaganda against Muslim
oppression, conversion, cow slaughter, marriages of Hindu daughters to
Muslim youths infected the unemployed OBCs and poor peasants to the
fullest extent. Swapan Dasgupta rightwing author of Hindu gospels
writes, " It is very clear that the established Brahmanical order is
incapable of rising to the challenge. The Ayodhya movement became a mass
movement because it was driven and inspired by earthy evangelists like
Sadhvi Rithambara, Uma Bharati and Acharya Dharmendra (all OBCs). There
was nothing Brahmanical or ‘high Church’ about their mobilizing
techniques. Yet, they created the environment for the largest Hindu
mobilization in history". Scattered sects of Sadhus united on single
platform positioned themselves as ‘spiritual agents’, formed the
vanguard of the Ram Janmabhumi- Babri Demolition mass movement.
Eventually the internal dissatisfaction and despair of chronically
unemployed youth succumbed to political promise by VHP of a magical land
of equality for all Hindus. Finally it crystallized into hardened
extreme right wing groups of ‘Bajrang Dal’. The youth from various sects
revolted against the liberal creeds and confused their aggressive and
violent activism aimed at overthrowing the yoke of "Islam and political
liberalism’ as revolutionary fight against perils of capitalism and
liberalism and ended up as lethal organizational weapon in service of
capitalism.

The brewing regressive revolt of this terribly
suppressed stratum of OBCs and poor peasants stirred up to the cultural
surface the malice, filth and dirt accumulated over centuries of caste
based social life. It enabled the upper caste political groups to
resurrect a grandiose ideology of ‘resurgent Hindu community’ freed from
brahminical hierarchy. under the leadership of Sadhus and saints.
Manjiri Katju, a staunch VHPite, writes in recently published "Vishwa
Hindu Parishad and Indian Politics," " O ver the last decade, the VHP
has become transformed from an organization of traders, petty
industrialists and provincial bureaucrats to a grouping whose cadres are
made up predominantly of Other Backward Castes (OBCs)" Even simple
glance at the composition of VHP- Bajrang Dal is self evident. Pravin
Togadia? Patel, sometimes classed as ‘Backwards’. Narendra Modi? OBC.
Uma Bharti? (OBC and poor peasant), Sadhvi Ritambhra- (OBC and poor
peasant from Punjab ), Vinay Katiyar of the Bajrang Dal? OBC. Acharya
Dharmendra? OBC. Kalyan Singh? OBC. Most of the Bajrang Dal conveners
and akhada chiefs have rose from the ranks of petty contractors, Anti
Union or non-unionized government employees, lumpen and unemployed. The
VHP is thus, today, a movement that has been described by her as a
movement of ‘Shudra Hindutwa’. She says, "VHP’s language of mobilization
changed from mild socio-religious criticism to a vitriolic attack on
the entire social and political ideology of the (liberal) state". It is
not surprising that Manjiri prescribes, "successful targeting of the
‘other’ (Muslims and Christians) helps paper over internal divisions and
divert attention from sorely needed social reform". Earlier efforts of
V.D. Savarkar to tide over the caste barriers for uniting "Hindus’ as
fighting force by targeting Muslims seems to have yielded success in
last decades of twentieth century. All credit goes to advancing
corporate capitalism for summoning and providing much needed political
crucible for the political forces of despair waiting in the dark for
decades. Its barbaric strategy of turning the raging anger generated by
exterminations, evictions and closures provided did not deter it. They
discovered in it rich and dividend paying opportunity of pushing both
sections of, drowning, tumbling and rising, petty bourgeoisies, as
partners in despair. The right wing offered them avenues for violent
articulation for creation of ‘symbolic virtual reality’ for resurrection
of ‘equality in hell’, mythical neo ethno-religious Hindu community
life. It united them under the ‘magic of orthodoxy’ and ‘authority’. It
took one full decade for fusing and unifying of the discontent. In the
cataclysmic event of Babri Demolition of 1992, it was VHP and BJD
unified the ranks and files of ‘ascetic’ sadhus living scattered and
‘cult’ life of lumpen. Subsequently genocide of 2002 in Gujarat has
provided supreme evidence of its racial edge, arrogance and strength of
organized violence. …

Today we get glimpse into core values and
functions of fascism by taking stocks of Gujarat today. It is the
logical culmination of Babri Mosque demolition, horrendous events, of
2001-2002 and experimentations in ‘Hindutwa Laboratory’ in Gujarat.
Genocide through violence, death and fear have altered everyday life of
Ahemadabad and Gujarat . New landscape came into being in the corporate
globalizing city and has announced the death of old Textile Industrial
city. Fascist neo liberals and fascist politicians have annihilated
Muslim ‘occupied territories’ and ushered new culture dominated by Islam
phobia. New educational systems are also humming with Hindu- Gujarati
discourses with ethnic bias and eulogizing Aryan rule of Hitler. … All
this Hindutwa fascists, Togadia (Heart Surgeon and an advocate of human
butchery), Narendra Modi who provided state sanctions for the holocaust
of 2002 identify today’s state of affairs in Gujarat as "Resurgence of
Hindutwa’, a virtual reality of ‘Casteless Hindu Community’ has been
built on the foundations of annihilation of resistance from working
masses. We are reminded again words of Leon Trotsky on the occasion of
assumption of power by Nazis. He hammered Hitler’s agenda, "His tasks
are assigned him by monopoly capital" and tears apart the veil of
fascist fetishism and claims of the fans and beholders of Fascism. "
Despair has raised them to their feet; fascism has given them a banner.
Everything that should have been eliminated from the national organism
in the form of cultural excrement in the course of the normal
development of society has now come gushing out from the throat;
capitalist society is puking up the undigested barbarism. Such is the
physiology of National Socialism".

http://www.countercurrents.org/gokhale130810.htm

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Mamatas dangerous game – Editorial (Aug 11, 2010, The Hindu)

In her eagerness to mobilise every dissenting section and use every
available weapon against the Left Front government in West Bengal,
Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is playing
a dangerous game fraught with major, long-term implications for the
internal security of the country. First, Monday’s rally in Lalgarh was a
joint Trinamool-Maoist enterprise, with the latter dominant in the
mobilisation. Ms Banerjee not only called for the resumption of
negotiations with the Maoists, but also pressed for withdrawal of
security operations in the Jangalmahal region (though this time she set a
condition: the extremists should declare a ceasefire). This is in
direct opposition to the stance of the central government, which is
struggling to meet the Maoist armed threat in West Bengal and other
parts of the country.

Although the Railways under her charge have
been repeatedly targeted by the Maoists, the Trinamool chief spoke up
for the Maoist front, the ‘People’s Committee Against Police
Atrocities,’ whose members are known to take the law into their own
hands. Ms Banerjee also managed to enlist the support of ‘social
activists’ Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar in this politically loaded
endeavour. Both extended vocal support to the Trinamool Congress and the
Maoists in the name of protecting the rights of Adivasis – speciously
asking the ultra-left outfit to abjure violence and take to the
democratic path. In such a situation, arms-wielding Maoists have
seamlessly merged with Trinamool cadre in West Bengal, posing a serious
threat to public order in the region.

Political India knows Ms
Banerjee to be a law unto herself, and her politics to be irresponsible.
But this cannot be a rationalisation for the United Progressive
Alliance government to allow one of its important constituents and a
senior Minister to publicly support, and collaborate on the ground with,
armed extremism that does not have any compunction in unleashing terror
against political opponents as well as civilians. The Congress, which
heads the UPA, is itself mired in contradictions on this vital issue.

Although
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Naxalites as the
"greatest internal security threat to our country," his party extended
moral support to the rally. Not surprisingly, the issue has rocked
Parliament with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties
questioning the commitment of the government in tackling the Maoist
violence when one of its constituents is deeply enmeshed with Naxalite
groups. With Assembly elections in West Bengal due in less than a year,
political opportunism has given short shrift to internal security
considerations. There will be a huge price to pay if the central
government continues to look the other way as Ms Banerjee pursues her
akratic course for power at any cost.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/11/stories/2010081154121000.htm

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Paid News: The Buried Report – By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, K. Sreenivas Reddy (Aug 6, 2010, Outlook)

The report of the two-member subcommittee comprising Paranjoy Guha
Thakurta and K. Sreenivas Reddy set up by the Press Council of India
(PCI) to examine the Paid News scandal was originally scheduled to be
released on April 26, 2010. Its release was then "deferred" – and the
report referred to a larger group of Council members who were to decide -
within three months – by July 31, 2010 – on how it should be presented
because "some council members argued that it would destroy the
publishers’ credibility and hurt their long term interest". We had
published only excerpts from the report in our blogs as we hoped that by
July 31 the full report would eventually see the light of day. But,
surprise surprise, on July 30, 2010, the PCI came out with a much
watered down version of the report without any of the specifics detailed
in the original which explicitly named newspapers and channels -
including some of the biggest groups in the country – seen as having
indulged in the "paid news" practice. The original report was reduced to
a mere footnote ("The Council decided that the report of the
Sub-Committee may remain on record of the Council as reference
document").

This "reference document", which traces the emergence
of the paid news phenomenon over years and phases was – despite many of
the PCI members in the meeting on July 30 insisting on it – not even
annexed to the "final report". It is not available even for "reference"
on the PCI’s website. Perhaps those who drafted the "final report" did
not see any irony in passages such as the following in it, also quoted
in the press-release issued by the PCI on July 30: "Sections of the
media in India have willy-nilly become participants and players in such
practices that contribute to the growing use of money power in politics
which undermines democratic processes and norms – while hypocritically
pretending to occupy a high moral ground. This has not merely undermined
democracy in India but also tarnished the country’s reputation."

As
P. Sainath wrote in the Hindu: The PCI has simply buckled at the knees
before the challenge of "Paid News." Its decision of July 30 to sideline
its own sub-committee’s report – which named and shamed the
perpetrators of "paid news" – will go down as one of the sorriest
chapters in its history. A chapter that will not be forgotten and the
impact of which causes immeasurable damage to the fight against major
corruption within the Indian media. A chapter that saw the PCI back down
in the struggle against the suborning of the media by money power;
though its "final report" pretends to fight it in a flood of platitudes.
And a chapter that does grave damage to the image and credibility of
the PCI itself. Leave aside for the moment the harm it has done to the
public interest. Or to the future of the Indian media as a free and
honest institution.

Mr Sainath concluded his piece by saying: To
say we have not suppressed the sub-committee’s report, we have merely
relegated it to our archive for reference, is to add infuriating insult
to injury. To praise the authors of the original (as happened in its
July 30 meeting) for their effort and then gut the result of that
pioneering work, was hypocrisy of a high order. To then present the
mangled remains as a guide to fighting paid news eclipses even that
benchmark of insincerity. The public surely deserve better. Those
publications and channels that were not part of this ugly enterprise of
paid news ought to act. For a start, they can put up the "reference"
document on their websites and call public attention to it with
headlines, not footnotes. So here it is. As a "reference document". We
hope to have more details about the sequence of events leading to the
scuttling of this report as we are trying to cross-verify the names of
those who, by a show of hands, voted in favour of the report being made
public – other than the PCI chairman and the two authors of the report -
and those who opposed it.

We learn that out of the 24 of the
full 30 member PCI, who attended the July 30 meeting, 9 (including the
chairman) were in favour of the report being annexed to the "final"
report, 12 opposed it and 3 remained non-committal. So, effectively, it
was not just those who openly opposed but also the non-committal and
absent members who allowed this report to be consigned to the archives
rather than being made public officially. At the same time, perhaps the
only silver lining to the dark cloud is that at least nine out of 24 did
want the report to be made public officially.

http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266542

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Resisting Maoists – By Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay (Aug 14, 2010, Frontline)

After suffering severe losses at the hands of the Central forces and
facing strong resistance from the local people, the banned Communist
Party of India (Maoist) appears to be losing its influence in the
Jangalmahal area of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura
districts. The rule of terror that the Maoists had established in the
region since November 2008 may well be facing its strongest challenge,
this time from the local people whose cause the Maoists profess to
espouse. For over two and half years, the Maoists and their frontal
organisation, the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA),
have carried out, almost on a daily basis, a programme of killing,
extortion and intimidation. The people put up silently with the
situation mainly out of fear of being labelled either a Communist Party
of India (Marxist) supporter or a police informer – two of the most
common excuses the Maoists use for killing people. However, July 22
turned out to be a day of reckoning for the extremists, when the people
of Radhanagar village near Jhargram town in Paschim Medinipur district
stood up to them and refused to obey their diktat. Around 20 armed
Maoists and PCPA members were in for a nasty surprise when they
assembled at the village school playground and demanded that the people
participate in a rally organised by them. The residents not only refused
to take part in the procession but also chased away the Maoists when
they tried to intimidate them with guns and bombs.

Praveen
Tripathi, Superintendent of Police, Jhargram district, told Frontline:
"Now people are getting fed up with being forced to take part in Maoist
programmes. The recent successes of the police and the Central forces in
combating the Maoists have also boosted the confidence of the people
and they are willing to resist the Maoists and want the police to
provide more security to them." The incident in Radhanagar appeared to
have inspired people in the villages in and around the region. When the
people of Radhanagar held a rally on July 23 to protest against the
Maoists’ coercive methods, among the thousands who attended it were
residents of the neighbouring villages of Gaighata and Bachhurdoba. Even
in areas further away from Jhargram town and its police station, people
have voiced their discontent with the Maoists. Two days after being
chased out of Radhanagar, the PCPA got a taste of the people’s ire in
Nishchinta village, about 25 km from Jhargram. On the night of July 24,
PCPA members came to the village with the intention of mobilising people
to take part in a rally; the people refused to obey and even detained
one of the PCPA activists and handed him over to the police the next
morning. Arming themselves with scythes, knives and sticks, the people
of Jangalmahal have begun to form gram bachao (save the village)
committees to put up a united opposition against the Maoists. In fact,
according to reports, as many as 52 villages in the region set up such
committees within just 10 days of the people’s resistance in Radhanagar.

Chandi
Karan, a primary school teacher of Lachhipur village in Lalgarh block
and a key mobiliser of the local people against the Maoists in several
villages, told Frontline: "The people in the region are now united
irrespective of their political leanings and have decided jointly that
they will no longer accept the Maoist writ, nor will they be cowered
anymore by their intimidating tactics. If any village here now comes
under Maoist attack, neighbouring villages spring to its defence.
Recently, some PCPA members tried to sneak into our village at night to
put up posters and scatter pamphlets, but the residents chased them
away." The Maoists and the PCPA have tried to reclaim their lost
influence in some areas by attacking villages with bombs and bullets,
carrying out killings and intimidating residents through pamphlets and
posters, but have met with strong opposition. Those who had aligned
themselves with the Maoists by joining the PCPA were given the ultimatum
either to leave the village or to surrender to the police. On August 1,
the residents of Narayanpur tore down Maoist posters on the village
walls and burned them. The Maoists suffered a major setback on the
battlefield as well when, on July 26, Sidhu Soren, a very influential
Maoist leader in the region, and five other militants were killed in an
encounter with the security forces in the jungles of Metala, 25 km away
from Lalgarh. Soren was the secretary of the central committee of the
PCPA and commander of the Sidhu Kanu Gana Militia, the militant wing of
the PCPA. He was also the commander of the Maoist commando squad in
Goaltore.

"Sidhu Soren’s death has dealt a severe blow to the
Maoist movement in the region. Few people know the terrain as well as he
did and he was feared by all. It will be difficult for the Maoists to
find a replacement for him," said an informed local source. Soren was an
accused in over 25 cases of murder and extortion. He was also believed
to have been one of the main architects of the Silda massacre in
February this year, in which 24 jawans of the Eastern Frontiers Rifles
(EFR) were mowed down when they were resting in their camp. Manoj Verma,
Superintendent of Police, Paschim Medinipur, told Frontline: "After
Sidhu Soren’s death, we have been receiving a lot of feedback from the
local people. Earlier they were too scared to talk, but now they have
started coming out to speak to us." The Maoists have vowed to avenge
Soren’s death. An area commander of the People’s Liberation Guerilla
Army is reported as having said, "Ask the police and the CPI(M) to
prepare themselves for more shocking attacks." After Soren’s death, the
PCPA announced a State-wide 48-hour bandh from August 3, after seven
days of mourning. Apart from their stronghold in the forested Lalgarh
region in Paschim Medinipur, the Maoists are seen to be losing some of
their comparatively newer bases. "Earlier, the rebels were spreading out
from the core area and establishing areas of influence in the
surrounding region. Of late, the reverse is happening; they are going
back to the core area," said Manoj Verma. A section of the Maoists have
also retreated into places like Nayagram and Gopiballabhpur near the
Orissa border.

"These are relatively newer areas of their
operations, and the local people have already started providing us with
information about their activities. There, too, we can see local people
overcoming their fear and cooperating with us against the Maoists," said
an informed police source. According to Verma, what the local people
are now waiting for is the deployment of more police and security forces
to protect them in their resistance against the Maoists. At present,
around 34 companies of Central forces and the State police are stationed
in the Maoist-affected region, and six more companies are due to arrive
by the middle of August. With the security forces closing in on the
cadre and the resistance from the local people growing, the Maoist
movement in the region is on the wane for the time being. Many members
of the movement, particularly new recruits, are looking to return to the
mainstream. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said in the State
Assembly on July 29 that quite a few Maoists had surrendered and many
more had indicated their willingness to do so. The CPI(M)-led Left Front
government also announced a rehabilitation package for surrendered
extremists. The government would deposit Rs.1.5 lakh in a bank account
of each surrendered Maoist, who would also be given a monthly stipend of
Rs.2,000 for three years. An extremist who surrenders with a machine
gun will be given an additional Rs.25,000, one with an AK-47 will get an
additional Rs.15,000 and one with a revolver will get an additional
Rs.3,000. The surrendered rebels would be given vocational training.
However, they will not be able to access the bank deposit immediately
upon surrendering. "If the ex-rebel’s conduct is good for a period of
three years, he will then be able to withdraw the amount," said State
Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh. To make the Maoists aware of
this scheme, the government has decided to launch a publicity campaign
in the three Maoist-affected districts. Said Bhupinder Singh: "Some of
the Maoists are keen on getting back to the mainstream but want the
government to arrange for their rehabilitation first."

http://www.frontline.in/fl2717/stories/20100827271703900.htm

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Bhopal Gas Tragedy in House – Editorial (Aug 13, 2010, Central Chronicle)

Discussions on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, in both Houses of Parliament,
for nearly eight hours, remained only discussions! Nothing as such came
out of the discussions which could bring relief to the aggrieved
victims. Initiating the discussion, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok
Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, dubbed as "paltry" the relief announced recently
for Bhopal disaster victims and demanded a substantial increase in it
and asked the government to become a party to a petition filed in a US
court to extract compensation from American firm Dow Chemicals. She
wanted India to take a cue from the Rs 90,000 crore compensation secured
by the US from British Petroleum due to the recent oil spill in Gulf of
Mexico to strengthen the case in a US court for more relief to the
Bhopal victims.

It may be noted that only 13 people have lost
their lives due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Besides, the BP company
has taken responsibility of gathering the oil spilt and other cleaning
up works. India should become a party in the suit filed by some NGOs
from Bhopal in the New York South court to get "thousands of crore as
compensation" for the victims from Dow Chemicals, which now owns the
assets of the Union Carbide, she contended. Similarly, the Union home
minister, in his address, repeated the decisions of the Group of
Ministers that the compensation had been enhanced in 10-5-2-1 lakh
rupees category.

However, only 42 to 43 thousand people would get
this benefit; what will happen to the rest of the victims is not known.
However, today the minister admitted that injustice had been meted out
to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy and successive governments and
the judiciary were responsible for it. The revelation of former MP CM
Arjun Singh revolved around politics. Admitting his responsibility for
the tragedy, Singh said that the ex-PM late Rajiv Gandhi had no role to
play in the escape of Anderson and pointed fingers at the ex-home
minister late PV Narasimha Rao and his ministry.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=44518

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Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – August 2nd, 2010
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – August 9th, 2010
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – August 23rd, 2010
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – August 30th, 2010
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – November 16th, 2009

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