IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – April 12th, 2010

by iamcadmin on April 11, 2010

In this issue

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Book Review

News Headlines

SC asks SIT not to associate 2 IPS officers in Guj
riots probe (Apr 6, 2010, Rediff)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Special Investigation Team
(SIT), probing 2002 Gujarat riot cases, not to associate two senior
Indian Police Service officers – Geeta Johri and Shivanand Jha – in the
investigations till further orders. This direction was given by a bench
comprising Justices D K Jain, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam while hearing
an application moved by an NGO, Centre for Justice and Peace, making
various allegations against SIT and its members and seeking stay of the
trial in ten riots cases.

The court said it will hear on April 19
the question of passing interim direction for staying the trial in the
ten cases. The apex court also fixed April 28 for considering whether
there was a need to continue with the SIT headed by former Central
Bureau of Investigation director R K Raghavan in the wake of allegations
levelled against it and its members.

After the order was passed,
Jha, who was present in the court, said the direction on he not being
associated with the SIT probe was passed without hearing him as he and
other members of the team were not represented before the court. The
Gujarat government also contended that neither the state nor any other
affected party, including the accused, were supplied any document and
paper on the basis of which the court was proceeding.

The state
government was supported by senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who was
appearing for one of the accused, and Harish Salve, who is assisting the
court as an amicus curiae. They said that all the affected parties were
supposed to be supplied with documents and papers which were likely to
be used against them. The bench then asked Salve to supply the state
government the copies of the comments received from the SIT and its
officers on the petition filed by the NGO in which the allegations were
made.

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/06/sc-bars-2-ips-officers-from-guj-riots-probe.htm

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Chhattisgarh: Maoists kill 76 security personnel
(Apr 6, 2010, Indian Express)

Ambushing policemen who were out on an operation against them in
thick forests, Naxalites carried out their deadliest attack in the early
hours on Tuesday killing 76 CRPF personnel who appeared to have walked
into their "trap". The police personnel were literally caught sleeping
in the Mukrana forests of Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, one of the
strongholds of the naxals, when the attack took place between 6 AM and 7
AM on a batch of 82, including 80 CRPF personnel. Two were from the
local police.

The personnel were returning to the base camp as
part of joint operation when it came under fire from hill features just
about four kilometres away. Virtually an entire company of the CRPF was
wiped out when 75 of its personnel including Deputy Commandant Satyawan
Singh Yadav and Assistant Commandant B L Meena along with the head
constable of the Chattisgarh police were killed.

The attack shook
the Centre and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a meeting with Home
Minister P Chidambaram and assessed the situation. Both of them
expressed shock over the attack and grief over the loss of lives. The
National Security Council which had a pre-scheduled meeting, discussed
the dastardly attack. The Prime Minister, Chidambaram, some of his
cabinet colleagues and the three service chiefs attended the meeting.

While
the Prime Minister called it a "horrific" incident, Chidambaram said it
showed the brutality and savagery of the Maoists. Rattled by the "very
high" casualty, Chidambaram said something must have gone "drastically
wrong" in the joint operation as the personnel seemed to have walked
into a trap. Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai, however, ruled out use of
air power in the anti-naxal operations. He said the government’s resolve
strengthened and it will continue to tackle the Maoists menace as
already planned.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/600684/

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Naxalism countrys first enemy, says Chidambaram
(Apr 5, 2010, Indian Express)

Describing Naxalism as the country’s "first enemy," Union Home
Minister P Chidambaram has said the menace would be completely rooted
out in another two or three years. He said Naxalism has assumed gigantic
proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12
years.

"Naxalism is the first enemy of the country," he said
addressing a public meeting at suburban Avadi, 45 km from here, late
Sunday night. Defending huge allocation for defence in the budget, he
said it had become necessary as neighbouring Pakistan and China were
treating India as their "enemy".

"Pakistan is training terrorists
and allowing them to infiltrate into India and is trying to drive a
wedge between Muslims and Hindus in the country. Whenever we want to
talk to Pakistan, we have to talk about terrorism, but that country
frowns upon the idea," he said. Pakistan is the "centre of terrorism"
and all terrorist activities, whether in Afghanistan or US, could be
traced to Pakistan, the Home Minister said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/600095/

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Malegaon accused blasted RSS chief (Apr 8, 2010,
Indian Express)

Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil today revealed that the police
was in possession of an audio tape comprising a conversation of Malegaon
bomb blast accused making derogatory references to RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat. Replying to a debate on law and order in the Legislative
Assembly, Patil said the conversation also pertains to use of a chemical
powder which if applied on footwear would result in the death of the
person using it within two to three days. "Even the post-mortem will not
help to find the cause of death," Patil said.

He said that there
is a mention in the conversation that Bhagwat is unfit to lead the
Hindutva outfit. All the accused in the Malegaon bomb blast case have
links with Abhinav Bharat, a right-wing organisation. Earlier,
participating in the debate, NCP legislator Jeetendra Avhad had earlier
alleged of links between Hindu organisations like Abhinav Bharat,
Sanatam and Pakistan’s ISI.

He charged the right-wing groups were
involved in some bomb blast cases and also planned to kill the RSS
chief and put the blame on ISI. He wanted to know what action the
government will take against the groups. Patil said appropriate decision
will be taken at the appropriate time. Opposition members had staged a
walkout before the reply protesting for not being allowed to speak
during the debate due to shortage of time.

Patil said the accused
in Pune’s German Bakery bomb blast case were on the police radar and
will soon be arrested. "Investigations are being conducted on war
footing in complete co-ordination with central agencies and
investigators from other parts of the country," he said. Patil said he
was ready to hand over the Sangli-Miraj communal riots case to the CBI.

Giving
details of security alerts from central agencies, Patil said in 2008,
52 alerts were received, 169 in 2009 and till March 2010, 35 alerts have
been received. The minister said since 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai,
the state government had strengthened its Intelligence Department by
directly recruiting personnel in the force. Earlier, the officials were
brought to the department on deputation, he added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/601915/

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Centre offers CBI probe into Ishrat fake encounter
case (Apr 1, 2010, Times of India)

The controversial killing of Ishrat Jahan and Javed Shaikh in 2004 by
Gujarat police allegedly on the basis of inputs from central
intelligence agencies but termed a fake encounter by a magisterial
inquiry took a fresh turn with the home ministry on Wednesday offering a
CBI inquiry into it. Standing by the intelligence inputs given by
central agencies to Gujarat police in 2004 about threat to chief
minister Narendra Modi from LeT terrorists and their movements, the
ministry said "all such inputs do not constitute proof".

In an
affidavit before the Supreme Court, the ministry suggested that a CBI
inquiry could help in arriving at the truth in the matter. Referring to
the magisterial inquiry report of September 7, 2009, that held encounter
specialist D G Vanzara, who is facing trial in the Sohrabuddin fake
encounter case, responsible for the killing, the home ministry said,
"The Centre is in no way concerned with any police action nor does it
condone or endorse any unjustified or excessive action."

The
magistrate had said that Ishrat and others were brought from Mumbai to
Ahmedabad by crime branch of Gujarat police on June 12, 2004 and they
were killed in a fake encounter on the night of June 14 in police
custody. The police had claimed that they had received specific
intelligence inputs from the Centre about the movement of LeT terrorists
and that they were going to Ahmedabad to assassinate chief minister
Narendra Modi. On the basis of this, the Modi government had moved
Gujarat High Court, which had stayed the magisterial probe report.
Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar had challenged the HC decision in the SC
with a plea to restore the honour of her daughter.

Responding to
the SC notice, the ministry suggested a CBI probe to clear the air. It
said, "If on a proper consideration of the facts it is found that an
independent inquiry and investigation has to be carried by the CBI or
otherwise, the Union of India would have no objection to such a course
and would abide by such orders which the court may deem fit to pass."
The SC had issued notices to the Centre, CBI and Gujarat government on
Shamima’s appeal challenging the HC order staying the magisterial
inquiry report that doubted the terrorist tag on her daughter and
castigated the state police for killing her in a fake encounter.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5749031.cms

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Bajrang Dal activists ransack police station (Apr
4, 2010, Times of India)

Bajrang Dal activists ransacked Rana Pratap Nagar police station on
Saturday evening after some of their associates were rounded up. Police
had to resort to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control and
disperse the mob. The enraged activists damaged an air-cooler installed
inside the police station and smashed the window.

Trouble broke
out after police tried to stop the activists from playing a loudspeaker
at a temple near Rana Pratap Nagar square. Police had received
complaints from residents of the area over loud music being played at
the temple. Cops had denied permission for the religious function at the
temple last year.

This time too permission for the programme had
become an issue. The cops have registered an offence in the case and
detained one person.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5758894.cms

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Court reserves order on CBIs closure report
against Tytler (Apr 7, 2010, Hindustan Times)

A Delhi court today reserved its order till April 20 on CBI’s closure
report giving a clean chit to former union minister Jagdish Tytler in a
1984 anti-Sikh riots case. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
Rakesh Pandit, after hearing arguments of CBI and the counsel for
Lakhwinder Kaur, a riot victim who opposed the closure report, said the
court would pronounce its order on the matter on April 20.

CBI,
which had on April two last year let off the Congress leader in its
probe report, submitted there was nothing to proceed against Tytler as
two witnesses California-based Jasbir Singh and Surinder Singh (already
expired) were not reliable and their statements were "false and
concocted".

Reading out different affidavits of Surinder Singh,
CBI counsel Sanjay Kumar submitted he had changed his versions time and
again as he first claimed that he saw Tytler leading the mob on November
one, 1984, after assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi a day
before and then afterwards he retracted by claiming that he did not see
him on the fateful date.

"The incident was alleged to have taken
place on November one, 1984. Why the witness did not file any FIR then
and suddenly after 16 years, he gave an affidavit before Nanavati
Commission making allegations against Tytler?" he said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/528381.aspx

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31% Muslims live below poverty line (Mar 28, 2010,
Central Chronicle)

Nearly one third of Muslims in the nation survive on less than Rs 550
a month, Economic think tank NCAER said, amid the ongoing debate on
reservations in jobs and educational institutions for those belonging to
the community. A survey by the National Council for Applied Economic
Research (NCAER) said that three out of every 10 Muslims were below
poverty line and lived on less than Rs 550 a month in the year 2004-05.

Even
among the poor, urban Muslims were better off compared to those in
villages, who survived on Rs 338 a month during the year under review,
NCAER said last week. The survey comes around the time when the Supreme
Court, in an interim order, has upheld the validity of four percent job
and educational reservation provided to backward members of Muslim
community in Andhra Pradesh. Also, the report of Ranganath Mishra
Commission, which has suggested reservation for Muslims and other
minorities, and has sought Scheduled Caste status for Dalits who adopted
Islam and Christianity, is awaiting action by the government.

"The
Adivasis are the most vulnerable group with nearly 50 percent below the
poverty line

Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – April 5th, 2010
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – April 19th, 2010
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – July 12th, 2010
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – April 26th, 2010
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – October 12th, 2009

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