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[1] DELHI: PUDR QUESTIONS POLICE VERSION ON PRAGATI MAIDAN ENCOUNTER The Hindu, May 03, 2005, Tuesday PUDR picks several holes in police version on Pragati Maidan encounter `A constant scare on the terrorist threat being kept alive' `Why the police did not fire at the tyres of the Maruti car if the attempt was to intercept the car' NEW DELHI: Pointing out several "inconsistencies" in the police version of the recent encounter here near Pragati Maidan in which two alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were gunned down, the People's Union For Democratic Rights has demanded that the National Human Rights Commission investigate the matter. It has also accused the Special Cell of the Delhi police of aiming to "keep alive a constant scare on the terrorist threat". According to the PUDR report, residents of the nearby slum cluster and the National Science Centre guards revealed that several plainclothesmen had been positioned around Link Road for at least an hour or two before the incident. Uniformed policemen were also stationed around the area and no vendor or pedestrian was allowed to stay. "In this situation, it is unlikely that the alleged terrorist would not have suspected anything and stopped the car," argues the report. Further, contrary to the police version, the PUDR report claims that the guards at the National Science Centre did not see any car parked there for any length of time nor did they see any car being chased on to the Link Road. The report also questions why the police did not fire at the tyres of the Maruti car if the attempt was to intercept the car. "According to the police, they started firing only when the militants got out of the car and fired at them. In this case, why are there only three bullet holes in the front of the windscreen, which look as if they were fired at close range and no other bullet marks on the car's body except for one hole in front grill," points out the report. On the basis of previous fact-findings on encounters by the Special Cell of the Delhi police, the report further points out the lack of eyewitnesses on each occasion. It also argues that "the police are never hurt in the cross-fire even when they are only wearing civilian clothes and the encounters always take place in high-profile places like Ansal Plaza, Humayun's Tomb or Pragati Maidan". http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050315530300.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [2] The Hindu, May 03, 2005, Tuesday Peace talks with ULFA on track Vinay Kumar But Bangladesh scenario worrisome NEW DELHI: The Central Government is going ahead with the peace talks in Assam and informal, back channel contacts have been made to establish contact with the leadership of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Despite the fact that the U.S. has given a "terror tag" to ULFA and the outfit's reported involvement in blasts in Assam, the Centre has chalked out a course to enter into a peace dialogue with the ULFA leadership. Highly-placed Government sources said the ULFA had been insisting on holding talks with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and putting the issue of sovereignty on the agenda. Notwithstanding the ULFA's insistence, the sources said its leadership would soon be invited for talks first with the National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan. "There are positive movements on this front," the sources said. The Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, said the U.S. declaration would not affect the peace talks in which the State Government was involved. The Jnanapith award winner and writer, Indira Goswami, had been acting as the ULFA's contact point with the Centre but the sources said there were contacts with ULFA at other levels also. TheULFA's chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, has been quoted as saying that the outfit's inclusion in the list of terrorist organisations is a "ploy" by vested interests. However, security and intelligence sources said the U.S. declaration would put pressure on Bangladesh to check and curb ULFA activities at a time when Dhaka itself was being seen as a hub of Islamist radical outfits. The operations to wipe out the ULFA camps in Bhutan had forced the group to depend heavily on Dhaka where its top leadership had taken refuge during the past few years. Also, ULFA-sponsored attacks last August in Assam, when schoolchildren were killed, had drastically reduced the level of support for the group among the people of the State, the sources said. In such a scenario, the ULFA would like to grab any chance to enter into negotiations with the Centre. Assembly polls in Assam were also scheduled for 2006, a key factor in State politics. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050305101200.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [3] Rediff.com/PTI, May 02, 2005, Monday TN govt told to withdraw POTA cases The Review Committee on Prevention of Terrorism Act has directed Tamil Nadu to close two separate cases against Tamil National Movement leaders, including its chief, P Nedumaran. In the first case, the committee cleared Nedumaran and four others from the allegation that their speech delivered on April 13, 2002 in Chennai amounted to supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, banned under POTA. In the second case, the panel held that the Tamil Nadu government was not justified in invoking POTA against TNM general secretary Paranthaman for his alleged interview to a private channel criticising the Jayalalithaa government for its stand against the Tamil Tigers. While asking the Tamil Nadu government to withdraw the charges under POTA against Nedumaran, Suba Veerapandian (then spokesman of Marumalarchi Dravidsa Munnetra Kazhagam), Paavanan alias Pudukottai Paavanan, Thayappan and Shahul Hameed, the panel said "there is no prima facie case against them." "In the material placed before the committee, there is nothing to suggest that the accused had in any manner, been involved in any act of violence which leads to terrorism. In these circumstances, sympathy or verbal support for the cause of Eelam Tamils does not mean support for the ideology or methodology adopted by LTTE," a three-member committee headed by Justice Usha Mehra said. http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/02pota.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ The Hindu, May 03, 2005, Tuesday No POTA case against Nedumaran: review panel J. Venkatesan Speeches `political, not expression of support for terrorism' NEW DELHI: In a setback to the Tamil Nadu Government, the Central Review Committee of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) has held that "there is no prima facie case" for proceeding against the Tamil National Movement (TNM) leader, P. Nedumaran, and five others under the legislation. The Committee comprising chairperson, Justice Usha Mehra, and members, K. Roy and R.C. Jha, held that "expressing sympathy and asking others to understand and appreciate or even share misery suffered by Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and to espouse the cause of Tamilians would not bring their said speeches within the ambit of encouraging or furthering terrorism or the terrorist activities of the LTTE." While Mr. Nedumaran, Subha Veerapandian, Paavanan and Thayappan were arrested for their pro-LTTE speeches in a public meeting held in Chennai on April 13, 2002, Mr. Shahul Hameed was arrested for organising the meeting. They were charged with instigating the gathering, by their speeches, to act against the Government and supporting the banned terrorist organisation. Paranthaman was arrested subsequently for his alleged interview to a television channel criticising the Jayalalithaa Government for its stand against the LTTE. The Madras High Court released all of them on bail. The Committee said that a perusal of the text of speech delivered by Mr. Nedumaran would show that he was delivering a political speech criticising the action of the Tamil Nadu Government rather than encouraging or provoking or facilitating the commission of terrorist activity. "His speech indicates that he was extending sympathies towards the Tamils whom he called brothers and sisters settled in Sri Lanka. He wanted to convey the moral support of his organisation to such Tamils who are settled abroad," the Committee said. "It appears he wanted to secure political mileage over his opponents and in particular wanted to give discomfort to the ruling party by pointing out the inept handling of Tamils affairs in Sri Lanka," the order said. The Committee directed the Tamil Nadu Government to file an application before the Chennai POTA special court to withdraw the cases against Mr. Nedumaran and five others . http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050307270100.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [5] The Hindu, May 02, 2005, Monday Campaign to boycott Cola products begins PALAKKAD: The campaign to boycott Cola products in the district from May 15 began at the Perumatty grama panchayat where the Coca-Cola bottling unit is located, on Sunday. The campaign, launched at Vandithavalam town in Chittur, was led by Perumatty panchayat president A. Krishnnan. All the panchayat members along with the Anti-Coca Cola Campaign Committee leaders Mylamma, Vilayodi Venugopal, Velur Swaminathan and others took part in the campaign. The campaign in other panchayats of the district will be launched on May 5. The panchayat president said traders had promised not to sell Cola products from May 15. Meanwhile, the Janata Dal secretary general, K. Krishnankutty, said a defence committee to conduct the case against the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Ltd. in the Supreme Court would be formed at a meeting at Perumatty panchayat office on May 20. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/02/stories/2005050208930400.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [6] The Hindu, May 03, 2005, Tuesday Court of inquiry begins BANGALORE: The proceedings of the court inquiring into allegations of sexual harassment levelled by Flying Officer Anjalli Gupta against three Indian Air Force (IAF) officers began on Monday. According to the IAF spokesman, Wg. Cdr. V.M. Raghunath, the four-member inquiry team, led by Air Vice-Marshal V.R. Iyer, went through the documents related to the allegations. He told reporters that the proceedings of the team, which has two women officers of the rank of Squadron Leader and a male officer of the rank of Group Captain, would be held daily. "This will be a fact-finding team. It will record facts, examine evidence and submit a report to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the IAF Training Command," Wg. Cdr. Raghunath said. The team will take statements from the three officers and Ms. Anjalli, he added. The general court martial proceedings against Ms. Anjalli on Monday were adjourned to Tuesday as she reported sick following nausea and vomiting since Sunday night. When she appeared before the court later, the prosecutor, Wg. Cdr. R.K. Dubey, produced a certificate of fitness issued by the hospital. The prosecutor, in his reply to Ms. Anjalli's objections to the seven charges against her, said the charges were not trivial, "but are far more serious in nature." http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050303371300.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ The Hindu, May 03, 2005, Tuesday Anjali Gupta will be protected: Air chief Sushanta Talukdar SHILLONG: Air Chief Marshal S.P.Tyagi on Monday said that flying officer Anjali Gupta, who had alleged harassment by three Air Force officers, was also an officer of the force and his job was to protect her. Describing the allegations brought by Ms. Gupta as "serious allegations" the Chief of the Air staff said tough action would be taken against anyone found guilty if the allegations were true. He expressed the hope that the truth would come out soon after the ongoing enquiry was over. Air Chief Marshal Tyagi was responding to queries on the Anjali Gupta case at a press conference at the Eastern Air Command headquarters here. Mr. Tyagi also said that the lady officer had been charge sheeted for her alleged insubordination and involvement in financial irregularities for which he said a trial was on. He, however, made it clear that the IAF would not link the two cases, as they were totally different and have taken the allegations of harassment by Ms. Gupta seriously. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/03/stories/2005050303401300.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [7] The Hindu, May 02, 2005, Monday Poor worst victims of capital punishment, says Adoor Special Correspondent THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The poor are the worst victims of capital punishment, says Adoor Gopalakrishnan, whose film Nizhalkuth on capital punishment has won wide acclaim. Inaugurating a day-long convention demanding abolition of capital punishment here on Sunday, Adoor pointed out that while the rich escape the punishment exploiting the loopholes in law, the poor are invariably punished for crimes that are the products of a complex web of factors social, economic and political. "The situation is so bad that it has become a crime to be born poor," Adoor said. Participating in the discussion, journalist and human rights activist B.R.P. Bhaskar said capital punishment is not punishment for a crime, but retribution. He also felt that the media has been largely insensitive to the human rights aspect of capital punishment. This could be due to the lack of effort to sensitise aspiring journalists about issues of human rights by journalism schools and the general tendency among media organisations to conform to the dominant social mores, he said. The CPI(M) central committee member, M.A. Baby, the BJP State general secretary, K. Raman Pillai, the RSP leader, S. Sathyapal, the Plachimada Action Council convener, R. Ajayan, and noted social activist and writer Civic Chandran participated in the symposium on the rights of prisoners held as a prelude to the convention. K. Girish Kumar presented the theme paper at the symposium, which was chaired by K. Venu. The convention was chaired by M. Gangadharan. The former State Human Rights Commission chairperson, S. Balaraman, sex workers Nalini, Jameela, filmmaker K.P. Kumaran, poet Desamangalam Ramakrishnan, writer-activists K.K. Koch, Bhasurendra Babu, Sunny M. Kapikkad, P.A. Powran, K.K. Chandran, N. Subramanian, A. . Rajasree, Reshma Bharadwaj, K.K. Baburaj, M. Sulfat, Dilip Raj, K. Rajmohan, Reskha Raj, T.K. Sunil, among others, spoke. Presenting a paper on the language of capital punishment, V.C. Harris of Mahatma Gandhi University pointed out that while Section 302 of IPC was quite pared down, all discussion on homicides and need for capital punishment by courts are marked by intense emotion and, almost always, the terms used to justify capital punishment are harsh on the accused. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/02/stories/2005050208890400.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [8] NDTV, May 02, 2005, Monday Upper castes subvert functioning of Dalit panchayats Sam Daniel Monday, May 2, 2005 (Keeripatti, Tamil Nadu): Dalits living in four reserved panchayats in Tamil Nadu have not been able to elect their presidents for the past nine years. In a panchayat in Madurai, an elected Dalit president resigned just five minutes after taking oath because the upper caste people did not allow him to hold office. Sixty-five-year-old Azhagumalai was actually elected to be the president of Keeripatti panchayat, which is reserved for Dalits. But he resigned soon after assuming office. Four such panchayats in Tamil Nadu have been without presidents for the past nine years. Dummy candidates The dominant Kazhar community is reluctant to accept Dalit leadership and they have not allowed genuine Dalit candidates to win elections. Their strategy is simple - let dummy candidates get elected and force them to resign soon after. "Had I continued to hold office, all the 100 Dalit families living in this village would have been forced to vacate. I did not want that to happen and that is why I resigned," said Azhagumalai, a former panchayat president. What's more, now the upper castes want the Dalits not to exercise their franchise. Fifteen families, who cast their votes, were recently ostracized. Shopkeepers even refused to supply them milk for their children. Over the years not a single case has been registered against the oppressors and the Dalits here have being living perpetually in fear. "When we reported the matter to the tahsildar, he said 'we Dalits should not aspire to become Panchayat Presidents' Is it good?" said a Dalit woman. The majority community wants these panchayats to be de-reserved. Vote bank politics Dalit activists accuse successive state governments of going soft on the dominant communities for safeguarding their vote banks. "They should take criminal action under SC/ST Atrocities Act. and stop the funds to these panchayats," said Jeeva, director, State Institute of Rural Development, Tamil Nadu. Although the upper caste people have been making a mockery of democracy in these Dalit panchayats, the district administration has continued to be a silent spectator. "We have not received any complaint of anything against SC, ST. Without a complaint from them we cannot go the legal way," said Sundaresan, SP, Madurai Going by the past, not a single Dalit may ultimately serve as panchayat president as these panchayats will be de-reserved in 2006. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [9] The Hindu, May 02, 2005, Monday Image of an industrial town takes a beating after violence Mohammed Iqbal Villagers who fled the town return, but face social boycott BHILWARA: Tension created by the spate of communal incidents during the past two months in Bhilwara is slowly subsiding but has adversely affected the image of the town as the industrial hub of Rajasthan known for its textile units. The transformation of the district into a hot-spot of communal trouble has seemingly emboldened the elements trying to disturb peace and harmony. The pattern of violence - that forced a large number of families belonging to the minority community to migrate from several villages such as Karjalia, Kalias, Palri and Haripura - has depicted a new trend of using an incident as a pretext to terrorise the entire community. Villagers who mustered courage to return to their homes are still facing an undeclared social boycott. Beginning of trouble The trouble in the district, situated in southern part of the State, started in early March with the murder of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist, Satyanarain Sharma, in Karjalia, for which two Muslim youngsters were arrested. Shortly afterward, a history-sheeter, Raju Bairwa - killed in a gang war in Bhilwara on March 11 - was "adopted" by Bajrang Dal as its activist. While Muslims fled in the midst of continuing tension, a religious leader was stabbed in Bhilwara city on March 13. These incidents were followed by violence in Mandal town on April 8 after a saffron flag was hoisted atop a mosque and a post-Holi procession was allegedly stoned. Police were accused of committing excesses during the raids to arrest the accused. `Trishul Diksha' The presence of a large number of people who have received `Trishul Diksha' - outlawed by the previous Congress regime and allowed by the present Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government - has caused concern in the civil society here. However, the Bajrang Dal, while admitting that 5,000 of its activists are trained in the Diksha, denies that they were involved in the violence. "Trishul Diksha is a religious custom aimed at uniting the people. Its response in Bhilwara has been tremendous, but it poses no threat to any community, least of all the Muslims," Chandra Singh Jain, Bajrang Dal's convenor of Chittaurgarh `Praant' (province) told The Hindu . However, the Sangh Parivar outfits have ostensibly made an attempt to give communal colour to the series of incidents during the past couple of months. They are also seemingly feeling emboldened in the present BJP regime in the State. "Bajrang Dal has taken full advantage of its workers' reach at the grassroots. Its leaders have made a calculated move to benefit from the current atmosphere," said Pavan Kumar Jeengar, a lawyer in the district courts and a member of the Mandal Peace Committee. Home Minister's role The role of the Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, during his visits to the district has especially been called into question. Mr. Kataria was allegedly seen extending his support to Sangh Parivar during the trouble, while a delegation of local Muslims raised slogans against him on one occasion, accusing him of misbehaving with them and siding with the RSS. The transfer of the then Superintendent of Police, Ashok Rathore - when he opened fire to control a violent mob in Mandal on April 8 - has been cited as an instance of Mr. Kataria's alleged prejudice and patronage to communal outfits. http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/02/stories/2005050211090500.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| << April29, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net] Petition for Abolition of Blasphemy Laws in Muslim nations |
May04, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net] dalit news & Maldiavian update >> |
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