The Azamgarh You Don't Know...

SAIKAT DATTA in Outlook 

Fali S. Nariman on POTA, in Asian Age

What! Pota again?

Is a harsh law really necessary to put an end to "terrorism"? Past experience shows that it is not.

The Tada Acts of 1987, which lapsed in May 1995, were very stringent, but "terrorism" did not abate during the entire period of their operation. The powers exercisable under Tada Acts were made more horrendous by the official statistical revelation that not more than one per cent of those tried before the designated courts were convicted — the rest were acquitted for "want of evidence". That is, in 99 per cent of the cases the accused (who was invariably denied bail before trial) was wrongly prosecuted under Tada. Various reports of police commissions, backed by past pronouncements of the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) show that constant political interference with the police force has seriously impaired its ability to investigate crimes freely and independently. Besides, the absence of rigorous training in forensic skills (the real need of the hour) have prevented effective investigation by the police, even when there is no outside interference.

We need an independent agency (separate from the law and order branch) to prosecute, with efficiency and expertise, terrorist-related crimes. But under the present dispensation it will be the ubiquitous public prosecutor who will be burdened with this job; and public prosecutors as a rule have not proved to be highly successful even when prosecuting ordinary crimes!

Above all, there is the problem of oppressive laws creating a climate of oppression. Never underestimate this. I was witness to its manifestation during the Emergency in 1975. I had been invited to preside at a Conference of Andhra State Lawyers at Rajamundhry way back in August 1975. Justice Krishna Iyer was to inaugurate the conference. It was expected that 2,000 lawyers would attend. Despite the June 26 proclamation of Emergency, they did. When we arrived, the organiser (a senior lawyer in the district) informed us with anguish that his son, a law student at Visakhapatnam, who was assisting him in the arrangements, had been arrested the day before our arrival under Misa — the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (predecessor of Tada). The boy was a conscientious student — almost obtusely so. When his lecturer had announced in class that they would all march in procession on a particular week-day in support of Indira Gandhi’s 20-Point Programme, he suggested that time was better spent studying in college and that the procession should be postponed to a non-working Saturday. The rest of the students shouted him down — marching in a procession would be far more fun than attending classes. There the matter rested. But then a District Magistrate, in whom wide powers of detention were conferred, chose to exercise them when he heard of this "misdemeanour"! He promptly issued an order of detention on the ground that the boy was a "danger to the security of the State" — the order of detention was served at Rajamundhry at the same time as he was whisked off in the night. Fortunately, the then law minister of Andhra Pradesh was one of the principal guests at the conference, and some of us requested him to personally look into the matter, which he graciously did. The order of detention was revoked a few days later. But the boy simply could not be found! No one knew where he was put away. He was ultimately located, after many anxious weeks, in a jail in a remote part of the state and returned to his parents. No one in Delhi instructed the District Magistrate to act as he did — in fact North Block, even in those lawless times, would have been aghast at such irresponsibility. But once laws are passed which enable untutored officials to act, then in this country (and possibly in every other country) they will do so, with hobnailed boots: as officials in some states did with Pota.

It is sometimes said that if a repressive law is oppressively implemented the citizens could turn to the courts. They could. But the courts can do little — after the constitutional validity of the Tada Acts were upheld (by a majority of judges in a seven-judge bench) in Kartar Singh’s case (1994), a truly regrettable decision, as regrettable as the earlier one in ADM Jabalpur (1976) during the Emergency era in which Chief Justice A.N. Ray infamously said that liberty itself was the gift of the law and may by the law be forfeited or abridged!

The Law Commission set up to advise the government, and the National Human Rights Commission established by the Parliament, must immediately put their collective heads together and tell us whether under present circumstances in the wider public and national interest (in these trying times), individual human rights safeguarded under our Constitution do really need to be sacrificed at the altar of another fierce anti-terrorist law — a law which will certainly be misused by some states for political ends, as was Pota and Tada before it.

We citizens will accept (as the Government must) the superior wisdom of these two august bodies. But their pronouncements must be firm and in unison. There were once acute differences in perception between the Law Commission and NHRC about the need for Pota. The citizen’s plight was then somewhat akin to the exasperation of a Judge of the Court of Appeal in England who, many years ago (when examining two conflicting opinions of the House of Lords), made the plaintive plea: "Overrule us if it please you, but at least say something clear to guide us in the future".

Fali S. Nariman is an eminent constitutional lawyer  source  

Catholic nun stripped naked and raped public

Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal

Parvathi Menon  The Hindu   September 30, 2008

FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to Christians

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities. ...more 

Sister Nirmala’s appeal to Orissa Chief Minister

“On behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters in Orissa who are in deep anguish, pain and constant insecurity, deprived of basic necessities of life and are crying out for immediate help, I urgently appeal to you in the name of God as the Chief Minister of Orissa to do all you can to put an end to this ongoing violence since 24th August 2008 causing untold terror, loss of property and even loss of life and human dignity, violating basic human rights of our own brothers and sisters.” This is the fervent appeal Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, made in a letter she wrote Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on August 28.

It was in this letter that she narrated, in great anguish, how a young nun was “hunted out of her hiding place and stripped naked by the mob and her virginity grossly violated in public, without any help from the police present there.”  ...more 

'Neither UPA nor NDA will get majority'

IANS

Monday, September 29, 2008  15:51 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Neither the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nor the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would have a clear majority in the next Lok Sabha elections, noted psephologist Yogendra Yadav predicted on Monday.

"No single pre-electoral alliance will have a clear cut majority and the worst losers will be the Left parties. While the Congress party will be able to hold on, its allies will be badly hit. Likewise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will lose badly in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa," Yadav said at a seminar organised by the Kerala University's political science department here. .... more 

Oppn asks Gujarat Speaker not to discuss Nanavati report

Matter is subjudice Petition filed by Citizen for Justice and Peace argue that  the eport could disturb communal harmony.

Ahmedabad, Sept 28: The Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil has written to the Speaker appealing him not to discuss part I of the Nanavati Commission's report in the House tomorrow, claiming that the matter is subjudice. In a letter sent yesterday to the Speaker, Gohil said that since the Supreme Court has issued notice to the State government on September 26, on tabling of the report, there should not be any discussion on it in the House on Monday. "Rules of Gujarat Legislative Assembly provides that any matter, which is subjudice before the court of law should not be the subject matter of debate before the Assembly," the letter read siting Rule 34(2) of the Assembly. "After the full report of the Commission is received and after the decision is taken by the Court on pending matters, the Legislative Assembly may discuss the report," it further read. The Apex Court on Firday had issued notice to Gujarat government based on a petition filed by an NGO, Citizen for Justice and Peace, contending that the publication of the report could disturb the communal harmony.  Ahmedabad, Sept 28: The Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil has written to the Speaker appealing him not to discuss part I of the Nanavati Commission's report in the House tomorrow, claiming that the matter is subjudice. In a letter sent yesterday to the Speaker, Gohil said that since the Supreme Court has issued notice to the State government on September 26, on tabling of the report, there should not be any discussion on it in the House on Monday. "Rules of Gujarat Legislative Assembly provides that any matter, which is subjudice before the court of law should not be the subject matter of debate before the Assembly," the letter read siting Rule 34(2) of the Assembly. "After the full report of the Commission is received and after the decision is taken by the Court on pending matters, the Legislative Assembly may discuss the report," it further read. The Apex Court on Firday had issued notice to Gujarat government based on a petition filed by an NGO, Citizen for Justice and Peace, contending that the publication of the report could disturb the communal harmony.   read more

I studied in missionary school; I am secular: Advani

Shillong, Sept 29: Seen as the face of hardline Hindutva, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Monday said he was "very much a secular man" and his party stood for peaceful co-existence of all religious groups. "I studied in a Christian missionary school and I am very much a secular man," a BJP spokesperson quoted Advani as saying during a close-door meeting he had with religious leaders here. Representatives from Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and tribal organizations participated in the meet that was aimed at clarifying the saffron party's stand on the attacks on Christians, churches and prayer halls in Orissa and Karnataka. Quoting the BJP leader, BJP MP, Kiren Rijiju said that "religious sentiment should not precede national interest. India is a secular country and no section of the society should be neglected. "In Orissa, untouchability among the Hindus and a simmering discontent among the lower strata have drawn people to other religions. Social acceptance is a big dilemma there," the BJP leader said.   Read more

Deva Gowda for setting up Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to bring justice to minorities

BANGALORE: Gowda has expressed shock at the Nanavati Commission findings that the Godhra train
 tragedy was part of a conspiracy. "It's shocking to see the commission has given a clean chit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his administration. "I am disappointed ,'' he said. According to him, this judgment will further widen the gap between Hindus and the minorities.

He demanded a probe by a Supreme Court sitting judge into the Godhra issue and the violence that followed. 

Panel for minorities 

Gowda said he had urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring justice and solace to minorities, as done in South Africa. "I am yet to hear from the PMO'' , he said.

The commission should hear grievances of minorities who are victims of atrocities since 1992. They should get compensation and the guilty should be punished. "That is the only way to bring them into the mainstream ,'' he said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a judicial body formed in SouthAfrica after it successfully fought apartheid. Any victim of racist atrocity could approach the RTC to seek justice or compensation . Similarly, those accused of committing atrocities could request amnesty. Gowda did not comment on this aspect of the RTC, though.  Read 

Don't call terrorists 'Islamic terrorists',: Venkaiah Naidu

Sunday,28 September 2008 13:49 hrs IST

- New Delhi: While advocating "zero tolerance towards terrorism", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu has come out strongly against equating terrorists with any religion, Islam included. "A terrorist is a terrorist, he has no religion," Naidu said in an interview at his residence here. He said there was a need to create awareness among the people not to "mix up terror with religion". "Why should we talk of a terrorist as Islamic terrorist?" Naidu told IANS in an interview, adding it was unfair to tag a terrorist as a Muslim or a Hindu. Naidu also challenged allegations that Muslims were being harassed in the name of fighting terror, particularly after the Sep 13 Delhi bombings that led to a shootout in the city's Jamia Nagar area and a nationwide crackdown on the Indian Mujahideen. Citing the example of Maoists, Naidu said: "We arrest so many Naxalites, so many are killed. Nobody said that 95 percent of the Naxalites are Hindus, so Hindus are being harassed. "This is a ridiculous argument. Nobody is defaming Muslims." Naidu said that if the BJP took power again nationally following the coming Lok Sabha elections, the party would revive the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).   more

IBN7 Diamond States Award: Kerala and Goa wins five awards each

Dr.  Abdul Kalam  felicitates the winners.


The states of Kerala and Goa bagged five awards each at the IBN7 Diamond States Award ceremony including India's best big state and India's best small state awards respectively.

The state of Kerala also won in Healthcare, Education, Women Empowerment and Basic Infrastructure category. The state of Goa won in Employment, Poverty Reduction, Women Empowerment and Basic Infrastructure category.

Delhi won the best small state award for Water and Sanitation category. Other award winners included Punjab (Water and Sanitation) Gujarat (Employment), Mizoram (Education), Sikkim (Citizen Security and Justice), Uttaranchal (Citizen Security and Justice) and Jammu and Kashmir (Poverty Reduction) The winners were felicitated by the chief guest Dr Kalam.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi and Bangladeshi writer Tasleema Nasreen were also present on the occasion.

The awards were given in partnership with the Outlook magazine for human resource and social developmental efforts by the states of the country. The event will be telecast on IBN7 channel on September 27 (Saturday) at 2000 hrs.


Read it all 

Godhra: Nanavati contradicts 5 earlier probes

 Hindustan Times , September 27,2008

5 probes, Nanavati panel the exceptionNagendar Sharma Hindustan Times

Email Author

New Delhi, September 27, 2008

First Published: 01:12 IST(27/9/2008)

Last Updated: 01:18 IST(27/9/2008)

The findings of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and top jurists — including four former Supreme Court judges — on the 2002 Godhra train burning incident and the riots that followed are the complete opposite of those of the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission.

The Nanavati commission, in the first part of its report made public on Thursday, concluded that the fire in the Sabarmati Express was the result of a “pre-planned conspiracy”. It also absolved the Narendra Modi government of any wrongdoing in Godhra and in the riots. But these findings are strongly contradicted by the NHRC report on the riots as well as by a probe panel headed by former SC judge V.R. Krishna Iyer and assisted by Justices P.B. Sawant and four former high court judges.

The NHRC report, prepared after its then chairman and former CJI J.S. Verma visited riot-affected areas, slammed the Gujarat government for all-round failure in controlling the riots and in providing relief to victims. “A serious failure of intelligence and action by the government marked events leading to the Godhra tragedy and the subsequent deaths and destruction,” the April 2002 report said.

A nine-member team of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, headed by Justice Iyer, concluded in its report that the Godhra incident was “spontaneous”. “The tribunal found no evidence that the train coach was set on fire from outside. It was sudden provocation on the Godhra station that led to a clash between Hindus and Muslims. The administration suppressed facts and spread falsehood,” Justice Iyer said. The report added: “The uniform pattern of violence in Gujarat the day after the Godhra incident showed the killings of Muslims were pre-planned.”

Former SC judge UC Banerjee, appointed by the Railway Ministry to probe the Godhra fire, concluded in 2006 that the incident was “not pre-planned”. Similar findings were reported by former Allahabad High Court judge S.C. Jain, who reviewed the cases registered under the now repealed Prevention of Corruption Act.   Read 

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 DNA 

Godhra: 2 commissions, 2 findings

Rajesh Sinha

Friday, September 26, 2008  04:03 IST

It couldn’t have been petrol fire: Banerjee

NEW DELHI: Much finger-pointing and exchange of accusations – on predictable lines – followed the tabling of the Nanavati commission report on Thursday.

Nanavati’s findings completely trashed an earlier report by justice UC Banerjee, who held himself from commenting.

Banerjee, heading a committee appointed by the railway ministry to inquire into the fire on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, in which 59 people died, had said in his report the fire was accidental and ruled out any conspiracy to kill the kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya on the train.

“I have not seen the report. How can I comment on it?” he said, defending his own findings saying had the fire been a result of an attack from outside, the over a 100 passenger who escaped could not have managed it.

Banerjee said he had examined a large number of witnesses, including an income-tax officer, who submitted they crawled on the floor to get out of the burning coach.
While 250 people escaped to safety, 58 were asphyxiated due to thick smoke. The sequence of the fire was different. “This sequence could never have been in a petrol fire,” he said.  ... more 

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Godhra fire was a conspiracy: Nanavati

Anil Pathak & Urvashi Dev Rawal

Thursday, September 25, 2008  17:35 IST

Commission’s report says no proof to show Modi didn’t try to control Gujarat riots.

AHMEDABAD: The Godhra train fire was a “pre-planned conspiracy”, not an accident, and neither did Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi have any role in the incident nor did he show any laxity in controlling the ensuing communal violence in the state.

With these findings, the Justice Nanavati commission, instituted to probe the 2002 Sabarmati Express fire and the riots that followed, has set the stage for another round of political confrontation over the issue. Already the Congress, its UPA allies and the Left have said they expected nothing else from a panel set up by the Modi government while the BJP declared the truth was finally out.  ...more  

TheWeek WEB SPECIAL   Thursday,25 September 2008 21:51 hrs IST My truth, your truth: A tale of two panels - Ahmedabad/New Delhi: Two probe panels set up by two governments have come out with two conflicting versions of a shocking tragedy six years ago whose after-effects continue to be felt in Indian politics. Will the truth behind the Godhra train-burning ever be known? The investigative commission of Justice (retd) G.T. Nanavati and Justice (retd) Akshay Mehta, set up by Gujarat's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government headed by Narendra Modi March 6, 2002, has concluded that the burning of a coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra town on the morning of Feb 27, 2002 was a well-planned conspiracy. It said Godhra-based Maulvi Umarji hatched the conspiracy in the Aman Guest house in the west Gujarat town and two people procured 120 litres of petrol for the purpose. The train was stopped as it pulled out of the Godhra railway station, the S-6 and S-7 were stonned for 10-20 minutes and the S-6 coach was set on fire, it found. The incident claimed 59 lives, many of them Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh where they had participated in a campaign to build a grand Ram temple there. It also triggered state-wide communal carnage, one of the worst in independent India, killing 1,167 people - most of them Muslims. The panel report, tabled in the Gujarat assembly Thursday, has virtually given a clean chit to Modi and his colleagues, saying there was no evidence to incriminate him or any member of his cabinet, even as rights bodies maintain his police force was biased and the violence could have been stopped early on. The Nanavati-Mehta panel's findings, however, contradict the conclusion of the U.C. Banerjee committee set up by the Railway Ministry Sep 3, 2004. The Banerjee committee noted "a preponderance of evidence" that the fire "originated in the coach itself without any external input". According to BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, the Nanavati-Mehta report is "the most extensive, exhaustive and scientific report" on the train-burning, while the Banerjee report was “ill-prepared and politically motivated?. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on the other hand, said: "It (the Nanavati-Mehta probe) cannot be called a bona fide investigation." Mukul Sinha of the Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) who represented the violence victims before the Nanavati-Mehta investigation panel termed its report as "absurd". "The part one of the report is not supported by credible and independent evidence. Everything in it is based on police official Noel Parmar's report which has been rejected by the Supreme Court," Sinha told IANS in Ahmedabad Thursday. "It is a travesty of justice as the accusations were made against the police in the post-Godhra riots and yet the very same police's report has been used to bring out this report," Sinha said. Read it all ---------------------------- Friday,26 September 2008 18:57 hrs IST http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentType=EDITORIAL&programId=1073750966&articleType=English&contentId=4555810&BV_ID=@@@ Nanavati report raises 'needle of suspicion': CPM New Delhi: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) Friday alleged that the "piecemeal delivering" of the Justice Nanavati Commission report on the Godhra train tragedy tends to justify the "action-reaction theory propagated by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Sangh Parivar organisations". The CPM said the timing of tabling the report "was indeed suspicious" coming as it did ahead of assembly elections to some states in November. "The second part is slated to be released on the eve of the coming general elections," the CPI-M said pointing to the report findings being presented in a piecemeal fashion, The report has come "after an abnormally long delay and that too in a piecemeal fashion raising many needles of suspicion", the party politburo said in a statement here.   ......more

For Tougher Anti-terror Laws

Kalam, Sheila join tougher law chorus

Pioneer News Service | New Delhi September 15, 2008

As the chorus for tough anti-terror law increased, former President APJ Abdul Kalam also argued for stringent legislative deterrence to deal with the scourge. Kalam said the country needed to enact a law, which would provide stringent punishment to the culprits and also favoured introduction of citizen's identity card.

"I have said we need to enact a law which would provide stringent punishment and ensure justice," Kalam said while expressing his views on serial blasts in the national Capital on Saturday evening. He also said that national citizen identity cards should be issued as "it is very important."

Meanwhile, PTI quoting Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, "I have no role in police or security management of the city. (But) I am voicing concerns of people that a tougher law which is a deterrent (should be there)." Dikshit said she was voicing concerns of the people in this regard as she has "no role" in police or security management of the city.

Patil is also under pressure from the highest level in the UPA Government to approve the request from State Government to bring in their own anti-terror laws. National Security Advisor NK Narayanan is understood to have favoured Central assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Bill, 2003. Naryanan has written a letter to Patil justifying the requirement of the State-specific terror law.

The Gujarat Bill is pending with the Centre for the past four years and the Home Ministry has refused to blink despite the fact that Chief Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly urged both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil to look into the matter. The subject was discussed even during the last month's meeting between the Prime Minister and Modi.

Narayanan's letter to Patil comes close on the heels of the Home Ministry telling the Gujarat High Court it would not approve of the anti-terror law on the lines of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which was repealed by the Centre.

The affidavit says, "It would not be in consonance with the policy of the Central Government, which led to the repeal of POTA, to recommend the passing of any such legislation that contains similar provisions." Link