IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – July 19th, 2010

by Publisher on July 19, 2010

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

News Headlines

Fresh allegations of RSS terror links surface (Jul
16, 2010, The Hindu)

Fresh allegations of terror links of a serious nature have surfaced
against a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, Indresh Kumar, on a day
when RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav rubbished all such reports as baseless.
A sting operation carried out by Headlines Today television channel on
Thursday evening telecast tapes of secret meetings discussing the need
to carry out terrorist attacks against Islamic meetings. Mr. Indresh
Kumar, who is a member of the Kendriya Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini
(central working committee) of the RSS, and was ‘sampark pracharak’ of
the organisation till 2006, is seen in meetings where clearly terror
attacks, the need for gathering explosives and so on were discussed.

In
a press release issued by the channel, it was claimed the video and
audio tapes telecast by it were extracted by the investigation agencies
from the laptop of Dayanand Pandey, who is an accused in the Malegaon
blast case along with Pragya Thakur. The television channel claimed the
tapes had been tested by forensic laboratories and would be part of the
evidence gathered by the agencies.

One shocking revelation – on an
audio tape – was the claim by a medical doctor in Delhi and allegedly
part of the saffron terror ring, that in fact he had gone to the Jamia
Millia Islamia in 2007 with the intent to attack Vice-President Hamid
Ansari who was attending a function there but could not find the
opportunity to carry it out. … The television tapes show B.L. Prem,
former Bharatiya Janata Party MP, Indresh Kumar, and several others
talking to each other about bombing conspiracies and the need to hit out
at Muslims.

After the arrest of RSS pracharak Devendra Gupta and
saffron activist Lokesh Sharma in connection with the Ajmer Sharief
blast, the organisation had distanced itself from them and said it was
ready to cooperate with the police. However, if Mr. Indresh Kumar were
to be connected to any terror plot, it would be difficult for the RSS to
escape taint, for he was a very senior leader. He was one of the
leaders – behind the scenes – of the Amarnath land issue agitation, some
BJP leaders have confirmed. Several sympathisers and members of the
larger sangh parivar have been arrested. But there are others who are
allegedly linked and who have not yet been taken in by the investigating
agencies. …

http://www.hindu.com/2010/07/16/stories/2010071662361200.htm

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RSS mob vandalizes TV channel office (Jul 17, 2010,
Times of India)

Over 2000 angry protesters – led by local RSS leaders – barged into
the office of an English news channel on Friday and allegedly vandalized
the ground floor of the Videocon Towers at Jhandewalan. The mob was
protesting a sting operation aired by Headlines Today, which allegedly
links RSS leader Indresh Kumar with Devender Gupta – a key accused in
the Ajmer blasts. Police sources said they were taken by "surprise" by
the sudden congregation and their efforts to "indulge in violence". "We
had inputs that over 100 RSS men might try and converge at the office
premises and hand over a memorandum. Accordingly, one platoon -
consisting of around 30 men – was placed outside the office. However,
around 5.30pm, the protesters’ numbers swelled to 2000, out of which at
least 500 men forced their way into the office building."

"In the
melee, glass doors of the building shattered and a number of flower
pots broke. We had to rush in three companies from the CP reserve to
control the situation," said a senior central district officer. Till
reports last came in, at least eight protesters have been arrested by
the central district police. "We have registered a case under various
sections like rioting, disobeying public officers and damaging public
property at the Paharganj police station. We have asked for clipping
from the three private channels and are identifying the culprits through
the videos. More arrests are likely throughout the night," said Karnal
Singh, joint commissioner of police (Northern Range).

The
protesters later raised slogans against the media. However, the
demonstration lasted for only half-an-hour. Sources said local security
guards reacted swiftly, shutting off the lifts and barring access to the
staircase, restricting the activists to the ground floor. Kamlesh Kumar
Rana, a security guard on duty said, "We immediately switched off the
lifts. First a few activists came in and broke the main glass door. Then
they started coming in groups of hundreds and broke everything they
could find. After shutting all the routes to the main office, I ran for
my life." Headlines Today’s executive producer Rahul Kanwal told TOI,
"People with saffron leanings came into our office and ransacked the
place, causing serious damage to property. I condemn this act of RSS. If
they had a problem with our show, they should have filed a case against
us or gone to the Writers’ Guild. This method only shows their weakness
as an organization. We will not be intimidated by such cowardly acts."

When
contacted, Ramesh P Sharma, president of RSS’s Delhi unit claimed that
the attack was a story "concocted" by the channel and the police. "We
are shocked by the allegations. Our men had organized a peaceful
protest. A few of our men reached the office a few minutes before the
main group could assemble. This group had gone in. When they were
exiting the building there was a minor skirmish with security personnel,
which is being blown out of proportion," Sharma claimed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6178374.cms

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14 booked for siphoning off riot relief fund (Jul
14, 2010, Indian Express)

Following a Gujarat High Court order last month, a police complaint
has been filed by Panchmahals district’s deputy district development
officer Bhupensinh Bhabhor against a taluka development officer (TDO)
and 13 others, including the local sarpanch who is also an accused in a
2002 rioting case, for siphoning off riot relief funds by recording
false claims. Eight years after her house in Naroda village of Khanpur
taluka was destroyed in the 2002 riots, Farida Sayeed and her three sons
were paid Rs 1.5 lakh in compensation for the goods and property that
they claimed was worth Rs 10 lakh. Farida smelt a scam, given the fact
that her neighbour, Usman Gafur Shaikh, got Rs 17.4 lakh from the riot
relief fund in 2009.

Farida’s son, Mayur Ahmed Sayeed, then
approached an observer of All India Anti Corruption and Human Right
Watch (AIACHRW), Junagadh-based Dr J B Panesaria, who later filed a
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against 23 officials, including former
Khanpur TDO, retired TDO Gunvantlal Bhavsar, former TDO Chandu Ninama,
who is presently deputy DDO, Vadodara district panchayat, and Anil Modi,
who was sarpanch of Pandarwada village between February 2002 and July
2003. Modi is also an accused in the Pandarwada massacre in which 50
persons were killed by a mob in 2002.

"We were being asked to
cough up Rs 10,000 for listing our loss in the riot compensation claim.
We did not pay," said Mayur’s younger brother, Wasim Sayeed. "The riot
affected did get Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 initially. Having written to
government officials but to no avail, I and some 15 other families
approached Dr Panesaria," added Mayur, who works as a clerk at the
Forest Department in Bakor. In one single instance, a tempo driver has
reportedly made away with 23 compensation cheques worth close to Rs 1
crore.

Farida said nobody informed them when government officials
came to collect information about the loss during the riots. "Whoever
from the village gave money to the sarpanch, their compensation money
was doubled," said Mayur. His neighbour, Shaikh, had got compensation
for four houses, he added. Mayur, along with Dr Panesaria, has also
filed a separate PIL in the Gujarat High Court, slated to be heard on
July 19, in which he has named 33 other officials of the District
Panchayat. According to the complaint by deputy DDO Bhabhor, the accused
swindled Rs 38.25 lakh by forging documents.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/646065/

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Gujarat HC seeks magistrate report on Ishrat Jahan
encounter (Jul 15, 2010, DNA India)

The Gujarat high court today sought all documents related to judicial
magistrate SP Tamang’s report which had stated that the encounter of
Mumbai girl Ishrat Jahan and three others in June 2004 was "fake". A
division bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari gave the
direction while hearing a bunch of petitions related to the encounter.
The pleas included those filed by the parents of the deceased demanding a
CBI inquiry into the police action six years ago.

The petitions
also include one by the state government and an officer, GL Singhal,
named in Tamang’s report, seeking quashing of the Magistrate’s report.
The Tamang report had said Ishrat’s encounter was "fake" and executed
"mercilessly" by shooting the victims from "close range" with motives to
get promotion, to impress the chief minister and get accolades. Ishrat
(19), a resident of Mumbra near Mumbai, was gunned down by Gujarat
Police along with Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad
Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani near here
on June 15, 2004.

The police had then claimed the four were
operatives of Pakistan-based LeT on a mission to kill chief minister
Narendra Modi and carry out attacks on various parts of India, including
Gujarat. They had further said the encounter was carried out based on
inputs from the Central intelligence agencies. The Union government, in
an affidavit in the Supreme Court, has said Ishrat and three others were
in regular touch with LeT operatives to plan terror activities. The HC
also ordered the state government to provide summary of a probe done by
the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by a single bench of
high court last year, to Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar and Javed’s
father Gopinath Pillai, who have demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing
of their children.

Lawyers representing Shamima and Gopinath had
asked the court to provide them the report of SIT’s probe. The HC
further said it would read the SIT’s report, submitted in the court in a
sealed cover recently. Pillai’s lawyer Mukul Sinha, pressing for a CBI
inquiry, submitted that there was no credibility in the investigation
report of ACP Parixita Gurjar submitted in 2004. Sinha pointed out that
Gurjar was an officer of the city crime branch, and those who ordered
and executed the encounter were also from the same department. "What is
the credibility of such an investigation. An independent agency should
probe the case," Sinha submitted before the court. Only CBI can do
justice in a case where innocent people are profiled as terrorists and
shot down, he added.

http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint910.php?newsid=1410249

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Sohrabuddin case: CBI to arrest key aide of
Narendra Modi (Jul 14, 2010, Times of India)

The threat of CBI closing in on Narendra Modi’s closest aide and
Gujarat’s junior minister for home Amit Shah is haunting the state’s
ruling party. CBI seems to have gathered evidence showing Shah’s
involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case and could
arrest him at any time, sources said. There has been nervousness since
CBI, which was handed over the encounter probe by the Supreme Court,
arrested the Ahmedabad crime branch chief Abhay Chudasama. The CBI is
likely to file a chargesheet on July 26 against Chudasama, accused of
being part of an alleged extortion racket run by the police in the name
of fighting terror.

Before this, the CID (crime), which was
probing the case, had arrested IPS officers DG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian
of Gujarat and Dinesh MN of Rajasthan cadre in the same case. CID
(crime) admitted before the SC that the encounter was fake and
Sohrabuddin’s wife Kauser Bi had been murdered by the Gujarat police. In
all, 14 policemen of Gujarat and Rajasthan are in jail in this case.
CBI now appears to have phone records showing a number of calls made by
Shah to Vanzara and Pandian during the time of the encounter on November
26, 2005 and after the petition was filed by Sohrabuddin’s brother
Rubabuddin in September 2006 on the disappearance of Kauser Bi.

More
recently, the CID (crime) which is probing the related Tulsiram
Prajapati encounter case, has also got call records showing Shah talking
to Vanzara and Pandian around the time of his killing on December 28,
2006. Prajapati was the sole witness to the Sohrabuddin killing. There
has been a buzz for sometime that Shah would be picked up by CBI soon
after the Rath Yatra, along with a couple of other senior Gujarat IPS
officers. Shah has been in close touch with BJP leader Arun Jaitley.

In
the event of Shah’s arrest, the BJP’s central leadership looks all
prepared to launch a political campaign, alleging victimisation by the
UPA government through the CBI, even though the SC had ordered the
investigation. The crucial issue here is whether the CBI has any other
evidence against Shah. CBI sources say there are numerous references to
the minister’s involvement in the statements of witnesses recorded under
Section 164 of CrPC. Besides, they also have caught on camera Chudasama
threatening a witness, who was sent in as a decoy, not to name the
minister before the CBI.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6164809.cms

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Cops ignored familys repeated pleas for help in
Pawan Nishad encounter case (Jul 14, 2010, Times of India)

Pawan’s fate could have been different had the police paid heed to
the complaints lodged by his family. Pawan Nishad was allegedly killed
in a police encounter on February 2 this year under Thakurganj police
station. Pawan’s mother Rama Devi lodged a complaint with the State
Human Rights Commission (SHRC) alleging that police officials including
SO Talkatora Sudhir Pal Dhama, SO Thakurganj Abhishek Sirohi, the then
circle officer Anoop Kumar Singh and SP (west) BP Ashok killed Pawan in a
fake encounter. Over a dozen written complaints given by Pawan Nishad’s
family of their alleged harassment by the policemen between March 26,
2007 and February 2, 2010 failed to evoke any response from senior
police officials. It wasn’t the question of whether Nishad’s were right
or wrong, but apparently no effort seemed to have been made by the
police to cross-check their complaints, said an official of SHRC.

Nishad
family’s trauma began in March 2007 when their only source of income, a
grocery kiosk, was removed by some men to set up a juice stall, who
allegedly enjoyed the patronage of a constable TP Singh. Rama Devi
lodged a written complaint with DGP headquarters about the role of
constable TP Singh and Talkatora police on April 18, 2007. Complaint
number 1661/07 was registered with the DGP office. However, when no
response came, Rama Devi lodged a written complaint with the then SSP
and SP (west) on April 20, 2007. This was followed by another complaint
at DGP office on April 24, 2007. Complaint number 1724/07 was registered
with the top cop’s office.

While apparently no noticeable action
was taken on any of the said complaints, Talkatora police allegedly
picked Pawan Nishad from his house on the noon of June 1, 2009. Pawan’s
father Ram Babu sent a telegram to the then SSP on the same day
expressing fears that his son could either be implicated in false cases
or killed in a fake encounter. However, as Ram Babu failed to get any
response, he sent another telegram, at 8.15pm on June 3, to the DGP and
the district magistrate. Fears of Ram Babu proved true as Pawan Nishad
was booked in a case of Arms Act on June 4, 2007 and in theft cases on
June 2 and June 3, 2007. ASP, SHRC, Jugul Kishore in his report
submitted to the commission had pointed towards the insensitive attitude
of senior cops on Rama Devi’s complaints.
The report, with reference to the kiosk episode, stated: "Talkatora
police station and other senior officials are guilty of not paying heed
to Rama Devi’s complaint at that time."While in reference to illegal
detention of Pawan from June 1-4, 2009, the report stated: "SO Talkatora
and other officials looked to be guilty for not taking Rama Devi’s
complaint seriously." Ironically, Rama Devi had given an application
under 156 (3) of the CrPC before chief judicial magistrate on February
1, 2010, for lodging of an FIR against SO Talkatora and other policemen.
However, on February 2, Pawan was allegedly killed in an ‘encounter’
under Thakurganj police station.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6164928.cms

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Sena MLA held for attacking Kannada Rakshana
Vedike leader (Jul 17, 2010, DNA India)

Police today arrested Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar for attacking a
Kannada Rakshana Vedike leader at a television news studio at Kolhapur
for his alleged remarks against Sena chief Bal Thackeray on the Belgaum
issue. Kshirsagar and eight others were arrested at 1.30pm and later
released on a bail of Rs15,000, an official from the Shahupuri police
station told PTI over phone.

Kshirsagar and a group of Sena
workers barged into the studio last night as the Vedike leader Syed
Mansoor was participating in the televised programme on the
Maharashtra-Karnataka border row and allegedly made some remarks on
Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Ksheerasagar and eight others
arrested for attacking leader of a Kannada organisation Mansur Sayyad
during a live TV show were released on a bail of Rs 15,000 each by the
chief judicial magistrate BC Kamble today. Later, talking to reporters,
Sena MLA Ksheerasagar said that "We are not against any news channel and
media people. We were only protesting against Kannad Rakshan Vedika
organisation."

http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint910.php?newsid=1411135

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Margao Blast accused face war charge under section
121 (Jul 15, 2010, Times of India)

The accused in the October 16, 2009 Margao bomb blast will now be
charged with waging war against the government of India. On Wednesday
principal sessions judge U V Bakre ordered that charges be framed
against the four accused, alleged sadhaks (seekers) of Santan Sanstha,
under Section 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging
of war against the government of India) of the Indian Penal Code.
Earlier NIA had charged them under Section 121A (conspiracy to wage war)
of the code. Section 121 is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
The National investigation agency (NIA) had filed a chargesheet against
the accused – Dhananjay Ashtekar, Dilip Mangaonkar, Vinayak Patil and
Vinay Talekar – under section 121 A of the IPC for conspiracy or attempt
or abetting to wage war against India including other sections.

After
considering the prosecution’s evidence, the court ordered framing of
charges under Section 121 of IPC including Sections 120 B (criminal
conspiracy), 15 (terrorist act) and 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist
act) of the Unlawful Activities Act and Sections 3 (causing explosion
likely to endanger life or property) and 4 (attempt to cause explosion)
of the Explosive Substance Act. The charges in the case are likely to be
framed on July 27. The sessions court also rejected the bail plea of
Mangaonkar, Patil and Talekar and observed that prima facie the act of
the accused can be termed as terror.

Bakre noted, "It cannot be
forgotten that in the present case, at the venue of the Narkasur Vadh
competition at Margao, the chief minister Digambar Kamat, Fatorda MLA
Damodar Naik, other dignitaries of the MMC and a lot of public had
gathered. The bomb blast that killed two of the accused, Malgonda Patil
and Yogesh Naik, occurred at a close distance from the venue. A
particular section of the people of Goa conducts and attends such
functions. It was only their sheer luck that saved them. Prima facie the
said act can be termed as terror." After perusing the case diaries, the
court opined that there are grounds to believe that the accusations
against the accused are prima facie true and held that they are not
entitled to bail.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6169938.cms

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Gang rape inside police station: Allahabad HC
orders CBI inquiry (Jul 9, 2010, DNA India)

The Allahabad high court today ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged
gang rape of two minor girls at a police station in Kushinagar district
of Uttar Pradesh by five persons, including four policemen. A Division
Bench comprising Justice Sabhajeet Yadav and justice Bala Krishna
Narayana passed the order on the writ petition of Nagina Devi, whose two
daughters were allegedly raped inside the Kubersthan police station of
Kushinagar district on April 19.

The petitioner had accused the
then in-charge of the police station, three constables and a gram
pradhan, with whom her family had a long-standing dispute, of having
sexually assaulted her minor daughters.

Passing the order for CBI
probe, the court directed the agency to complete its investigation and
submit its report within three months. Earlier, the superintendent of
police of Kushinagar had informed the court that all the police
personnel named in the FIR registered in connection with the gang rape
have been placed under suspension.

http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint910.php?newsid=1407595

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6 Khairlanji convicts spared the gallows (Jul 15,
2010, Times of India)

Nearly two years ago, in September 2008, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange – the
lone dalit survivor of the Khairlanji massacre of four dalits – had
flashed a victory sign and a smile after the Bhandara sessions court
sentenced six of the eight accused to death. But on Wednesday, there
were smiles on the faces of the six convicts saved from the gallows
after the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court commuted their capital
punishment to life terms. A nonplussed Bhotmange (55) muttered, "This
was totally unexpected."

A special division bench comprising
justices Avinash Lavande and Ravindra Chavan, via video conferencing,
sentenced each of the six convicts to actual imprisonment of 25 years
(without remission), including the time already served, for lynching
four of Bhotmange’s family members on September 29, 2006, in Khairlanji
village in Bhandara district.

The case had reached the Bombay
High Court in October 2008 for the confirmation of death sentence. The
accused had challenged the verdict, while a plea regarding confirmation
of death sentence was filed by the state government, besides the
prosecuting agency, CBI. But the HC rejected the appeals, maintaining
the sessions court order – that the prosecution failed to produce
evidence suggesting caste hatred in the killing of the dalit family -
was valid. The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act didn’t kick in.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6169511.cms

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Opinions and Editorials

Sangh Parivars Terror Plot Exposed – By Mustafa
Khan (Jul 16, 2010, Countercurrents)

With all the startling revelations coming out as a cascade, it will
be strange if for the larger interest of the security of India Indresh
Kumar and other high ranking RSS chiefs are not put behind prison bars
for the sole reason that RSS never stops its execution of its closely
guarded plans which can potentially change Indian polity. Such is its
cultural nationalism nurtured over the years that it does not want the
Muslim minority, perhaps also other minorities, to exist in the country.
Indresh Kumar is a member of the central committee of the RSS in charge
of the Muslim minority affairs. The RSS cannot allow Muslim to exist as
they want, equal to their fellow compatriots. Make no bones about it
with the RSS because they are so cussed that they would continue their
sophistry believing that you can fool all the people all the time, at
least in India.

Serving Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit wanted to
kill Indresh Kumar and according to his Abhinav Bharat constitution
decimate Muslims because they would not be eligible for the Hindu
Rashtra he had visualized. Purohit and Indresh Kumar have the same goal.
Telling more than this according to the formula of truth of Albert
Camus is a lie. To be precise, intended killing of Indresh Kumar is a
lie, a white lie, planted to mislead. For, their aim is not mutual
destruction. Both have the Hindu Rashtra in their hearts. Even if it is
believed for an argument that Purohit and Shyam Apte of Pune had given a
gun to one Alok and the Kolkata Hindutva activist Tapan Ghosh on April
11 or 12, 2008, to kill Indresh Kumar; their desire to purge India of
Muslims and other minorities does not change. Nor does their capability
to wreck havoc in altering the political map of the subcontinent,
change.

Truth also is the revelation that the medical doctor did
want to kill the vice president Hamid Ansari at Jamia Millia in 2007.
Creating anarchy is the hidden agenda of the RSS because it is the most
secretive and hence most dangerous organization existing in India.
Anarchy would lead to the kind of Hindu Rashtra Purohit and RSS
envisage. What is the proof that they submit themselves to the
Constitution of the Republic of India? When Allan Octavius Hume founded
the Indian National Congress in 1885, the viceroy Lord Duffin called it
seditious. Indresh Kumar’s secret meeting and conversation with all
those involved in Malegaon, Ajmer, Mecca masjid and Samjhauta express
blasts constitutes just that. It is matched by Purohit’s parleying with
the Israeli officers seeking recognition and help and diplomatic
immunity once the Hindu Rashtra comes into existence. Purohit was busy
in recruiting youths into his organization Abhinav Bharat when he was
posted at Deolali camp of Nasik, February to September 2005. Does this
not constitute sedition, he a serving officer of the Indian army with a
hidden Constitution to replace the Constitution of the Republic of
India!!

Abhinav Bharat had 5000 members across the country then.
What has the military thought of the 5000 that the lieutenant colonel
had taught and trained? What has the Maharashtra government done about
KP Raghuvanshi inviting Purohit to teach and train the Anti Terrorism
Squad officers? What has the government of India thought of Praveen
Togadia who according to Purohit was actively engaged in the founding
and financing of Abhinav Bharat? Why did Togadia want to know from
Purohit as to who was investigating the Nanded blast of 2006? What have
the investigating agencies done to know why the VHP chief of
Maharashtra, one Prashant Hartalkar, was prying into this matter and
under whose instruction? Does the Constitution of India allow all such
anti-constitutional goings on? The government of India has shown no
interest in the only Hindu majority country in the world after India,
Nepal. Is this also pseudo secularism for it has not shown any awareness
let alone publishing any white paper on the matter recorded by Sudhakar
Pandey regarding how Pandey also instructed Purohit to contact Dr R P
Singh over the telephone in August 2007. Dr Singh had told "Purohit that
Indresh had "sold off Hindus in Nepal". This had fetched Indresh Kumar
Rs 3 crore rupees. The money was floated by the ISI. When Purohit
conveyed this to Togadia that doughty heart specialist from Gujarat
acknowledged that he already knew about it.

So the question,
whether the government of India knew it? The most wonderful thing for
the government of India to know is: how come the RSS and Abhinav Bharat
slept over the fact that Malegaon was a rich mine for communal violence
till SIMI and the Muslims blew themselves up on September 8, 2006 and
only then Abhinav Bharat followed suit on September 29, 2008. (But the
itinerary of Togadia shows another direction. He met Purohit in the
house of a Nasik VHP leader Vinayak in February 2006, just months before
first terrorist attacks in Malegaon. In December 2006 Purohit called
upon Togadia in a Mumbai hotel and told him about the details of Abhinav
Bharat. Togadia had informed Purohit in March April 2007 of the people
who had given funds for Abhinav Bharat. In August-September 2007 Togadia
gave Purohit 2 lakh rupees donation for Abhinav Bharat. Then on August
2, 2008 again shortly before the second terrorist attack in Malegaon
Togadia and Purhit met. This time Togadia was not happy with Purohit for
breaking up the Madhya Pradesh unit of VHP. Thus Togadia and Purohit
acted in tandem around the time of both the bomb attacks in Malegaon.)

http://www.countercurrents.org/mkhan160710.htm

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Gujarat: Making Of A Fascist State – By Ram
Puniyani (Jul 15, 2010, Countercurrents)

Abdul Shakeel Basha, known popularly as Shakeel to his friends, has
been arrested on 17th June 2010, on various charges. The major charge is
that he along with his other friends was planning to start a Maoist
revolution in Gujarat. Shakeel is 13th amongst the activists who have
been arrested on similar charges. Activists who have been arrested on
the charge of being Naxalites are Avinash Kulkarni, Bharat Pawar,
Makabhai Chowdhary, Jayaram Goswami and others who have been working in
different parts of Gujarat, particularly amongst the tribal and workers
for their economic rights. There has been no news of any violence in the
areas where they have been working. One knows Shakeel has a long record
of working for communal harmony, justice for Gujarat violence victims,
and housing for street children amongst other issues. ‘Peace issues’ has
been his concern during last few years. Apart from Shakeel the work of
most of these activist’s, arrested by Gujarat police, has been within
the confines of Indian Constitution, struggles based on the ‘rights as
citizens’, as weaker sections of society. The major violence witnessed
by Gujarat has been the one of sectarian type, the one directed first
against Muslim minorities and then Christian minorities. On the contrary
the work of some of these activists has been to promote communal
harmony, which has been a hindrance to spread of divisiveness being
promoted by the likes of Swami Aseemanand of VHP, an RSS affiliate, who
is currently absconding for his linkages with the perpetrators of Ajmer
terror attack.

With the nation wide beginning of operation ‘green
hunt’, the targeting of Naxalites/Maoists, the Gujarat police, not to
be left behind, has targeted the activists working within the confines
of constitutional limits. Gujarat has never been known to be the work
area of Naxalites/Maoists anyway. This has been an area where the
followers of RSS have been calling shots from last two decades in
particular and trying to convert it into ‘ideal Hindu state’. Gujarat
has also been boasted as the ideal Hindu state, particularly since the
violence against minorities became intense. The anti Muslim offensive
culminated in Gujarat carnage of 2002. After 2002 there was a sustained
attack on Christians. This is the violence which is the marker of
Gujarat. One never heard of any Naxalite violence and there are no
criminal cases against most of the activists who have been arrested. As
such through the intense media propaganda, social activists have been
defamed to the extent that Medha Patkar was attacked physically for her
campaigns to protect the rights of tribal. Strong propaganda against
‘activists’ in general is part of the norms prevalent in Gujarat.

The
sequence of the political events in Gujarat is very revealing. First
the sectarianism comes up; various factors promote this communal divide.
This leads to the massive anti Muslim pogrom on the pretext of Godhra
train burning. Then on the plea that Christian missionaries are
converting the gullible Adivasis, anti Christian violence is unleashed.
This runs parallel with the aggressive conversion of Adivasis into
Hinduism under the garb of ‘Ghar vapasi’. Through Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram,
through swamis and associates identity issues are projected in the
Adivasi areas. The result of all this is the overall suspension of the
concept of Human rights and demonization of social activists. As such
whatever little is there in the name of social activism has been dwarfed
under the shadow of communalization of social space and communal
violence. Due to these anti minority attacks, minorities have been
relegated to second class citizens. The culmination of this is the
formation of Muslim ghettoes in urban areas and intimidation of
Christians in Adivasi areas. Along with this the concept of ‘Swarnim
Gujarat’ (Golden Gujarat), a heaven for investors is advertised through
media. In tandem with this the rights of workers and tribal are being
suppressed to ensure that the industrialists can have their sway to make
big money.

As Ratan Tata put it, industrialists have to be in
Gujarat. And so Anil Ambani and others of their ilk project Narendra
Modi as the ideal Chief Minister, the future Prime Minister of India.
The inference is emerging that anti minority pogrom has effectively been
undertaken to create a ‘smooth’ atmosphere for the industrialists.
After subjugating minorities and the democratic values the illusion of
‘development’ has been manufactured. Narnedra Modi has been compared to
Hitler times and over again. Through his anti Jew, anti Communist
tirades Hitler created the ‘ideal’ atmosphere for the big
industrialists. It seems Modi has taken Gujarat on the same path. First
he has ensured the suspension of human rights through anti-minority
pogroms, then demonized the social activists and now whatever little
activity prevailed for democratic rights of the marginalized, is being
done away with. The human rights workers, working in the Constitutional
framework are being dubbed as Naxalites and are being put behind the
bars. The idea is to smoothen the path for big industrialists. The
arrest of workers for human rights issues is like laying the red carpet
for the reckless growth of industries, trampling on the interests of the
deprived sections of society. What is hidden below the red carpet is
the very concept of a welfare state, a secular state, a state with the
concept of human rights of all. One is also reminded of the RSS
ideologue M.S. Golwalkar writing in his book ‘Bunch of Thoughts’ that
Muslims, Christians and Communists are the internal threat to Hindu
nation. It seems following his advice first the Muslims, then the
Christians and now the social activists (communist substitutes) are
being targeted as Naxalites.

The happenings in Gujarat show us
the deeper designs of the political class of the country, who are
executing industrialization without a human face, industrialization on
the bodies of the marginalized sections. Hitler did precisely the same.
In the short term it seems very rewarding but surely one knows from
History that once the violation of the concepts of democracy goes too
far, the results are not very pleasing. Hitler refused to learn it in
his life, that’s why he had to put a bullet in his head. Germany kept
toeing his line, that’s why it faced the ruin after the temporary graphs
showing economic prosperity! One reaffirms that those believing in the
‘violence as a means for social change’ have no place in the democratic
system. In turn, one must learn that democracy is doomed in a state
which does not let the peaceful social movements to exist!

http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani150710.htm

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Chilling Tread Of Boots – Unanimous (Jul 11, 2010,
Deccan Chronicle)

Syed Imran Khan, 26, can’t sleep at night. When he finally slips into
a fitful slumber, he sees hooded policemen approaching him with batons.
Screaming ‘mat maro, mat maro,’ he wakes up bathed in sweat. Likewise,
Abdul Raheem, a 30-year-old trader, shudders when he recalls the buzz of
the electric wires which police used to give repeated shocks to his
genitals in a torture chamber where he was kept blindfolded for hours
and days. Another youth, a Unani doctor, urinated blood after hours of
torture only to have a leering cop tell him, "What does it matter to a
dying man?" These are just few of the dozens of Muslim youth picked up
and tortured by Hyderabad cops in their excessively zealous and lopsided
investigation after the Mecca Masjid blast of May 18, 2007. There was
no sifting of evidence, no objective probe to find out who triggered the
blast, just a blind latching on to the ‘Islamic terrorist’ tag and
Gestapo-like operations in the dead of the night to round up bewildered
and clueless youth from their beds. Blindfolded, they were kept in
isolated farm houses in the outskirts of the city. Chained and tortured
for days together, the traumatised youth were finally forced to give
confessional statements that they were behind the blasts. But as the
slogan of Satyameva Jayate emblazoned on the caps and shoulders of these
senior cops indicates, truth did triumph at last. It has now become
evident that the Muslim youth had nothing to do with the blast, which
was the handiwork of a Hindu right wing outfit. But truth became the
biggest casualty in the initial investigation of the blast when cops
acted in a brutal manner without even considering the illogical nature
of their assumption that Muslim youth would trigger a blast in the Mecca
Masjid.

18 months in jail, for no fault – Syed Imran Khan, 26,
engineering student – Three days after the Mecca Masjid blast, on May
21, around 80 to 90 policemen surrounded my house at Hasmathpet in
Bowenpally. They spread over the entire locality – like they were trying
to nab a big terrorist. I was about to sleep after dinner when they
dragged me from my house saying that I, along with my uncle Shoaib
Jagirdar from Jalna in Maharashtra, had conspired with one Nayeem alias
Sameer, who was allegedly caught on the Bangladesh border. I was doing
my third year engineering after finishing school from Kendriya
Vidyalaya. I played cricket and volleyball for my college. I was also
working part-time as a phone banking officer for ICICI. The cops booked
two false cases against me – a conspiracy case and one for stocking RDX.
The cops said that I knew how to transfer funds and I was apparently
instrumental in aiding terrorists. After picking me up, they took me to a
farm house in the city outskirts. Over the next 10 days of illegal
custody, they gave electric shocks to my private parts. They then
released me stating I was innocent. However, again in June, they caught
me and subjected me to narco tests. Though the court had given
permission for a single test, they conducted it twice. The second time
they gave me an overdose of narcotics. Many police officials, including
then joint CP Harish Kumar Gupta, were in the narco room. They didn’t
give me a chance to speak. The police say Nayeem had visited our house.
He had come with my uncle Jagirdar for a meal. I don’t know anything
about him and his whereabouts. But the name Nayeem changed my life. I
spent 18 months in jail. I have never seen RDX in my life, but the
police claim I had stocked 10 kg of the explosive. After the ordeal,
representatives from the National Commission for Minorities visited us
and I retook admission with great difficulty at Lords Institute of
Engineering and Technology to complete my studies. I still wake up often
at night shivering with fear. I still cry in sleep, sometimes shouting
‘mat maro, mat maro’. The police changed my image to that of a goon. My
family too suffered. My dad ran from pillar to post while I was in
custody and my mother was inconsolable. I lost three years of my
academic career. Advocate Muzafarulla Khan stood by me and helped me to
fight my case. I still have faith in the CBI. They were supportive and
told me I was innocent. The cops, who called me a terrorist, should call
a press conference and announce I am innocent and that I was implicated
in a false case.

I was threatened to confess Mohammed -
Rayeesuddin, 27, electrician – I was a witness when the Gujarat police
shot dead my friend Saleem Mujahid in front of the DGP’s office in
October 2004. Since then I have been under police scanner. Shahed Bilal
is from our locality and we knew him since childhood. When the police
asked me if I knew Bilal I said ‘yes’ and this answer changed my life
for the worse. The police implicated me in a case of conspiracy. Is it a
crime that I hail from the same locality where Shahed Bilal was born
and brought up? After the Mecca Masjid blast in 2007, the police asked
me to visit the Special Investigation Cell office in connection with the
Saleem Mujahid case. Instead, they asked me who was behind Mecca Masjid
blast. I told them it could be some right wing groups as no Muslim
would do it. They released me. Three months later they caught me again
after the twin blasts in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chaat. This time they
tortured me in their camps in Premavatipet near the Greyhounds office.
They shifted me to three-four farm houses. I was then produced in court
on the false charge of conspiracy. They branded me as Bilal’s associate
but the court acquitted me. Even after three years I still suffer from
several health problems due to the torture and narco-analysis test.
Recurrent severe headaches have made my life miserable. The police
detained me illegally for eight days. I also spent six months in jail. I
lost my job at the jewellery shop where I was working. I am now working
as an electrician. But the police hound me even now. They continue to
ask whether I knew Viqar Ahmed. They came to me after some persons fired
at policemen at Shah Ali Banda. I don’t know who Viqar is. I was,
however, a witness to the Mecca Masjid blast. I helped the injured but
the police implicated me. They put a revolver to my temple and
threatened me to confess that I was involved in the blast.

Nobody
wants to marry me – Abdul Raheem, 30, provision store owner – On
September 3, 2007, a police inspector called me up. I was an auto driver
then. He asked me who had carried out the blast at Mecca Masjid. After
the Lumbini Park blast the police called me again. This time they took
me to a camp in Gandipet. When we reached, I saw they were already
beating several boys in the farm house. The police subjected me to
abuses, beat me with iron pipes and gave me electric shocks. There were
around 40 people in the camp and in our room there were perhaps four or
five of us but I am not certain as I was always blindfolded. I could
hear others crying for help as the police tortured them. I used to
shiver when I heard the sound of their boots come towards me. After five
days in the camp I was taken to jail. My marriage, which was scheduled
at that time, was cancelled and after the ordeal no one wanted to give
their daughter’s hand to me despite the fact that we had been staying in
Malakpet locality for 20 years. After this episode we shifted to
Chandrayangutta. Initially there too no one wanted to marry me and with
great difficulty could we convince them. I am not a member of any
organisation and there are no other cases against me. I spent five
months in jail for no fault of mine and the court acquitted me. My
mother by then had already suffered two strokes and I still suffer from
health problems.

I was subjected to third degree methods – Dr
Ibrahim Ali Junaid, 28 years, Unani doctor – I was a third year BUMS
student at Government Nizamia Tibbi Unani College which is situated just
opposite Mecca Masjid. On May 18, 2007, I was at the Masjid offering
Friday prayers when the blast occurred. I found several people injured
including one of my professors, whom I shifted to the hospital. Two days
after the blast I got a call from the Special Investigation Cell. They
detained me at the Secunderabad Task Force office and interrogated me
till evening. They asked some strange and defamatory questions like,
‘why do you grow a beard?’ They also said, "You Muslims can only do this
kind of blasts". They never suspected the right wing groups. They
picked me up from my house, blindfolded me and and harassed me for three
to four days. One of the officers put his revolver to my temple and
threatened that I would be killed in an encounter if I did not confess
that I was involved in the blast. The police official told me that it
was my last day on earth and asked me if I wanted to eat anything
special before I was put to death. Later, they released me. In August,
after the twin blasts I went to Delhi to attend a conference in Hamdard
University. After my return on September 3, I was picked up at Yakatpura
Railway Station and for a moment I thought someone was kidnapping me.
After a 90-minute journey we reached an unknown location in the city
outskirts in a farm house where they ran a torture camp. They stripped
me and beat me on the soles of my feet. Third degree methods were
adopted. They gave electric shocks to my ears, nose and joints. When I
recited verses from the Holy Quran, they gave me electric shocks on my
teeth and tongue. There was even blood in my urine. When I told the
police about this, they replied ‘marnewale ke liye ye chhoti baat hai’. I
feared that I would be killed in an encounter. The police also
questioned me why I went to the State Human Rights Commission along with
the rights activists in the Sohrabuddin case. Later I was taken for a
narco analysis test. I was subjected to the test for eight hours and for
a week I couldn’t come out of the after-effects of the narco test.
Later, they arrested me officially in the case and I was in jail for
five months. After my release the college refused to re-admit me. I
approached the AP High Court and was allowed to write the exams. Then
they said I did not have the requisite attendance to write the exams. I
lost one precious year of my career. The police, however, continued to
visit my college and my home. I worked part time in a private hospital
where intelligence sleuths came and questioned the hospital staff.
During elections the police asked me for a "bound over". They had
foisted two cases against me. One case related to the burning of a
pandal on graveyard land in 2003. The court had acquitted me in this
case. Again in 2007 they arrested me in a conspiracy case. This case was
also cleared by the court. I asked the police that when there were no
cases pending against me why should I be "bound over." I appealed to the
State Election Commissioner and following this, the police didn’t come
back to me. After my name cropped up in the blast case, none of my
relatives came to our house and even our neighbours and friends stayed
away from us. We were ostracised from the community.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/supplementary/sunday-chronicle/chilling-tread-boots-295

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To Mine or Not to Mine – By Sunil Batra (Jul 24,
2010, Tehelka)

It is ridiculous to ban exports of iron ore just because there is
rampant illegal mining activity. By this analogy, if there is an
increase in accidents, the governments should ban vehicles, just as it
should ban keeping of valuables at home because thefts have increased.
The government has the power and administrative machinery to stop
illegal mining and should focus on that, instead of banning iron ore
exports to stop illegal mining. Can there be a more absurd logic? The
problem is not the export or mining of the ore, but that of illegal
mining and the greed of the mining mafia, which the government is unable
to control. The deposits in Karnataka are over 10 million years old,
unlike the deposits in eastern India, which are only five million years
old. Because of this, the Karnataka ore is soft and found in the form of
"fines" (powder) as against the lumpy ore of eastern sector. Most of
our steel mills cannot directly use the fines; thus they had no
commercial value until 2002-03, when China entered the market as a major
buyer.

Prior to 2002-03, in Karnataka, iron ore fines, with more
than 63 percent Fe (iron) value, were available at less than Rs 200 per
tonne. Yet it had few takers. Today, the same ore is priced between Rs
1,500 and Rs 2,500 per tonne, depending on international price. This
sudden spurt in the price, coupled with an inefficient government, has
engendered the mafia and illegal mining. Once export of the ore is
banned, its prices will drop to almost the pre-2002 levels, leaving
little incentive for illegal mining. But would that be prudent? When an
exceptionally remunerative price is available in the international
market for a product that has little or no use at home, should we,
instead of encashing on the boom, ban exports because the government
lacks efficiency or political will to stop the illegal activity?.

The
other argument – that mining the ore for exports should be allowed only
if value addition is done at home, is also flawed. According to the
Karnataka Government statistics, only 30 percent of iron ore deposits of
the state can be mined, as the rest 70 percent is in the Western Ghats
and other eco-sensitive areas. Of this 30 percent mineable ore, only
10-12 percent is mined (i.e., 3-4 percent of the total reserves). If
value is to be added to this ore before it is exported, the investment
required will cross Rs 1 million crore. The power and water required for
the current level of mined ore from the state, will leave less than an
hour of power supply for domestic and farm use, at existing levels of
availability of electricity. It will be difficult to find raw water even
at Rs 2 a litre. Should we get into such a disaster mode? The
government should consider ways to increase mining and export of this
ore. Let us remember that Sweden consumes less than 3 percent of its
mined ore – and exports 97 percent.

One more important truth:
steel-making makes up only 12-15 percent of the market price of the end
product. Coal constitutes over 30 percent of the value of an end
product. The main source of coking coal is China. Thus, merely having
iron ore does not qualify us for making steel. Besides, if we ban its
export, why should China send increased supply of coal to India? The
government must realise that our strength is iron ore, not steel-making.
Also, the locals cannot be neglected anymore. People living around a
mineral source should have a stake in this wealth and as such, get their
due before the minerals are drilled out. A specific amount per tonne
should be paid to local bodies to spend on welfare schemes in the area.
In the absence of such a mechanism, local extortionists are able to
collect illegal taxes from mine owners and engage in illegal mining.

http://tehelka.com/story_main46.asp?filename=Ne240710proscons.asp

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The Forest Is Moving – By Saikat Datta (Jul 12,
2010, Outlook)

For once, Union home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram seemed at a
loss for words. When asked about the deaths of 27 CRPF jawans in south
Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur on June 29, he replied, "These deployments
are decided by the state government. I have asked the CM to look at
redeployment of the CRPF in light of the operational objectives. The
CRPF is posted in the most difficult areas and one can accept that the
Maoists will attack." In April this year, they had killed 76 jawans in
Dantewada, just a couple of hours’ drive from the current attack site.
For a force that is touted to be a crack counter-insurgency squad, the
casualties are disturbing. But its leadership has strangely eluded
criticism. Neither DG Vikram Srivastav nor special DG Vijay Raman have
been hauled up despite the fact that over 100 CRPF jawans have died in
just three months.

Prakash Singh, former DG of the BSF and a
police officer with almost 40 years of experience in counter-insurgency
ops, feels "the home minister is on the backfoot". Prakash feels there
is something seriously wrong with the central police organisations
(CPOs), their inability to perform having left the home minister in a
difficult situation. "The Indian government needs to introspect about
this decay of the central police forces. The CPOs are no longer as
formidable as they were. Even the BSF has now issued orders that their
forces should not operate beyond 5 km from their camps," he says. In
fact, the forces seem to have learnt little from the Dantewada attack
two months ago. While there were serious tactical lacunae then, there
seems to have been many more during the current attack. This time, men
drawn from two companies of the 39th battalion were sent out as a road
opening party (ROP) so that convoys carrying CRPF personnel on leave
could pass safely. It would have been a routine exercise but it went
horribly wrong when a tactically superior force of Maoists surprised and
ambushed them. What’s even more surprising was that even as the CRPF
jawans were fighting for their lives, reinforcements took almost three
hours to reach the encounter spot. Had they arrived earlier, the CRPF
would have suffered far lesser casualties and would have probably
inflicted more casualties on the Maoists.

But that was not to be.
The CRPF party, say officials who are familiar with the incident,
probably forgot to hold the "dominating features" during the encounter.
This gave a major tactical advantage to the Maoists. The patrol even
forgot to deploy in a linear manner, a standard operating procedure for
all ROPs. "The idea is to ensure that, in the event of an ambush, the
troops are not bunched together. They should be deployed in a linear
fashion so that, if attacked, they can outflank the Maoists and
counter-attack," a senior police official and counter-insurgency expert
told Outlook. E.N. Ram Mohan, former BSF DG, feels the organisation may
be finding it difficult to come to terms with its new role. Soon after
Dantewada, Ram Mohan had been asked to prepare a report on the reasons
for so many casualties. While he has not discussed the report in public,
Ram Mohan points out that the CRPF is still coping with its
counter-insurgency role. "It was created to be a force that would play a
role in restoring law and order. Its philosophy is of using minimum
force. But in a counter-insurgency role, you shoot to kill. That’s a
huge jump, and the force needs time to reorient itself to this role,"
Ram Mohan told Outlook. An ironical contrast to the sort of flak the
force is taking in Kashmir.

Serving CRPF officers also point to a
larger systemic failure that has left the force in disarray. Constables
and officers of the force are poorly paid, as compared to the army ranks
or the officers of the IPS. They also have few benefits and unlike army
units which are regularly rotated from field areas to peace stations,
the CRPF keeps lurching from one conflict zone to the other. "It’s left
us demoralised and ineffective. We just try to survive from one field
tenure to the other without any relief for years on end," a CRPF officer
points out. In fact, the CRPF’s overall performance has been less than
flattering of late. While casualties have been unacceptably high, they
have also inflicted less damage on the Maoists. Official figures show
that while the state police killed almost 90 Maoists last year, the CRPF
managed to take out only 20. This year the state police has already
neutralised over 50 Maoists while the CRPF has just been taking hits
(though it claims it killed 15 Maoists in the latest incident).

Which
is why Chidambaram’s statement on June 30 raised more than a few
eyebrows. "He has mentioned that the state government is responsible for
deployment of the CRPF. But the operational deployment, tactics and
strategy are left to the force commanders on the ground," says a senior
intelligence official. "So while the state can only ask the CRPF to be
deployed in a particular area, how they guard themselves and conduct
their operations is their prerogative. How can the state be held
responsible for that? It is surprising that the Union home minister has
mentioned that the CRPF is posted in difficult areas. Shouldn’t a
security force like the CRPF be deployed in difficult areas to secure
them?" Sources also point out that the CRPF battalion had ignored
several intelligence reports indicating a large Maoist force in the
area. The IB had corroborated this as well. Instead, the men were sent
out to conduct the ROP; they were on their way back to camp when the
attack took place. For now, the Centre is considering replacing the CRPF
in Chhattisgarh with battalions of the Assam Rifles. There is also a
proposal to shift troops as well as battalions of the Seema Suraksha Bal
to central India. Clearly, both the Centre and state governments are
gearing up for a war with no immediate end in sight.

http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266114

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Kherlanji Verdict – What Next? – By Ravikiran
Shinde (Jul 13, 2010, Countercurrents)

The Nagpur High Court bench’s verdict on Kherlanji of diluting the 6
culprits’ of death sentences given by Bhandara session court and refusal
to accept it as caste based killings by removing the SC/ST Atrocity
(PoA) act provisions proves one thing – There is no support for Dalits
in any form. They incur Social Apathy, Police Apathy, Government Apathy,
Media Apathy and now the Judicial Apathy. None of the above social
segments were either willing or able to help the Kherlanji victims get
due and proper justice. Dalits across the state had started one of the
most apolitical agitation post Kharilanji in late 2006. The fact that
this was a caste killing based on the age-old caste abuse by the
villagers on the Bhootmange’s – given the latter’s attempt to gain self
esteem in a typical wicked minded village mentality – was crystal clear.
The gruesome act of eliminating the entire family on 29th Sep 2006 by
first raping the females in full public view and then even raping their
dead corpse as pointed out in independent inquiries and fact finding
teams, lead to only one conclusion – this was none other than caste
based killings and formed the rarest of the rare case deserving capital
punishment.

But the honorable High Court has turned a blind eye to
the implicit details and delivered its judgment purely based on the
weak evidence furnished before it by the prosecution. It can be argued
that the court is not to be blamed here for this awful judgment for it
is merely supposed to go by books and prosecution (read CBI and the
State government) is guilty of purposefully weakening the case. But what
about media – Read the reports immediately after the massacre (Dainik
Lokmat newspaper especially). It was termed as killing resulting out of
illicit relation between Surekha (the mother) and her cousin (Siddharth
Gajbhiye). Here too the media simply went by the oppressors version and
literally justified the killing. Now, can we charge the media of
maligning the image of the deceased mother? Is the media ready to
apologize? When a court delivers not so harsh sentence to Haryana former
DGP SPS Rathore in the Ruchica molestation case, the entire media
pounces on the judgment and it formed the headlines for days. But no
media wants to take cognizance of this lighter sentence for Bhootmange
killers. If Bhootmangses were Joshis or Abhyankar or even Guptas, they
probably would have probably taken due cognizance of it, apparently.

It
is better not to talk about Police in general and the government in
particular. R. R Patil headed ministry is definitely short of ideas to
deal with this situation and merely went by the local police versions
who were trying to cover up the story and the post mortem. Where was the
human angle, or soft touch given the bhootmange, at least for the sake
of votes. Again, no willingness or Ability to go an extra mile. It will
be futile to expect anything from the Congress- NCP government that is
still shielding the killer cop Manohar Kadam who mercilessly and
indiscriminately shot 11 dalit youths in Ghatkopar in July 1997. The
Gundewar commission set up by the state, concluded that the Tanker
theory (that the mob was on its way to torch the LPG tanker) was absurd
and the police firing was uncalled for. Manohar Kadam remains scot free.
In both the cases the culprits were from Powerful Maratha, OBC castes
who forms the base of Congress and NCP in the state and they could not
take any action against them by siding with the dalits.

What a
shame! Such was the wreath of the Dalits against the then Sena-BJP post
Ghatkopar in 1997 that they single handedly backed Sharad Pawar and gave
him 36 out of 48 MPs from the state to make him leader of the
opposition in 1998. Dalits now realize how awfully wrong they were to
side with Congress and NCP on the Ramabai Nagar killings. Now, there
will be a challenge to this Kherlanji verdict in the Apex court and few
more years will be wasted. Finally, there will be no end to the lone
survivor Bhiyyalal bhootmange’s agony. The public memory will fade away
gradually and the politicians will thrive on it. The fact that state
government who fights cases such as Mumbai Blast and 26/11 on its own
had to hand over the Kheralanji case to CBI is perplexing. Why noted
lawyer Adv. Ujjwal Nikam with 100% track record failed to successfully
figfht for it till end tend or perhaps he himself escaped
Systematically. What is very ironic is the fact that the intellects from
OBC community whose battle Dalits fight on the street whether it is
regarding OBC reservations or Caste census, are conspicuous by their
silence on this entire Kherlanji episode. This is a grave tragedy. What
option does this leave the oppressed community with in a civil society?
This is a vital question is for all of us.

http://www.countercurrents.org/shinde160710.htm

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