Fake Killings: People as Trophies Re: # 120

Nila,
<< However the answer to the above is DEFINITELY NOT a swift two week investigation by Tehelka. Please. >>

Agreed one hundred percent. It does nt need a tehelka really to establish that corruption really exists in India. We all know it. And yet, we need journalists like tehelka to establish what we all know.

Corruption in the police for supari killings were not unknown to Gujaratis. Gujaratis dint need a tehelka investigation to know that people went missing after being taken from their homes by the state police. And yet, the mainstream media would nt talk about it, until Vanzara.

Tehelkas reports in the past two weeks are shocking the conscience of the nation.


http://tehelka.com/

Fake Killings: People as Trophies www.tehelka.com


BREAKING NEWS :

MODIS HAND IN FAKE KILLING

The story is shocking but it is true. It is sordid, but then it is the grisly truth. In Gujarat — in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, to be precise — it can get worse than Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Kausar Bi. A swift, two-week Tehelka investigation conclusively proves that the cold-blooded killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife was no aberration and that, in fact, there are more Sohrabuddins. The investigation also proves that the infamous encounter cop DG Vanzara was no loose cannon — in the business of fake kills for the lure of money — but had a powerful lobby of backers. Backers who Tehelka discovered went right up to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

On October 1, 2002, incidentally observed as anti-terrorist day by the BJP, the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad Police announced that they had arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist called Sameer Khan. Khan was a small-time criminal wanted for the alleged murder of a police constable and had been absconding since 1996. Vanzara, who was then DCP Crime, said that they had arrested Khan from outside ST bus stand on the afternoon of September 27. For the next four days, however, the police kept him in unlawful custody, violating the legal provision of producing an accused in court within 24 hours of arrest. On the night of September 30, the Crime Branch finally showed Khan as arrested under a newly-registered FIR. What is shocking is that the police chose not to arrest him under the already existing FIR, filed for the constable’s murder, but waited four days before they registered a new FIR spun around a conspiracy alleged to have been hatched by the ISI and Jaish-e-Mohammed to assassinate Modi, Togadia and Advani.

The police also claimed to have recovered some e-mails received by Sameer from Pakistan, instructing him to assassinate BJP leaders. They claimed that there were seven more old cases against Sameer but never gave the details as to what these cases were. The fact is that the police could reveal details of just one case of a constable’s murder, and in that too Sameer could never be tried. After spending 14 days in police remand, Sameer was sent to judicial custody on October 14. On October 21, the Crime Branch moved an application for a transfer warrant in court. The police said they wanted to interrogate Sameer in the constable murder case. Sahrista Khan, Sameer’s cousin who was also made a co-accused in the Modi conspiracy, told Tehelka that Sameer had told him during judicial custody that Crime Branch officers were threatening to kill him.

Yes, in Modi’s official chamber, fake encounters are called desh bhakti. In the CMO, confidential, official letters marked ‘Top Secret’ — issued from the desk of the officiating Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad — are manipulated. Original letters are replaced and pressure is brought to bear on top cops. The subversion is masterminded not by some low-level clerk but at the level of the CM’s principal secretary. Simply put, it means this: fake encounters have official sanction.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies #114 by nila
Re: # 98

Extra judicial killings provide the extreme example where outsiders trample with the law and order machinery.

It is the extension of the common man`s ignorance of law, just as that of the politician`s, coupled with the arrogance and criminal mentality of those weilding poer and position.

The ultimate culprits are of course the investigative agencies who cannot prove a crime beyond doubt, and the judiciary which delays handing out justice to the point of it being denied.

Even ordinay law abiding citizens are forced to take law into their hands, made all the more fashionable by the filmy heroes.

For starters I think we need to develop a situation where no politician can put forth his theory as to how something happened till it is finalised in court. Where the press is asked to speak to concerned officials and not politicians as to the why and how of things.

Some how we have to increase the credibilty of investigative ``Banerjees``, who have come out with fantastic theories of Tornados overturning whole trains into rivers on a relatively quiet July afternoon. >>




I agree fully. Its unfortunate that the world we live in, is not ideal.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies Re : #103

It is an unfortunate fact, that under-development in India is community based - however hard it may be to swallow. No individual based specific solutions can remedy the situation, as a whole community is involved.


Re: # 102

The secular state should stay away from religion when such attention is to the detriment of another. An example is Hitlers Germany and Saudi Arabia.

However, when a segment of society, be it SC/ST/OBC/Muslim/Christian/Mountain Tribe, no state, however secular, can sit back and let things by.

Of course, the answer does not lie in reservations. And yet, there is something poignantly wrong, when an interview to the civil services can accept only 3% of interviewees, when actually 15% of the population belongs to that religion. The same, it can be argued, can apply to caste. It could be a necessary evil that a proportion of the civil services should be reserved for the deprived community.

The problems arise only when forward castes have to fight in `open` along with the reserved candidates. Ideally, the reservations for jobs should ensure that all communities have proportionate reservation. Thus, this 15% of the muslim population should not be allowed into the general category. Within this 15%, a creamy layer concept is workable.

If proportionately allocated, this reservation system could become acceptable even to the forward castes.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies Re: # 97 Nila,


All communities need to develop equally.

As you pointed out, there may be many reasons for the poor employment of muslims, but in a truly secular society this should be pro-actively corrected.

No doubt there is resistance to education from within muslims, but many of the reasons are correctable and no truly secular society would stay away from acting.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies Re: # 94

The point about the fire being accidental was Justice Banerjees, not mine.


``There is no scrap of paper to prove that there was a conspiracy and there was no evidence to prove that petrol was thrown from outside,`` Justice Banerjee said. Repeatedly asked whether the final report was consistent with the interim report, he said, ``Absolutely. It is consistent. I have no reason to change it``.

Asked about the basis of his confirmation on the causes of fire, he said in the light of further evidences available to him, which his committee scanned, ``I reached the conclusion that it was accidental and not deliberate``.

Were the doors locked or open? Unlike what was widely claimed in the aftermath of the tragedy, that the doors were locked and Kar Sewaks failed to get out of the ill-fated coach, Justice Banerjee concluded that the doors of coach No S-6 were open which is why other passengers managed to escape the tragedy. `How come only 59 persons (Kar Sewaks) remained inside the coach and the rest (between 200-250) escaped?` he asks.

http://outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=367780

The train fire, which killed 59 people (many of them VHP activists), was utilised by RSS and VHP activists and by the BJP Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, to incite the Gujarat pogrom and communally divide the state, by demonising muslims. Modi and other Hindu supremacists claimed that a coach carrying mainly VHP activists had been set ablaze by Muslims and that Hindus were, therefore, justified in holding all Muslims responsible for the fire deaths. Another example of a train set on fire similarly, is the recent Samjhuata Express, which was caused by a hybrid bomb.

After analysing the fire, police evidence and the testimony of eye-witnesses, Banerjee found the claim of a Muslim attack to be without foundation. Among other things, there was no mob at the station, only on-lookers; the doors of the coach were not sealed; and many of those on the coach were not VHP activists.

As would be excepted, the BJP and its allies have denounced the Banerjee Commission report.

Justice Bannerjee, though, had pointed out that as per the statements by two police personnel, Raju Bhargav, SP, and Srikumar, Additional Director General of Gujarat Police, there was no crowd as such at the Godhra Station when the tragedy occurred. ``Only onlookers were there, besides women and children. In fact the nearby mosque was attacked.`` He said that SP Raju Bhargav had claimed that he had rushed and imposed curfew immediately.

More than 100 people are still in jail under POTA, in connection with the Godhra incident that had left 59 people dead. The Muslim conspiracy theory had also been challenged by the testimony of DSP K.C. Bawa, who investigated the Godhra incident in the first crucial months, before Justice Nanavati. He had also said that he found no evidence of a conspiracy to burn the train nor any involvement of outside or foreign agencies.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies
Nila,

Arundhati Roy is not just another Booker winner. She is an acclaimed author of course, but more than that, she is now a social worker, taking up different causes, including the `fake encounter` case.

About Gujarat, a reading of tehelka is informative : www.tehelka.com


Folio, #78,

No doubt that you have a theory of what happened at Godhra, and like most Hindus, might not accept the fact that it could ve been accidental. The theories of common men sitting at computers, cannot amount to anything more than rumours and speculation. Modis charges against muslims were however, demonic.

The Banerjee commission however, was privy to all the facts of the case, and the Banerjee committee ... ruled out the possibility of any inflammable liquid being responsible for the fire, as there was first a smell of burning and then a smoke and flames, which would not be the case if inflammable fluid were used. ``The inflammable liquid theory gets negated by the statement of some of the passengers who suffered injuries on the upper portion of the body and not the lower body and who crawled towards the door on elbows and could get out without much injury``, says the Banerjee report. `` ... ``The committee has noted the forensic laboratory`s experiment and verified its conclusion that it was impossible to set fire to the train from outside``, Banerjee concluded. Eliminating the ``petrol theory``, the ``miscreant theory`` and the possibility of an electrical fire, the committee said that the burning was an ``accidental fire``.

The attitude of the police towards muslims in the aftermath, could just be an inkling of the BJP labs experiments. Heres another girl killed in a fake encounter : http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/17guj.htm

Gujarat has the potential to be Indias Palestine, with religion as its mantle-piece.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies Nila,


Godhra and Marad are both strongly condemnable.

The point I am trying to make in Godhra, the major issue here, is the fact that a communal overtone was sought to played by the then Gujarat government, which immediately blamed political extremists belonging to muslims, though it is now amply clear that the fire was an accident, probably due to fuel carrying Hindu fanatics. The result of that, we all know - Gujarat 2002. In a new age where policemen are willing to shoot themselves to `prove` and encounter, nothing is surprising.


In Marad, there was no effort to blame anyone unnecessarily. And you might find it hard to find another example of muslims butchering Hindus in India with such ferocity, if you dont want to believe in RSS propaganda.

Kerala`s former chief minister A.K. Antony, during whicse tenure this happened, has said the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), a political party, was ``the accused No 1`` in the Marad sectarian carnage of 2003.
As many as 79 accused in the first Marad violence were CPI-M workers.
The Judicial Commission had clearly stated that peace efforts between the two communities in the area was not to the liking of the CPI-M, which wanted to exploit communal polarisation in the area.

Will you accuse Mr. Antony of communal bias?

As for Hindus being `secular` (#76), though by and large they are, the definition of secularism followed seems skewed - to mean `tolerance` - another example of hilarious religious definitions, which is a far cry from the European definition, where the state meticulously keeps out of religion.

The Sachar ( another Hindu ) committee report shows how muslims are struggling to keep up with the national figures, which are worse in many cases, than SC/ST figures - which, unlike SC/STs, is a steep slope downwards, considering that muslims a centuries ago, were rulers of this country. You may argue that the Sachar committee was formed only for vote-bank reasons. Be that as it may,

The presence of Muslims has been found to be only 3% in the IAS, 1.8% in the IFS and 4% in the IPS.

Muslim community has a representation of only 4.5% in Indian Railways while 98.7% of them are positioned at lower levels.

Representation of Muslims is very low in the Universities and in Banks.

Their share in police constables is only 6%, in health 4.4%, in transport 6.5%.

There is a clear and significant inverse association between the proportion of the Muslim population and the availability of educational infrastructure in small villages.

Muslim concentration villages are not well served with pucca approach roads and local bus stops.

Substantially larger proportion of the Muslim households in urban areas are in the less than Rs.500 expenditure bracket.




Finally, anyone proven to have killed a person extra judicially, deserves the same fate him/herself.
This holds good for Sikhs, Jews, christians, muslims, and indeed, Hindus as well.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies The seven unravelled mysteries of Godhra carnage

By Syed Shahabuddin



At long last on 18 August, 2002, the Ministry of Railway has released the reservation list of the ill-fated S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express with a self-indicting analysis. According to the Railways, of the 59 passengers booked, three had cancelled the booking and four have not been traced (presumably because of some defect in, or loss of, reservation slip) and 32 had actually travelled and reached their destination. This makes 39 and leaves 20. The break up of the 20 is given as 4 killed, 9 injured and 7 missing. Presuming those missing to be dead, we have 11 killed and 9 injured.

The first mystery is: why have the authorities attempted to conceal a basic document?

The reservation list of the ill-fated coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express has been available since 27 February; photocopies were floating around. Yet the Railway ministry has taken just a little less than 6 months to make it public and that too under media and parliament`s pressure. The total number of persons killed has been reported to be 58 of which 39 have been identified. Who are the rest of those killed? Were they all the ticketless/unauthorized travellers? By any law of statistical probability, if 52 passengers give rise to 11 fatal casualties, for 54 remaining fatal casualties we need 265 unauthorized passengers! This would be an impossible proposition, because the coach had a capacity of 72 and if it was invaded by the ticketless karsevaks, they would not have exceeded another 72! Does it mean that the fire made a distinction between the bonafide passengers and the ticketless Karsevaks? Obviously, there is something fishy in the statement of the Ministry of Railways. May be Mamata Banerjee is right after all when she accused Nitish Kumar of buying his continuance as Minister for concealing the truth and then fudging the figures! So, it has been subsequently attributed to an official as an afterthought that the 32 passengers who survived had travelled not in S-6 but in `other coaches`, as they could not enter their coach or were forced out by the Karsevaks. But this does not solve the riddle completely. If only 9 who were injured, 11 who were killed, or are missing, travelled in coach S-6, i.e., a total of 20 produced 11 fatal casualties. To account for other 54 casualties, statistics demand 98 ticketless travellers making a total of 118 passengers.

This appears to be more reasonable. A better analysis can be made if the total number of those rescued, though injured were known. Unfortunately, we do not have this figure. All that can be said is that the statement of the Railways ministry has further confounded the confusion. The Railways need to do a more thorough job of analysing the actual travellers and casualties both. This is the second mystery.

A case has been made out that a Muslim mob from the Muslim locality near the Godhra railway station first stoned the passengers in retaliation for the harassment of Muslim vendors at the Godhra station by the Karsevaks and then poured petroleum into the coach from outside and set it on fire. In the absence of an alternative scenario this was taken by the entire world as the gospel truth, notwithstanding the denial of the Muslims of the locality, though they admit to stone-throwing. No evidence has been marshalled so far to prove that the ISI was operating through local Muslims. So the first reactions of Modi and Advani alleging ISI`s hand have been proved to be false. What is important is to realise that if the conspirators intended to set the coach on fire, why should they attract attention first by stoning it?

On 27 February, 2002, the train stopped at Godhra station only for 5 minutes, 7.42 to 7.47 AM. The train was stopped at 7.48 AM just outside the station and there was stone-throwing between 7.48 to 8.00 AM. At 8.05 AM the train was stopped again and then between 8.05 - 8.17 AM the coach was set on fire. It passes imagination how a mob made the necessary preparations to perform its devilish design and executed its plan in just 12 minutes!

The third mystery in any case lies in why the mob targetted only one coach and not the other coaches which were chockful with Karsevaks. There is yet no explanation.

The fourth mystery arises from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Ahmedabad`s report (filed by the police with the charge-sheet) that the coach was set on fire not from outside but from within. The report has absolved the stone-throwing mob, whatever their number or intent. In any case, the window grills were not broken. There was no attempt by the mob to break into the coach. The doors of the coach were locked from inside. There is no doubt that the coach had a large number of unauthorized ticketless travellers, nearly all Karsevaks. As shown above, many of those killed must have been bonafide passengers. Some of those killed were women and children. Surely they were not Karsevaks and the Karsevaks were not travelling with their families. Some of the passengers were Muslims. Surely they were not Karsevaks either. So it is by no means definite that the 59 killed are all Karsevaks. Even the VHP which called the Karsevaks to Ayodhya has not come out with a list of missing Karsevaks. Not only Prime Minister Vajpayee and Chief Minister Modi but the entire leadership of the Sangh Parivar including VHP have claimed that the ill-fated bogie was torched because the passengers were all Karsevaks returning from Ayodhya after performing their religious duty. The Sangh Parivar and Modi used this claim to set entire Gujarat on fire, leading to a carnage of genocidal dimension which took nearly 2500 lives. Indeed Modi and Co. have tried to justify the carnage as a natural reaction to the gruesome and horrifying burning of `58 Karsevaks` in the train at Godhra, which was universally condemned.

In any case, the major plank of the Sangh/VHP propaganda that all those who perished in the burning of ill-fated coach were Karsevaks, falls to pieces. So how many of them killed were `Karsevaks`, the holy knights of Hindutva returning from the Ayodhya front? This is the fifth mystery. The FSL Report postulates that 60 litres of inflammable liquid (presumably petrol or kerosene) had been poured into the coach from one of the side-doors by one or more determined persons who formed the killer squad. Was a liquid used by the killer squad? One cannot imagine a killer squad carrying canisters or buckets of petrol into the coach and emptying them without let or hindrance, or without exciting suspicion and without resistance by the passengers. The question is: Was it petrol? This is the sixth mystery.

It has been suggested that the material used was not a fluid but a solid - an incendiary powder once ignited, reaches very high temperature in no time. It is said that the same powder was subsequently used in Ahmedabad and other places to torch buildings, and melt iron railings and windows grills and collapsible gates. A possible scenario is the sprinkling of this chemical at the two ends of the coach igniting it from both the ends. This would explain what Saeed Naqvi noted on his visit - passengers seemed to have rushed towards the middle of the coach till they were engulfed by fire. The killers could have easily made a get-away into the adjoining coaches. The final question: who set the coach on fire? Who planned and organized this ruthless massacre? Gujarat Congress President Shankersinh Vaghela, a former acolyte of the RSS and the BJP, has publicly accused the Sangh Parivar. He says that he knows them well; they ruthlessly planned and executed this horror, stage-managed it in order to justify the Gujarat carnage for which all preparations had already been made which incidentally explains the dimensions of the mass violence which began within hours of the Godhra incident and which went on unchecked for the next 3 days in major cities of Ahmedabad and Baroda. This is the ultimate and the seventh mystery. The investigation should be turned over to the CBI to establish the identity of the killer squad because the Godhra mystery has to be unravelled in the national interest. If Vaghela`s suspicion is confirmed that the Sangh Parivar itself lit the fire to incite Hindu fury against Muslims and thus set the stage for the genocidal violence it had already planned, Godhra fire will go down in history as another ``Reichtag fire`!

Fake Killings: People as Trophies Hi Nila,

Arundhati Roy, to many including me, is one of the sharpest journalists in India today. She is not only a writer and journalist, but also an activist - an activist without a communal or any other agenda, except maybe being a nationalist - and I dint know that was a crime.

As for `encounter killings`, these are extra judicial. And howsoever cynical the police maybe about the judiciary, taking law into their own hands is a precursor to being a police state. The Vanzara killings were for a `supari` of 2 crores! Where would it lead us if policemen started taking money for extra judicial killings?

Already, policemen take money to `plant` ganja at homes to arrest influential people for long periods.

As for `communal colour`, Gujarats police having a communal flavour is not breaking news.
If some muslims were killed, the police claimed they belonged to fanatic religious groups, thus attempting to paint the minority. Such maligning of muslims is hugely advantageous to Hindu politicians like Mr. Modi.

And yes, majority Hindus are involved in prosecution as well. It would be ideal to `leave behind colouring everything green/saffron`, but alas, we are nt living in an ideal world.
Indira Gandhi was killed by a Sikh, as she had taken an anti-Sikh stand. And no one can deny that Rajiv was similarly killed for linguistic divisions.

Lastly, for Godhra.

Read The seven unravelled mysteries of Godhra carnage By Syed Shahabuddin if you have the time.

To this day there is no evidence to confirm Chief Minister Narendra Modis claim that Muslims conspired to set the train car on fire. Rather, his statements are giving a carte blanche to Hindus to implement the genocidal intent of destroying all Muslims, as propounded by the extremist Hindutva ideology. The railways took six months to make the reservation public ? that, too, under media and Parliament pressure only. Second, a case was made that a Muslim mob from the nearby locality first stoned the passengers in train car number S-6, and then they poured petroleum into the coach from outside and set it on fire. Despite denial by the Muslims, the entire world believed this initial story. Gujarat Chief Minister Modi and then Home Minster L.K. Advani both proclaimed to the media that the ISI (Pakistani intelligence) was involved. To date, not a drop of evidence points in this direction.

Another question arises: why did the Muslims supposedly target only coach number S-6 when many other coaches were full of Hindutva volunteers? Further, there is no explanation from the Ahmedabad Forensic Science Laboratory report (filed by the police) stating that the coach was set on fire not from outside but from inside. This fact absolves the stone-throwing Muslims in a flash. The window grills on the car were not broken. No attempt was made to break into the car. The doors of the coach were locked from inside. In fact, many regular passengers, including women and children as well as Muslims were in Coach S-6, and not volunteers, as claimed by the Hindutva and BJP politicians. Then Prime Minister Atal Vajpayee, Chief Minister Modi ?- the entire Indian leadership

---

all avoided publishing a list of passengers, perhaps because it would contradict their virulent claims that all passengers were Hindu volunteers from Ayodhya, and this was the excuse they needed to set Gujarat on fire.


The Forensic Science Lab report stated that 60 liters of inflammable liquid (petrol or kerosene) had been poured into the coach from one of the side doors. However, it is difficult to imagine this being done without any resistance from passengers. The question arises, was it petrol? Possibly the material used was not petrol but was a solid/incendiary powder which once ignited reaches very high temperatures in a matter of seconds. This same powder was used afterwards in Ahmedabad to burn buildings, melt iron railings, window grills and collapsible gates. It is possible that the incendiary powder was sprinkled at the two ends of the coach, which would explain why Saeed Naqvi, a well-known journalist, noted on his visit that passengers seemed to rush toward the middle of the coach until they were engulfed by the fire. The killers could have easily escaped to the neighboring coaches. Once again, the question arises, who planned and organized this train massacre? Gujarat Congress Party President Shankersingh Vaghela, a former acolyte of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP, has publicly accused the Sangh Parivar of this crime. He said that he knows them well, and that they ruthlessly planned the train car horror in order to justify their next carnage ?-the entire genocide of Gujarat Muslims, which due to State support went unchecked for three days and was organized to the last detail. Another article published in the Times of India on July 3, 2002 tells of a second report by the Forensic Science Labs Assistant Director, Dr. M.S. Dahiya. In this report he states:

``After inspecting the bogie [car S-6] and the tracks, it was found that there is no effect of fire below the windows. Taking this fact into account and the burning pattern on the outside of the bogie, the conclusion is that no inflammable liquid was thrown into the bogie from the outside?. It also does not look possible that inflammable liquid was thrown in from the doors of the bogie.``


My personal opinion is that the bogie was torched to widen the communal divide, giving communal parties more reason to exist.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies

Re: # 46


Hi Nila,


I said : ``Looking back, many other popular `encounter` killings such as the Akshardham Temple and Parliament `encounter` too, look as suspicious as ever. ``


This is something that I have believed in much before the Gujarat cops got arrested recently. I may have been wrong, but in the case of Akshardham, those arrested by the Gujarat cops were released double quick when the Kashmiri cops ( also renowned for their encounters ) questioned the Gujarati version. In that case too, the Gujarat cops claimed that those arrested were linked to the Kashmiri problem.


The Godhra investigative panel led by Justice U C Banerjee observed that the fire was an accident, not a deliberate act. This panel was denounced by the Modi government, alongwith senior BJP leaders, but was quick to claim that Pakistani agencies had conspired in the accident.


As for the Parliament attack, there are too many loop holes in the claims made by the police. Six years and three judgements later, we still do not ‘reliably’ know who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001. What we do know is that Mohammed Afzal Guru, the alleged conspirator, was awarded the death penalty but is he being made a scapegoat? Is Afzal being held guilty for a crime that is still unsolved?


Consider this: the ‘comprehensive investigation’ of the attack on Parliament was completed in 17 days flat by the investigators — the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. The prosecution story of who attacked Parliament, which is popularly believed to be the real story, is based on the confession of the main accused Afzal Guru to the police under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA). The Supreme Court has dubbed this confession, and thus, in effect, the conspiracy theory behind the attack floated by the police, as “unreliable”.


A reading of Arundhati Roys work will throw some light on the events.

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20061030&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1

She says : There ought to be a Parliamentary Inquiry into the December 13 attack on Parliament.


This is not to say that the events of 9/11 and 7/7 were untrue. Though several questions have been asked, there are indications that there could be truth in the theory that Saudi `politica;` terrorists were involved in the attacks. But the truth of these events alone cannot make the `fake encounters` true.


The Indian police have been taking the law into their own hands for sometime now. This is very very dangerous for any country, all the more if there is a potential for this to turn into a civil war.

The true incidence of fake encounters in India is very high. In one encounter in my state alone, a popular leader was `taken out` leading to mass protest. Another one ended Veerappans life.

Several more are incarcerated with false drug cases, leading to their long jail sentences. When the police want to send someone to jail for a long time ( sometimes for the sake of money ), they `confisicate` very large quantities of `ganja` from their homes, and arrest them on these charges. This leads to a long period in jail.

The police getting away with such uncivilised behaviour can only be catastrophic for any society.

Fake Killings: People as Trophies


The recent arrests have opened a Pandoras box, and needs proper analysis as otherwise this could have damaging effects on the Hindu-muslim equations and the concept of `secularism` in India.


For one, these were not pure murders, but were done with a view to maligning a minority community as `terrorists`, a known strategy of the BJP. The harm done to that community cannot now be measured or undone.


These murders were carried out by the police - a protector functionary of the executive, under directions from communal politicians - a precursor to fascist rule.


Why were the particular individuals killed? Did they know something that we dont?


Looking back, many other popular `encounter` killings such as the Akshardham Temple and Parliament `encounter` too, look as suspicious as ever.


What is the psychology behind the common citizen accepting a state killing, as correct, just because it was done by a police officer?


What are the real numbers of police killing of muslims as `terrorists`? Will the killers ever face justice?

What is the real magnitude of Hindu fanaticism in India, which, as opposed to muslim fanaticism in Pakistan, prefers not to shout slogans or grow beards, and pretends to `tolerate` other religions?


Finally, is nt this another pointer to the need to Ban Religion?


Can we have some discussions please?

Fake Killings: People as Trophies
www.tehelka.com




A journalist Prashant Dayal, first broke the story in November 2006 of the fake encounter. According to him,

“ It is alleged that Sohrabuddin was a big goon in Rajasthan, involved in extorting ransom from big marble merchants and rich builders. Sources in Gujarat police claimed that some Rajasthan-based people arranged for Rs 2 crore supari (contract killing) for killing Sohrabuddin. But the stage was set in Gujarat, instead of Rajasthan. The police picked up Sohrabuddin and his wife along with a close aide Tulsi Prajapati from a bus near Sangli, Maharashtra. The inquiry by upright police officer Geeta Jauhari brought out some important facts. Police officers took three of them to a farmhouse near Ahmedabad, tortured them and then killed Sohrabuddin in the fake encounter. Then, the police officers feared that Kausar Bi would spill the beans. She might have been eliminated. No one knows what happened to her. Tulsi was let off at that time, as he was an (police) informer. But when newspapers started reporting the fake encounter, expectedly, the news about Tulsi being killed also came out.

Rahul Gandhi\'s Election Campaign Re: # 16

Religion, like politics, is based on one common underlying factor : faith.
It is difficult to convince anyone on religion just as in politics.


I rest my case mi`lord!

Rahul Gandhi\'s Election Campaign Re: # 10

Religion, like politics, is based on one common underlying factor : faith.
It is difficult to convince anyone on religion just as in politics.

I have always held that Congress rules purely by default. The communal politics of the BJP has put India to shame internationally. Indeed, this is again related to religion - which divides people without outside help anyway. Similarly too, castiest politics of the BSP, AGP, PMK and other `regional` parties.

True, the Congress does not have a manifesto, which is unfortunate. But that is anyday better than a communal or castiest `agenda`. That is assuming that we suppose the BJP is a communal party. Now how a party is judged communal is subjective to an extent. The minorities should be the best judge on that. And the minorities will vow that the BJP is rabidly communal - what the Congress used to be much before independence.

As for `open`, I meant openly communal. No `well done certificate` there.

As for the Gandhi family, they are eminently qualified to lead the country, though the sheer thought of facing a Gandhi may still give communal, castiest and corrupt opposition parties, even some allies, the jitters.

One thing I do agree is that we need better parties, than the congress, BJP, SP, AGP, DMK, or what have you. But political parties are a joke around the world. Be it Bushs or Blairs.
As to India going the way of Africa, it is presumptious, as democracy looks like having taken a firm foothold in India.

Rahul Gandhi\'s Election Campaign
Re: # 7

Hi Nila,

In politics, it is all about choice. If I found a political party better than the Congress, I would certainly vote for it. The Congress is in power only because the opposition is worse. By default, if you like, for no `fault` of its own!

As for communal and casteist politics, while no one can claim that the Congress is sinless, there is a difference in the kind of politics. While the congress indulges in such politics secretly, the BJP has been open about it. Many examples are there, including the recently distributed CDs. And the kind of politics engaged in by SP, PMK, AGP, etc. do not augur well for a secular country.

As for caste and religion, the constitution is clear that a political party can be banned for being non-secular. Only that it is not being implemented in spirit, as otherwise BJP would have been banned.

As for Sonia, I am only trying to point out that her family, though it lead the country for a long time from the front, has hardly any monetary gains to show for it. The rank and file of the congress, is no doubt corrupt, as in any other party.

But I m referring to the fact that the `dynasty` has a real desire to lead the country to progress, rather than make money, or to divide the country caste or religion wise.