IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – July 13th, 2009

by on August 11, 2009

IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS HEADLINES

OPINIONS & EDITORIALS

NEWS HEADLINES

GUJARAT GOVT APPOINTS COMMISSION TO STUDY POLARISATION ON RELIGION (JUL 4, 2009, DECCAN HERALD)

The Gujarat government has constituted a judicial commission to probe allegations of ghettoisation of population along religious line in the state. The government has set up a Commission of Inquiry, headed by Retd Justice B J Shethna, to inquire into polarisation on religious lines in the state, an official notification said. Allegations have been leveled in courts as well through the media against the state government that polarisation of population on the basis of religion is taking place in Gujarat, it said yesterday.

The Commission has been asked to complete its inquiry and submit its report to the state government before January 31, 2011. The government said the "allegations were not based on scientific study. Such allegations and unscientific conclusions create divisions among the citizens," it said. The state government is of the opinion that an inquiry should be held into this matter of public importance, the notification said.

The terms of reference of the Commission is to inquire square meters covered by the people following different religions as on August 15, 1947 and their polarisation and migration taking place every ten years after August 15, 1947 in the state along with the total population, names and the size of such areas. The Commission will also inquire into area-wise proportion of the people following different religions in the new residential areas which have come into being only after August 15, 1947 and the size of such areas.

The Commission shall look into the reasons for polarisation of population, the notification said, adding that it has also been asked to make recommendations and frame proper policies to stop the polarisation. The constitution of such a Commission assumes significance as the urban areas in Gujarat are considered to be polarised on religious lines.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/11713/gujarat-govt-appoints-commission-study.html

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RAJGADH MLA HELD FOR POST-GODHRA RIOTS IN PANCHAMAHALS, DAHOD (JUN 30, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)

Rajgadh MLA Fatehsinh Chauhan, wanted in several cases of loot and arson in the post-Godhra riots in Panchmahals and Dahod districts, was arrested on Monday morning by the Dahod police after the Supreme Court allowed fresh investigations into the cases. Dahod Superintendent of Police Vipul Aggarwal said Chauhan had come to the police station around 10.30 am and was arrested around 11.10 am. He added that Chauhan was arrested for his role in leading mobs that had burnt down houses in 21 villages near the Dahod-Panchmahals border in Lunawada, Devgadh Baria and Piplod. The police said fresh arrest orders were issued in May 2009, following orders from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had ordered re-investigation in a case filed at Devgadh Baria police station in May 2002, against Chauhan and 70 others, after two riot victims – Babu Sajorwala and Nazmuddin Sajorwala – filed an application in the apex court regarding this.

Devgadh Baria Circle Inspector J P Sutharia said: "We are taking him to his village near Rajgadh, Dama village, where we will inquire about his hideouts, possible stocks of weapons and other evidences against him. Those who were aiding him in hiding will also be arrested. He will be in custody for 24 hours after which we will conduct identification parade, in which the complainants, in the presence of the district judge, will identify him." Officers from Devgadh Baria and from the Dahod Local Crime Branch were in Rajgadh till 4 pm finding possible hideouts of Chauhan. Later, Chauhan was brought to the Goghamba police station. Sutharia added: "We will take him to Devgadh Baria in the evening." Interestingly, after the Supreme Court ordered reinvestigation into the riots cases in 2004, Chauhan had applied twice for anticipatory bail and later withdrew them.

Post-Godhra riot victim, Babu Sajorwala’s family in Vav Kundli village were indifferent to the arrest of Chauhan on Monday. "The damage was done eight years ago. The case was filed in 2004 for reinvestigation. Why did police protect him for the five long years when he went out for rallies during elections? We uphold the order of the Supreme Court because of which Chauhan was arrested. But can you undo this animosity between the two communities in the village?" asked Mohammadi Sajorawala, 75-year old lawyer and elder brother of Babu and Nazmuddin Sajorawala. The septuagenarian lawyer was in Godhra, when around 70 persons led by Chauhan and his close aides, carried out loot and arson across Devgadh Baria in Dahod district and Goghamba taluka of Panchmahals district. "Despite the loot of Rs 7.5 lakh from my brother’s shops after their houses were burnt, my brothers stayed in Vav Kundli village because all of us grew up here. Not a single rupee paid to us as compensation by the state government. Of the 70 persons who looted and burnt houses in our village, none of the attackers belonged to our village. They came like a flood and swept and scarred us for rest of our lives. We refuse to say anything about Chauhan’s arrest and hope that we get justice," said Mohammadi.

Known as the master of disguise, Rajgadh MLA Fatehsinh Chauhan was seen at many election rallies several times since he was declared wanted, claimed police officers. Sources said during a Bhartiya Janata Party meeting before the Lok Sabha elections this year, Chauhan violated the model code of conduct in Lunawada. Some local electronic media channels have produced tapes of his speech to the Election Commission. Besides, Goghamba police officers are yet to take any action against Chauhan for calling Congress President Sonia Gandhi a kutiya (bitch) and bandariya (monkey) during an election speech. Furthermore during the elections, Chauhan dressed like a tribal, cast his vote in Dama Prathamik Shala under Goghamba taluka shocking the district officials. "Goghamba police are conducting an inquiry about the EC violations during the elections," added Dahod SP Vipul Aggarwal.

Senior police officers from Goghamba said it was the arrest of his most trusted henchmen, Gajabhai Baria, in April, which drew curtains to Chauhan’s show. With the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha meeting for the monsoon session starting, there was no other option left for Chauhan but to appear before the court. His supporters said that Chauhan could walk freely even after his arrest orders were issued as he fooled with his different get-ups. "Sometimes, he used to dress up like a tribal and enter meetings, watch everyone quietly with police officers all around," added one of his supporters in Goghamba.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/482836/

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23 KEY BABRI FILES MISSING, UP TELLS HC (JUL 8, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)

As many as 23 files and not just seven as reported, relating to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, were missing in the Uttar Pradesh Government’s records, according to an affidavit submitted by Chief Secretary Atul Gupta to the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday. According to official records, the files were last taken away by an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the state Home Department’s Communalism Control Cell way back in the nineties. The official later died in an accident. The Bench had directed the government to produce seven documents on an application of the Sunni Wakf Board, the main Muslim party to the dispute. The application was moved way back in 2002.

The Bench, consisting of Justices Rafat Alam, Sudhir Agrawal and D V Sharma, asked the government to explain by Friday what action it had taken. When the government failed to produce the documents despite repeated directions, the Court summoned the Chief Secretary. Gupta submitted an affidavit along with a letter from the Home Secretary informing the Principal Secretary (General Administration) that 23 files kept at the Communalism Control Cell of the state Home Department were missing.

With the letter, dated June 6, the Home Secretary also sent a list of the missing files with their brief description. The letter said, according to official records, the missing files and the register of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute files were taken away by former review officer in the Home Department, Subhash Bhan Sadh, after he was appointed OSD in the Communalism Control Cell. The Chief Secretary informed the Bench that Sadh later died in an accident.

On Tuesday, the state government moved an application requesting the Court to ask the Sunni Wakf Board to furnish information regarding the source they had come to know of the documents. "The court has given two days to file objections against the application," said Board’s advocate Zafaryab Jilani. Additional Advocate General J N Mathur appeared on behalf of the government. The litigation dates to December, 1949.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/486462/

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MALEGAON BLAST CASE: COURT REJECTS SADHVI PRAGYAS BAIL PLEA (JUL 10, 2009, THE TRIBUNE)

A bail plea by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, was rejected today by a special court which refused to accept her argument that the prosecution had failed to follow certain provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). In the bail plea filed in January, Thakur had said the prosecution failed to file its charge sheet in the case within the stipulated 90-day period and thus she is entitled to bail.

Under the provisions of MCOCA, the period to file the charge sheet can be extended to 180 days if the prosecution files a brief of the progress report in the investigation before the court within 90 days and seeks extension to file the charge sheet. "When the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) filed its progress report in the case, Thakur had spent 95 days in custody and thus she was entitled to bail. Although the ATS has shown Thakur’s arrest date as October 23, she was taken into custody on October 10 and thus was illegally detained for 13 days," Thakur’s lawyer Ganesh Sovani argued.

Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian, however, opposed the bail plea stating that the ATS had filed the report on the 89th day since Thakur’s arrest on October 23, and had thus not violated any provision. Thakur and 10 others, including Lt Col S P Purohit, were arrested last year for allegedly conducting the September 28, 2008, blast in Malegaon that killed six persons and injured several others. All accused are in judicial custody. The court is expected to pass its order on the bail applications of Purohit and other accused next week.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090710/main6.htm

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FRESH VIOLENCE ROCKS MYSORE, 219 HELD (JUL 10, 2009, DECCAN HERALD)

Fresh incidents of violence broke out in the Mandi police station limits in Mysore on Thursday as a ‘jail bharo’ by activists of the Popular Front of India (PFI) turned violent at the Fountain Circle here. The police lobbed tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge to quell the mob, which indulged in stone throwing. While a police constable was stabbed, a few police personnel, including Assistant Commissioner of Police A K Suresh, were hurt in stone throwing. A press photographer, who suffered injuries, was admitted to a private hospital. Police arrested 219 persons, including six women, in connection with the incident. As a precautionary measure, the district administration has declared holiday for educational institutions in the Narasimharaja Constituency on Friday.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal, who was in Bangalore in connection with a meeting convened by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, rushed back to Mysore. He told Deccan Herald that night curfew would be clamped in the three police station limits of Udayagiri, Mandi and Narasimha Raja from Thursday till further orders. Trouble began around 2:30 pm when a group of people under the banner of the PFI gathered at the Five Lights Circle as part of the ‘jail bharo’ programme. Within minutes more than 1,000 persons arrived at the place and took out a procession towards the Tipu Circle. They blocked the Mysore-Bangalore Highway for more than an hour. Senior police officers, through the public address system, appealed to the agitators to disperse as prohibitory orders were in force. However, the protesters squatted on the road and staged a ‘rasta roko’ in the lashing rains.

They raised slogans against the State government and demanded the release of 16 PFI activists who had been arrested by the police. A few miscreants threw stones at KSRTC buses damaging window panes. The nearby shops were also stoned by the mob. Sensing trouble, KSRP and Rapid Action Force personnel, who had been deployed in the Udayagiri police station limits, were summoned to the Fountain Circle. As the police started arresting the protesters, the miscreants rained stones on the police and RAF personnel. The police, who were taken aback by the stone throwing without any provocation, resorted to lathi charge. The RAF personnel also joined the police and lobbed tear gas shells. The protesters were beaten black and blue.

While ACP Suresh was trying to control the mob, a stone hit his face. Mahesh, a police constable attached to the V V Puram police station, who was on bandobust duty at the spot, was stabbed by some miscreants. The duo was immediately taken to a private hospital where their condition was said to be out of danger. The whole place resembled a battle ground with the mob pelting stones from one corner of the road and police bursting tear gas shells from the other side. Some miscreants pelted stones at the shops on Ashoka Road, which prompted the traders to down shutters as a precautionary measure.

The police had diverted vehicular movement till the situation became normal. According to sources, security has been beefed up in Mandi, Udayagiri and Narasimharaja police station limits. Metal barricades have been placed at all entry and exit points to check unnecessary movement of people in the curfew-bound areas. City Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal and Deputy Commissioner P Manivannan held a meeting at the Udayagiri police station on Thursday night to take stock of the situation.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/12861/fresh-violence-rocks-mysore-219.html

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KANDHAMAL RIOTS CASE: MAN SENTENCED TO 2 YRS IN PRISON (JUL 1, 2009, HINDUSTAN TIMES)

In the first conviction ten months after riots rocked the Kandhamal district, a tribal leader has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a local court here on charge of setting ablaze a house of a man belonging to a minority community. Chakradhar Mallick of Dampidhia village had set the house of one Loknath Digal of the same village on fire during the communal riots that broke out in the aftermath of the VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati’s killing on August 23, 2008.

Besides, fast track court-II judge Chittaranjan Dash, also the additional sessions judge, imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on Mallick while delivering the judgement on Tuesday. The court had earlier acquitted three persons. Mallick, a tribal leader, was also accused of instigating people in the village to set afire the houses of the minority community.

The district witnessed large scale violence for two months. The riots claimed at least 43 lives and at least 4,600 houses, over 150 churches and prayer houses were set on fire. As many as 700 cases were filed in different police stations while police arrested about 1,000 people in connection with the riots.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print.aspx?Id=9840a00d-fe53-48df-b431-d08488d74257

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RANBIRS DEATH: 14 COPS BOOKED FOR MURDER (JUL 8, 2009, THE TRIBUNE)

The Uttarakhand crime branch of the criminal investigation department (CB-CID) today began probe into the death of 24-year-old MBA from Ghaziabad, Ranbir Singh, in an encounter.

On a complaint lodged by Ranbir’s father Ravinder Pal Singh at the Raipur police station late last evening, a case was registered against 14 police officials under Section 147 (rioting), Section 148 (carrying deadly weapon), Section 302 (murder) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation).

Led by ASP Vimla Gunjiyal. the CB-CID team today started investigations into the matter. "We have started the process of collecting documents and will be recording the statements of witnesses," she said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090708/main7.htm

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GOVT REJECTS VARUNS PLEA FOR MORE SECURITY (JUL 7, 2009, INDIAN EXPRESS)

Government rejected BJP Hindutva poster boy Varun Gandhi’s plea for more security and also dismissed his mother, Maneka Gandhi’s allegation in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the Home Ministry had adopted a "lackadaisical" approach to threats to his life. Sources in Union Home Ministry said that the 29-year-old Varun Gandhi was special Y category protectee (three PSO’s round the clock, one escort and pilot vehicle) and after various reviews, the arrangement was found adequate.

Maneka, in a letter to the Prime Minister, had referred to the arrest by Delhi Police of six sharp shooters of Chota Shakeel gang, saying that they wanted to target Varun, a claim denied by the police. "I am amazed at the lackadaisical attitude of your government

Related posts:

  1. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – April 13th, 2009
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  3. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – July 27th, 2009
  4. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – July 20th, 2009
  5. IMC-USA Weekly News Digest – September 13th, 2010

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