IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 25th, 2010

by iamcadmin on January 24, 2010

In this issue

Communal Harmony

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Communal Harmony

Imam ensured Hindu-Muslim harmony in jail (Jan 19, 2010, Times of India)

Imam Gulam Yahya Illahi Bakhsh, acquitted of all terror charges in
the first case handled by the state anti-terrorism squad, did not sit
idle during the four years he spent in prison as an undertrial. It was
he who ensured that there was no fight among the Hindus and Muslims
there, especially when members of the two communities would offer their
daily prayers. Bakhsh was released from jail on Sunday afternoon, a
little more than four years after he entered prison (on January 13,
2006), after a Sewree fast-track court acquitted him of terror charges.

"When I was taken to jail, they first kept me in an isolated
cell called ‘anda’ cell meant for hardened criminals and terrorists.
Later, they shifted me to a barrack where most of the inmates were
accused of murder. There were Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the
barrack. But there was some problem as the timings for Hindu prayers
and the namaz clashed," he recounted. "When I requested my Hindu
brothers to time their prayers just before or after the namaz, they
readily agreed. Everything went off smoothly after that," he added.

"Even
in the cell, I continued leading namaz. I was happy that I was an imam
even though I was in jail," said Bakhsh, who has been leading namaz at
various mosques in the city for around 24 years. According to Bakhsh,
he got a lot of emotional support from Hindu inmates during his days in
prison. "There were times when I was completely shattered but several
Hindu inmates would sit next to me and console me. They said I would be
released if I had not done anything wrong," a tearful Bakhsh said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5475030.cms

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Muslims novel gesture to padayatris going to Palani (Jan 22, 2010, The Hindu)

To stress communal harmony and ensure safe journey of padyatris,
members of the Muslim Community in Periakulam offered reflector sticks
and pamphlets containing road safety measures to pilgrims going to Sri
Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple in Palani for Thai Poosam festival.

Launching
the distribution of sticks at a function held in Periakulam near here
on Thursday, Superintendent of Police R. Balakrishnan advised
padayatris to follow road rules strictly for a safe journey. Walking on
the sides of the road would be very safe. The reflector sticks would
alert vehicle drivers about the movement of pilgrims on road sides.

Already,
the police department had already distributed reflector sticks to
Sabarimala pilgrims also. The distribution of sticks by Muslim
community would strengthen communal harmony and brotherhood among
Hindus and Muslims, he added. Members of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra
Kazhagam took part and distributed sticks.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/22/stories/2010012257150300.htm

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News Headlines

Gujarat riots probe inches closer to Modi (Jan 20, 2010, Times of India)

Nearly eight years after the post-Godhra communal mayhem in Gujarat,
the probe by a Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team
(SIT) into nine most gruesome riot cases appears to be moving closer to
investigating the actions of chief minister Narendra Modi during the
period of violence. On Tuesday, SIT complained to a Bench comprising
Justices D K Jain, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam that the Gujarat
government had stonewalled its request for copies of speeches that Modi
made in the immediate aftermath of the riots, along with other
documents.

The Bench directed the state government to
immediately supply the SIT, headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan,
with copies of speeches as well as other documents to facilitate the
probe. The Supreme Court on Tuesday intervened on behalf of the SIT
probing the post-Godhra riots with the Gujarat government. "If SIT
thinks Modi’s speeches were relevant for the purpose of the probe, why
wouldn’t you give those to it?" the court asked. Importantly, the court
also agreed to examine a plea, supported by the Centre, to reconstitute
SIT on the ground that it had not been discharging its brief
satisfactorily.

It was last year that the SC asked SIT to also
probe a complaint by Jakia Nasim Ahesan Hussain Jafri, widow of former
Congress MP Ahsan Jafri who was killed by a mob at Gulbarg Society,
alleging that the communal riot was allowed to go on in the state with
the CM, cabinet ministers, police and bureaucracy abdicating their
constitutional duty to protect life and property of citizens
irrespective of their caste and religion. Apart from accusing Modi and
62 others, including the collectors and SPs of every riot-affected
district of grave dereliction of duty, Jafri had alleged that there had
been "deliberate attempts to scuttle most of the cases".

Citing
extracts of affidavits given by senior police officials, she alleged
that the administration was deliberately lethargic in controlling the
rampaging mobs. Jafri had also alleged that terror reigned in the state
even now and key witnesses were being coerced into silence. The bench
also agreed to look into an application by one Devendrabhai Pathak
seeking reconstitution of SIT, alleging that the SC’s crack team was
ignoring vital evidence.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5478452.cms

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Ansari calls for more openness, accountability in intelligence agencies (Jan 19, 2010, New Kerala)

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari Wednesday called for greater
"oversight and accountability" in the operations of the country’s
intelligence agencies, and suggested a standing committee of parliament
on intelligence be set up, like other such committees, to meet the
needs of good governance in a democratic society. Delivering the Fourth
R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture organised by the Resarch and Intelligence
Wing (RAW) of the Cabinet Secretariat, Ansari said although ministerial
responsibility to the legislature, and in turn to the electorate, was
an essential element of democratic governance, exceptions to it
pertained to the "intelligence and security structure of the state".
This had only executive and political oversight.

He said the
present system, though accepted for so long, did not "meet the
requirements of good governance in an open society" and concerns have
been raised over the scope and extent of the political executive’s
supervision as also the possibility of misuse of these services. "The
shortcomings of the traditional argument, of leaving intelligence to
the oversight of the executive, became evident in the Report of the
Kargil Review Committee" that went into the intelligence debacle before
the Kargil invasion by Pakistani Army soldiers, Ansari said. He said
given the international models of "calibrated openness to ensure
oversight and accountability" in advanced democratic societies, "there
is no reason why a democratic system like ours should not have a
Standing Committee on Intelligence that could function on the pattern
of other Standing Committees (in parliament)".

Since internal
and external intelligence in the Indian system did not report to the
same minister, the possibility of entrusting this work to the Standing
Committee on Home Affairs may not meet the requirement, the vice
president said, throwing open to debate an issue that is likely to find
greater resonance in the political and strategic community in the
coming months. Ansari also said that, just like in other democracies
like the US and the UK, the "concerned agencies should make public
their mission statement, outlining periodically their strategic intent,
vision, mission, core values and their goals".

And, in step
with the globalised information architecture, "there is a case for
greater openness with regard to the history of intelligence
institutions", Ansari said. He said the contention that openness and
public discussion would compromise the secrecy essential for
intelligence needed to re-examined. While operational secrecy was
essential in the functioning of the intelligence services and needed to
be maintained, it was necessary that these services have "financial and
performance accountability" and the proposed Standing Committee "could
fill this void".

"It could also function as a surrogate for
public opinion and thus facilitate wider acceptance of the imperatives
of a situation," he said. Kao, considered the ‘guru’ of the Indian
intelligence community, founded the RAW, the country’s external
intelligence agency. He was close to then prime minister Indira Gandhi
and was described by a British newspaper after his death in 2002 as a
philosopher-spymaster. The Indian intelligence community honours his
memory with a lecture every year.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-34011.html

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Still dont know why was I picked up: Haj House Imam (Jan 19, 2010, Indian Express)

For 47-year-old Maulana Ghulam Ilahi Baksh Yahya, "there is nothing
more punishing than the forced loneliness". Arrested in January 13,
2006, by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) for harbouring and financially
assisting three militants, he was acquitted of all charges by the Sewri
Fast Track court on Saturday. The Haj House Imam speaks with guarded
words as he narrates his life in jail during the last four years.
Sitting at Musafirkhana’s office of Mumbai Aman Committee, he says, "I
still don’t understand why was I picked up."

Ghulam recalls the
evening when he was called by the ATS officials at the Nagapda office.
He says after interrogating and making him hear the transcripts inwhich
his voice was abundantly clear and verified, he was pronounced
arrested. They even made me sign on some papers and a senior ATS
official was dressed in kurta and lungi while interrogating me, says
Ghulam, a standard VII dropout.

Days in the Arthur Road Jail
were the toughest, he says. Initially, he was lodged in the Anda cell.
"Imagine a barrack where it is just you and no one else for months. In
an adjoining cell, there was a Hindu youth named Santosh. But we were
too far to talk to each other. I craved for somebody’s company." After
submitting several appeals, the jail authorities finally shifted him to
barrack number 11 that housed many murder convicts. "But it brought
some peace to me. At least there were some human beings."

Many
of his acqaintances had arrived at the Aman Committee’s office to
express their solidarity. "When a cleric gets a criminal’s tag, it’s a
very uncomfortable feeling," says a visitor. "It is a great relief that
the court has pronounced him not guilty. The community was shocked. It
seemed like a vendetta to defame the community as they did not cover
his face," says Farid Shaikh, president of the Mumbai Aman Committee.

As
reporters thronged to interview Ghulam, his anecdotes gave everybody a
fair idea of the world inside a prison. With one tubelight, one fan, a
common television and two newspapers, the world inside can be described
as the "best school for practising patience", he says. Ghulam also
recounts the last days of confinement with ex-IPS officer Saji Mohan
who was arrested in a narcotics case. We exchanged words and thoughts
in jail, he says. This week Ghulam will be officially meeting the Haj
committee.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/568914/

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CBI to file fresh FIR in Sohrab case (Jan 17, 2010, Times of India)

A fresh complaint will soon be filed by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake
encounter case. This development follows the Supreme Court (SC) handing
over investigations in this controversial case to the CBI. Sheikh was
gunned down on the outskirts of Ahmedabad by a joint team of Rajasthan
police and Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat.

Hand-over of
investigation in this case after CID had filed a chargesheet and
arrested 13 police officials including 3 IPS officers has, however,
sparked off a legal debate in the pro-Gujarat government lobby. "How
can CBI be given the probe at this critical stage when CID has already
filed chargesheet?" some ask. This is the first such case where SC has
intervened after chargesheet was filed in a case.

In 2008, the
Gujarat government in its first affidavit had accepted that Sohrabuddin
was killed in a fake encounter. However, the state government had made
no move to lodge a fresh FIR and instead chosen to continue the police
complaint lodged by ATS, Gujarat, on November 25, 2005. CID officials
had probed the same complaint and arrested 13 police officials
including three IPS officers.

"The CBI cannot get a fresh
remand of the accused like IPS officer DG Vanzara on basis of the old
complaint, since all legal procedures have been completed in this
connection. For this reason, the CBI will need to lodge a new FIR so
that all the accused can be taken on remand and probe can begin anew,"
said sources in the Gujarat police. The CBI officials will in this
manner try to track down motive behind the encounter and also the real
mastermind. Now, the case will also be heard at the CBI court in
Mirzapur. Till date, it was heard at the sessions court in Bhadra.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5454693.cms

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No relief for Rathore from High Court (Jan 18, 2010, Deccan Herald)

Former director general of Haryana Police, S P S Rathore, convicted
of molestation, failed to get any relief from the Punjab and Haryana
High Court on his anticipatory bail plea on Monday as the court fixed
the next date of hearing on January 25.

Earlier, the CBI
counsel opposed the anticipatory bail plea of Rathore arguing that
there was possibility of tampering of evidence and intimidation of
witnesses as Rathore had held high positions in the state. He contended
that the investigations by the CBI were in the initial stage and
granting anticipatory bail to Rathore at this stage could hamper the
probe.

Rathore had moved the high court after a Panchkula court
had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea on January 8. Court asked the
CBI to file its reply to the third FIR pertaining to abetment of
suicide charge against Rathore under section 306 of the IPC on January
25.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/47436/no-relief-rathore-high-court.html

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Godse was inspired by BJP ideology: Kaul Singh (Jan 18, 2010, The Tribune)

History once again came to haunt political leaders. This time state
Congress president Kaul Singh quoted from history and dragged the
murder of Mahatma Gandhi into controversy. HPCC president Kaul Singh,
while addressing a political rally, said the BJP was a communal party.
Nathu Ram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, was inspired by the BJP
ideology, he alleged. He further alleged that the BJP was also hand in
glove with the SAD that caused communal divide in Punjab and pushed the
state into dark age of terrorism.

On the other hand, the
Congress implemented the Land Ceiling Act. It was the Congress that
created Himachal Pradesh. The BJP was in favour of joint Punjab, he
added. Speaking on factionalism in the BJP, Kaul Singh alleged that
Chief Minister PK Dhumal forced Shanta Kumar out of the Union Cabinet
during his last stint. He claimed that the present UPA government was
giving liberal projects to Himachal. Projects like central university,
IIT in Mandi and NIFT in Kangra have been sanctioned by the UPA
government, he added.

He was speaking at a rally organised by
the Youth Congress at Indora today. KPS Rana, while speaking on the
occasion, said the Congress had the history of fighting for freedom
struggle of the country whereas the BJP had no such history. Amarinder
Singh Brar, general secretary, Indian Youth Congress, said the Congress
was the only party that cared for poor in the country. "The party has
empowered people of the country by implementing schemes such as the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to
Information (RTI)."

Manmohan Katoch, while speaking on the
occasion, alleged that senior Congress leaders from the area were not
opposing the BJP government vehemently. Katoch brought the warring
factions of the Congress, including groups led by AICC member Vikram
Katoch and former MLA Bodh Raj, on a single platform for the first time
today. Factionalism was so rife in the area that the Congress failed to
put up a candidate from Indora in the last Assembly elections. Asha
Kumari, while speaking on the occasion, said the Congress had
strengthened under the present HPCC president Kaul Singh.

Chander
Kumar, former MP and HPCC general secretary, alleged that the present
government was trying to dilute the provisions of Section 118 of the
Land Tenancy Act. The former MP, however, got drubbing from a local
resident for taking up the issue of Indora in Parliament. The local
said he did not vote in the last elections due to his working. The
candid statement of common man left Congress leaders red-faced.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100118/himachal.htm#7

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Violence breaks out in one deemed university in TN (Jan 19, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Violence broke out on Tuesday in one of the 17 educational
institutions in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry set to lose their deemed
university status, as panic gripped about 50,000 students studying in
these colleges. With the Centre deciding to strip 44 educational
institutions countrywide of their deemed university status, the
managements of some of such universities in Tamil Nadu – some of them
which are just a year old – are planning to move the court. Students of
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, near Chennai,
damaged computers and boycotted classes, after their institution
figured in the list.

As estimated 50,000 students are studying in
16 deemed universities in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry, mostly run
by politicians. Bharat University, for example, is run by the children
of Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S
Jagatratshagan. "We would implead ourselves in the case", said Ishari K
Ganesh, son of late Isari Velan, who was a Parliamentary Secretary
during late MGR government and Chancellor of Vel’s University.

The
institutions were neither served any show cause notice nor were given
any time to rectify alleged discrepancies, he said. "Most of the
universities are just about a year old and were given deemed university
status after inspection of facilities and infrastructure by University
Grants Commission panel," he said. AIADMK MP M Thambidurai, patron of
St. Peter’s Institute of Higher Education Chennai, refused to comment
on the institution figuring in the blacklist claiming he did not run
any college.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/499421.aspx

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45 injured as violence breaks out at Osmania University (Jan 20, 2010, Indian Express)

Violence broke out at the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad
when police stopped students from staging a march with the body of a
youth who committed suicide by immolating himself apparently due to
delay in formation of a separate Telangana state. Police said at least
30 students and 15 policemen, including Kachiguda ACP K Ramchander,
were injured as the premises turned into a battlefield with students
throwing stones and torching police vehicles.

Police burst
teargas shells and fired rubber bullets and used water cannons to
disperse them. Some mediapersons were also hurt during the clashes. The
violence broke out over shifting the body of K Venugopal Reddy, a
23-year-old final-year MCA student who set himself ablaze yesterday at
the university, which has been a focal point for the youth demanding
Telangana.

The students planned to take out Venugopal’s body in
a procession towards Gun Park near Andhra Pradesh state assembly from
the Arts College premises where the body was kept since yesterday.
Hundreds of students gathered at the Arts College premises to pay their
respects to Venugopal. But police stopped them from taking out any
procession saying it may aggravate the situation in view of the bandh
being already observed in the city in support of Telangana.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/569622/

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Include all Muslims in BPL, then exclude the well-off (Jan 19, 2010, Indian Express)

In a move that could stir the political pot, the Rural Development
Ministry, under Congress leader C P Joshi, has proposed "automatic
inclusion" of Muslims in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list of families
along with Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Aware of
the political sensitivities involved, the Ministry plans to replace the
word "Muslim" with "Minority" to pre-empt opposition, especially from
BJP-ruled states. Inaugurating a conference of Social Editors, Rural
Development Minister Joshi said that to simplify the process and ensure
that vulnerable sections are not left out from the BPL list, his
department favoured automatic "inclusion" and "exclusion".

It
has been proposed, he said, that SCs, STs and minorities be
automatically included in the BPL list and then well-off families
excluded on basis of Income Tax returns, land records etc. And certain
categories will be "automatically" excluded from the BPL list: families
with double of a district’s average irrigated land, those with a four
or three-wheel motor vehicle or mechanized farm equipment, a government
or private sector employee earning a salary above Rs 10,000 per month.
Joshi justified automatic inclusion citing that "SCs, STs and
Minorities together form less than 37% of the population" – less than
the BPL population pegged by the S C Saxena and Suresh Tendulkar
committee reports released recently.

"There is a feeling that
vulnerable sections are being excluded from the BPL list due to
competitive politics. We are trying to address the problem", Joshi
said. He, however, said that his Ministry was waiting for the NSSO
survey to decide the mode to be adopted for the new BPL survey. Joshi’s
proposal goes beyond what the Saxena committee report – it was
appointed by the Rural Development Ministry – recommended. While it
said that weightage should be given to certain social groups, including
Muslims, it did not favour automatic inclusion. According to the Saxena
report, SCs/STs would get three points and Most Backward Castes (MBC)
two points. The Saxena report said that Muslims and OBCs be given one
point each.

Automatic inclusion of Muslims in the BPL list
could be the first major attempt by the Congress-led UPA government to
woo the vote bank that roughly constitutes 18% of the country’s
population. The decision could be significant given that Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar go to state polls in 2012 and 2010 respectively, states where
the Congress is desperately trying to get a foothold. Inclusion and
exclusion from the BPL list is a big issue in villages, particularly in
the Hindi heartland, since benefits of most Central and state-sponsored
welfare schemes like Indira Awas Yojna, old age pension are decided on
the basis of the list.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/569084/

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SC/ST woman to retain tag after marriage (Jan 23, 2010, Times of India)

The Bombay high court on Friday held that a woman belonging to the
SC/ST category by birth would retain her caste even after marrying a
man who was from an upper caste. The bench of Justices B H Marlapalle,
Abhay Oka and R Y Ganoo said that a woman would not lose her caste by
marriage and it did not change to that of her husband’s. In fact, as
ruled by a Constitution bench of the SC.

"Caste is acquired by
birth and does not undergo a change by virtue of marriage or even
adoption." The apex court had also laid down that a woman from a
general category married to a SC/ST man would also not automatically
gain voluntary mobility into the backward caste.

The ruling
came in a case of where a man and his family members were seeking
protection from arrest last year in a criminal case filed against them
under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for abusing his SC
wife.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5490504.cms

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Opinions and Editorials

Violating the rule of law – By N.H. Hingorani (Jan 17, 2010, The Tribune)

The shocking Ruchika Girhotra’s case is yet another instance where
outraged public sentiment has compelled our politicians to come out of
their slumber and do damage control. The latest step is the
registration of three fresh FIRs against Haryana’s disgraced
Director-General of Police S.P.S. Rathore for offences under the Indian
Penal Code, including the offence of implicating Ruchika’s brother,
Ashu, in false cases so as to pressurise Ruchika into withdrawing her
molestation complaint and the offence of abetting her suicide. Rathore
and his wife-cum-counsel Abha Rathore are attributing the filing of the
fresh FIRs to a smear campaign by the media, pointing out that the
Supreme Court has already settled both issues in their favour. It is
pointed out by the Rathores that while one Bench of the Supreme Court
had quashed the directions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court
to the District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, to probe the allegations
made by Ashu, another Bench of the apex court had affirmed the view
taken by the High Court that no case against Rathore can be made out
for charging him for abetment to suicide. The Rathores argue that the
filing of the fresh FIRs as such is not permissible in law. But then,
are the Rathores legally right in taking such stand? Let us summarise
the facts: "After a 19-year-long trial, Special CBI Magistrate J. S.
Sidhu convicted Rathore on December 21, 2009 for molesting 14-year-old
Ruchika Girhotra under Section 354 IPC and sentenced him to six months
rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000.

The incident
occurred in 1990. Ruchika (14) and her friend Aradhana (13), both
budding tennis players, were summoned by Rathore to his
office-cum-residence. Rathore was also the Chairman of the Haryana Lawn
Tennis Association (HLTS) at that time. On August 12, 1990, Ruchika and
Aradhana went to Rathore’s office. He directed Aradhana to go to call
the coach. On her return, Aradhana saw Rathore molesting Ruchika. On
seeing Aradhana, Rathore let go Ruchika from his embrace. Ruchika ran
out of the room and Rathore told Aradhana to talk to her friend not to
talk about the incident.On August 14, 1990, Ruchika and Aradhana
decided to tell about what had happened to their parents. Ruchika, who
had lost her mother, confided in Aradhana’s mother. On August 15, 1990,
the families of Ruchika and Aradhana along with the parents of other
trainees of the HLTA handed over a written complaint to Home Secretary
J. S. Duggal. The then Chief Minister marked it to the then
Director-General of Police R. R. Singh. On August 25, 1990, 45-50
goondas raising slogans against Ruchika, smashed the window panes of
her house. On September 3, 1990, DGP R. R. Singh found the allegation
of molestation against Rathore in the complaint to be true and
recommended registration of the complaint and investigation by the CID.
On the heels of the registration of the complaint against Rathore, the
Sacred Heart School expelled Ruchika from school ostensibly for
non-payment of school fee in time, though this was the first instance
in the institution where a student was expelled on this ground. That
too, when no such action was taken for 135 other students who had not
paid their fees, some of whom had dues far more than
Ruchika’s.Ironically, Rathore’s daughter, who studied in the same
school, was in this list of 135 students as well. The school principal,
Sister Sebastina issued verbal instructions to expel Ruchika from the
school without even notice to her parents. This undeserved blot on her
school career lowered Ruchika’s self-esteem at the young impressionable
age of 14 years and shattered her self-confidence.

Aradhana’s
family was not spared either. Her father, Anand Prakash, was a Chief
Engineer in the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board had a spotless
record. Soon after the complaint filed by Aradhana’s mother on behalf
of Ruchika against Rathore for molesting her, 12 charge-sheets were
filed against Anand Prakash. The pressure tactics started on July 17,
1991, when a charge-sheet for major penalty was slapped on him with
another on July 19, 1991 and the rest followed. Of the 11 charge-sheets
filed against Anand Prakash, most were dropped and in others exonerated
except the one in which he got a warning. Anand Prakash took premature
retirement in 2000. Soon after the state government’s decision in 1992
to register an FIR against Rathore, the police within his
administrative jurisdiction filed first of 11 auto theft cases against
Ashu (then 14 years old) on August 12, 1992. On October 23, 1993, Ashu
was arrested and kept in illegal custody for two months and subjected
to inhuman torture at Rathore’s instance. On Diwali day, Ashu was
brought out of Sector 6 Police Post, Panchkula (Chandigarh),
hand-cuffed and paraded half-naked through the lane where he stayed.
The police asked his father and sister to come out to see him in that
state. Unable to see the sufferings of her family, Ruchika committed
suicide on December 28, 1993. It was several years later that Ashu was
exonerated of all the charges in April 1997, with the court having "no
hesitation to pinpoint that nothing is on record to prima facie indict
the accused" and that charges against him are "just waste papers." With
Ruchika committing suicide on December 28, 1993, Rathore swung into
action by overseeing the post mortem, reducing her father to helplessly
plead before the police to at least hand over her dead body. The post
mortem report was tampered with to change Ruchika’s name and to
attribute the cause of her death due to overdose of slimming pills.

A
case was sought to be made out by Rathore that Ruchika committed
suicide because she was depressed by her father’s relations with Veena,
her nanny. Meanwhile, Rathore who is said to enjoy immense political
influence, did not only stall any punitive action him under successive
regimes but managed to have the departmental enquiry against him closed
and to get promotions. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo
motu notice on December 8, 2000 of a press report which had highlighted
the harassment meted out to Ashu, Ruchika’s brother. The High Court had
observed that "it seems the police officers posted at the Police
Station, Panchkula, were let loose on Ashu by Rathore, a senior IPS
officer of Haryana cadre to pressurise Ashu’s sister to withdraw the
complaint lodged by her against him for the offence under Section 354
IPC". The High Court remitted the case to the District and Sessions
Judge, Patiala, to probe Ashu’s allegation. On appeal to the Supreme
Court by Rathore, the apex court stayed the High Court’s probe order.
In May 2005, the Supreme Court quashed the High Court probe order.
Noting the harassment of Ashu referred to in the years 1993 to 1996,
the period between Ruchika, molestation case and her suicide on
December 28, 1993 in his affidavit, the Court wondered why Ashu filed
his affidavit so late, while observing that Ashu was not illiterate and
that no "other factor" was brought to its notice which compelled him to
remain silent. As regards the offence of the abetment to suicide, the
Special CBI Judge, by his judgement dated October 23, 2007, had added
the charge of abetment to suicide against Rathore under Section 306
IPC, taking into consideration the continuous alleged harassment of
Ruchika as well as her family members.

Rathore’s revision
application against the order dated October 2, 2001 in the Punjab and
Haryana High Court was allowed in view of the CBI’s surprising stand
supporting Rathore. The appeal preferred by Aradhana’s mother, Madhu
Prakash, was dismissed by the Supreme Court." If we assume the
aforesaid facts and judicial proceedings have been accurately reported
by the media, we are left with numbing allegations of the sickening rot
in our entire polity ranging from the police to the legal system to the
bureaucrats to the politicians to the education system. The effect of
such misuse of power by all concerned has resulted in the flagrant
violation of the fundamental rights of Ruchika, her brother as also of
Aradhana’s father.

Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 11th, 2010
  2. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 4th, 2010
  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – October 25th, 2010
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – January 18th, 2010
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – May 25th, 2009

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