State Terrorism

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

State Terrorism State Terrorism Torture, Extra-Judicial Killings and Forced Disappearances in India Report of the Independent People's Tribunal 9-10 February 2008 Researched and edited by Coordinated by Grace Pelly Jai Singh ipt www.ipt.org Indian People's Tribunal Human Rights Law Network Vision • To protect fundamental human rights, increase access to basic resources for the marginalised communities, and eliminate discrimination. • T o createajusticedeliverysystemthatisaccessible,accountable,transparent,efficientand affordable, and works for the underprivileged. Raise the level of pro bono legal expertise for the poor to make the work uniformly competent as well as compassionate. • Professionally train a new generation of public interest lawyers and paralegals who are comfortable in the world of law as well as in social movements, and who learn from social movementstorefinelegalconceptsandstrategies. State Terrorism Researched and edited by: Grace Pelly Coordinated by: Jai Singh © Socio Legal Information Centre* ISBN 81-89479-47-4 January 2009 Cover photograph: Sculpture at Piazzale Ostiense, Rome, Italy. Provided by Biraj Patnaik Layout: Birendra K Gupta Printed at: Shivam Sundaram, E-9, Green Park Extn., New Delhi-110016 Published by: Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) A division of Socio Legal Information Centre 576, Masjid Road, Jangpura New Delhi – 110014, India Ph: +91-11-24379855/56 E-mail: [email protected] Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily views of the HRLN. Every effort has been made to avoid errors, omissions, and inaccuracies. However, for inadvertent errors or discrepancies that may remain nonetheless, the HRLN takes the sole responsibility. * Any section of this volume may be reproduced without prior permission of the Human Rights Law Network for public interest purposes with appropriate acknowledgement. Independent People's Tribunal on Torture, Extra-Judicial Killings and Forced Disappearance organised by Human Rights Law Network in collaboration with: Ambedkar Vichar Manch Adivasi Mukti Sanghatan Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Samiti Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee Dalit Adhikar Morcha Design & People Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation Human Rights Alert Jan Adhikar Manch JNU Students' Union Karcham Wangto Sangarsh Samiti Kudremukha Rashtriya Udyan Virodhi Horata Okkutta Lawyers for Human Rights International MASUM National Project on Preventing Torture in India National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights Paschim Banga Khet Mazoor Samiti People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights People’s Watch PUCL Chhattisgarh PUCL Uttarakhand Sanchetana SICHREM Spandan Samaj Sevi Sangathan Torture Prevention Center Uttarakhand Parivartan Abhiyan Panel members Justice Malay Sengupta (retired) Professor B. B. Pandey Professor S. M. Qadri Advocate Dhairyasheel Patil Advocate Navkiran Singh Advocate P. A. Sebastian Advocate Vrinda Grover Shabnam Hashmi K. S. Subramanian Dr. S. D. Singh Judge C. Upendra (retired) Introduction Contents Acknowledgements vii Foreword ix Acronyms xi Glossary of terms xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: A history of repression 13 Protections against torture, extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances 13 The Indian Police Force: A colonial legacy 26 Draconian legislation: A colonial legacy 33 Chapter 2: The police and forest department officials 47 Testimonies at the Independent People’s Tribunal 47 Chapter 3: Torture in India 71 Torture as a tool of interrogation 72 Torture as a means of suppressing civil dissent 76 Methods of torture 77 Sexual violence 86 Custodial death 94 Impunity 100 Failure of medical authorities to provide treatment to torture victims 103 Chapter 4: Struggles for self-determination 111 Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s 112 Living under AFSPA in the Northeast: A case study of Manipur 121 Kashmir: State terror in the valley 131 Chapter 5: Violence related to economic development 147 The growth of industrialisation 148 Violence related to economic development: Chhattisgarh 152 Violence related to economic development: Jharkhand 165 Violence related to economic development: Andhra Pradesh 167 Violence related to economic development: West Bengal 168 Naxalism 173 Chapter 6: Communalism 185 The Sikh Massacres (1984) 185 The Mumbai riots (1992-93) 187 Gujarat genocide (2002) 189 Dargah riots, Gujarat (2006) 194 Orissa – Attacks on the Christians (2008) 198 v State Terrorism Chapter 7: Encounter Killings: “Terrorists”, “Gangsters” and “Naxalites” 199 Encounters: A Popular Practice 199 Encountering “Naxalites” 202 “Gangsters” in Mumbai 204 “Terrorists” in Gujarat 206 Chapter 8: Defend the human rights defenders 211 Dr. Binayek Sen 211 Advocate Amarnath Pandey 212 Prashant Rahi 213 Pratap Singh 215 Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) 219 People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) 219 Opponents to economic development policy 219 Chapter 9: A dark future? 221 Assault on the Rule of Law 221 Fighting impunity 225 Chapter 10: Conclusions for reform 233 Police reform 233 Legislative reform 237 Empower the NHRC and SHRCs 239 Recommendations 243 Annexure: Testimonies of the Independent People's Tribunal 251 vi Acknowledgements Our special thanks goes to Mr. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director, People's Watch, and Mr. Kirity Roy, MASUM, for their significant effort in mobilising victims and their families from all across the country. We would also like to thank the following people for their assistance and support with the Tribunal and the publication: l Ms. Suneela Singh, National Coordinator, National Project on Preventing Torture in India l Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University l Rohan D’Souza, Assistant Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University l Dean, Department of Life Sciences l Dean, Department of Social Sciences l Dean, Department of Art and Aesthetics l Sandeep Singh, President of the JNU Students' Union l All the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University who volunteered to help organise the Tribunal l All the volunteers and interns at HRLN who helped in the monumental task of translating and transcribing the testimonies of the victims and the families who deposed at the Tribunal l Ms. Jessica Barry for all her assistance at the Tribunal and thereafter coordinating the compilation of all the testimonies In support of the gallant work being done in preventing torture and executions in India, we specifically acknowledge and congratulate the following organisations who have been at the forefront in the campaign against torture and impunity in India. We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our regards to and thank the following organisations, who made an invaluable contribution in making this People’s Tribunal possible and a success. Ambedkar Vichar Manch, Adivasi Mukti Sanghatan, Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Samiti, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, Dalit Adhikar Morcha, Design & People, Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation, Human Rights Alert, Jan Adhikar Manch, JNU Students' Union, Karcham Wangto Sangarsh Samiti, Kudremukha Rashtriya Udyan Virodhi State Terrorism Horata Okkutta, Lawyers for Human Rights International, MASUM, National Project on Preventing Torture in India, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Paschim Banga Khet Mazoor Samiti, People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, People’s Watch, PUCL Chhattisgarh, PUCL Uttarakhand, Sanchetana, SICHREM, Spandan Samaj Sevi Sangathan, Torture Prevention Center and Uttarakhand Parivartan. We also thank all the members of the Human Rights Law Network for their hard work, persistence and dedication. Above all, we extend our immense gratitude to all of those victims and witnesses who traveled from all over India to depose before the Tribunal and the courage and strength they continue to show. – Jai Singh, Jaswant Kaur and Anant K. Asthana viii Foreword Sixty-one years since the birth of independent India torture, disappearances and killings sanctioned by the state remain prevalent. “India is a vibrant electoral democracy with an abysmal human rights record” was the 2008 assessment of Human Rights Watch in relation to the State’s failure to provide adequate redress for victims, and the continuing culture of impunity for security forces responsible for grave human rights violations. The use of such extra-judicial measures still pervades every facet of the criminal justice system in every Indian state, remaining an enduring legacy and everyday reality for millions of citizens. Brutal methods are deployed by the police and the security forces on the pretext of maintaining the “unity and the integrity” of the country. The experiences in Punjab, Kashmir, the Northeast, and the so-called Naxal-affected areas, sanction arbitrary powers and draconian laws as a tool of suppression in the pursuit of law and order and the perceived threat to national security. Gujarat, Maharashtra and most recently in Orissa shows the State, both at a regional and national level successfully deploying these practices in pursuing communal agendas against minorities. The same justifications are now being applied in relation to the challenges posed by globalisation, as recently witnessed in Nandigram (West Bengal), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa as important tools in the state’s armoury to disenfranchise and deprive the rural and tribal populations of their resource
Recommended publications
  • Slicreproductiverightsbook-Fifth Proof.Indd
    CLAIMING DIGNITY: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS & THE LAW Human Rights Law Network CLAIMING DIGNITY: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS & THE LAW Human Rights Law Network Human Rights Law Network’s Vision • To protect fundamental human rights, increase access to basic resources for marginalised communities, and eliminate discrimination. • To Create a justice delivery system that is accessible, accountable, transparent, and effi cient and affordable, and works for the underpriviledged. • Raise the level of pro-bono legal experience for the poor to make the work uniformly competent as well as compassionate. • Professionally train a new generation of public interest lawyers and paralegals who are comfortable in the world of law as well as in social movements and who lean from such movements to refi ne legal concepts and strategies. CLAIMING DIGNITY: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS & THE LAW Introduction by: Kerry McBroom Compiled and Edited by Cheryl Blake © Socio Legal Information Centre ISBN : 81-89479-84-9 January 2013 Design: Cover Photo Credit : Emily Schneider Cover Design : Karla Torres Printed by: Shivam Sundram Published by: Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) A division of Socio Legal Information Centre 576 Masjid Road, Jangpura New Delhi 110014 India Ph: +91-1124379855/56 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.hrln.org Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of HRLN. Every effort has been made to avoid errors, ommissions, and innacuracies. HRLN takes sole responsibility for any remaining errors, ommissions or inaccuracies that may remain. Note on Footnote: The authors have employed a simple and straight-forward formatting style to maximize the usability of the sources cited.
    [Show full text]
  • ENGLISH NEWSPAPER-AHMEDABAD) Dt: 15/09/2003
    THE TIMES OF INDIA (ENGLISH NEWSPAPER-AHMEDABAD) Dt: 15/09/2003. 240 Pota cases, all against minorities By Leena Misra Times News Network Ahmedabad: Chand Usman Khan who was brought here from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday will be the latest accused to be added to the Pota inventory of the Narendra Modi government which already figures heavy-weights from the underworld like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Sharif Khan. Although Gujarat still faces some competition when compared to the huge list of accused booked under Pota in states like Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, it might perhaps be the only state where all the 240-odd persons booked under Pota are from the minority community. The only non-Muslim in the list is a Sikh, Liversingh Tej Singh, Liversingh Tej Singh Sikligar, who figured in it for an attempt on the life of Surat lawyer Hasmukh Lalwala, and allegedly hung himself in a police lock-up in Surat in April. Pota has been invoked in 11 cases in the state including, the Godhra carnage, the Akshardham massacre and the Haren Pandya murder which was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Among the 241 booked under the terror law, are some 20-odd accused booked under this law in three cases - the overarching conspiracy case booked by Ahmedabad’s detection of crime branch and the Haren Pandya and the Jagdish Tiwari case which were chargesheeted together. But some top police officers and human rights activists felt that Pota was being used indiscriminately, the biggest irony being that till date the Anti-Terrorist Squad has not booked a single case of Pota.
    [Show full text]
  • The “Anti-Nationals” RIGHTS Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Terrorism Suspects in India WATCH
    India HUMAN The “Anti-Nationals” RIGHTS Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Terrorism Suspects in India WATCH The “Anti-Nationals” Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Terrorism Suspects in India Copyright © 2011 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-735-3 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org February 2011 ISBN 1-56432-735-3 The “Anti-Nationals” Arbitrary Detention and Torture of Terrorism Suspects in India Map of India ............................................................................................................. 1 Summary ................................................................................................................. 2 Recommendations for Immediate Action by the Indian Government .................. 10 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 12 I. Recent Attacks Attributed to Islamist and Hindu Militant Groups .......................
    [Show full text]
  • Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010) Elaisha Nandrajog Claremont Mckenna College
    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2010 Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010) Elaisha Nandrajog Claremont McKenna College Recommended Citation Nandrajog, Elaisha, "Hindutva and Anti-Muslim Communal Violence in India Under the Bharatiya Janata Party (1990-2010)" (2010). CMC Senior Theses. Paper 219. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/219 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLAREMONT McKENNA COLLEGE HINDUTVA AND ANTI-MUSLIM COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN INDIA UNDER THE BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (1990-2010) SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR RODERIC CAMP AND PROFESSOR GASTÓN ESPINOSA AND DEAN GREGORY HESS BY ELAISHA NANDRAJOG FOR SENIOR THESIS (Spring 2010) APRIL 26, 2010 2 CONTENTS Preface 02 List of Abbreviations 03 Timeline 04 Introduction 07 Chapter 1 13 Origins of Hindutva Chapter 2 41 Setting the Stage: Precursors to the Bharatiya Janata Party Chapter 3 60 Bharat : The India of the Bharatiya Janata Party Chapter 4 97 Mosque or Temple? The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi Dispute Chapter 5 122 Modi and his Muslims: The Gujarat Carnage Chapter 6 151 Legalizing Communalism: Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (2002) Conclusion 166 Appendix 180 Glossary 185 Bibliography 188 3 PREFACE This thesis assesses the manner in which India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the political face of Hindutva, or Hindu ethno-cultural nationalism. The insights of scholars like Christophe Jaffrelot, Ashish Nandy, Thomas Blom Hansen, Ram Puniyani, Badri Narayan, and Chetan Bhatt have been instrumental in furthering my understanding of the manifold elements of Hindutva ideology.
    [Show full text]
  • FIGHT to Award Winner
    MUSKAN SHOWS THE LIGHT INTERVIEWING DAWOOD LAWLESS LAW STUDENT Sightless youngster encourages youth How a journalist missed meeting the Don Colleges for education, not violence NOVEMBER 2017 `100 VOLUME I ISSUE 4 SPECIAL Lalu Prasad Yadav Vasundhara Raje Arvind Kejriwal Anil Baijal V K Sasikala Interview with Colin Gonsalves Right Livelihood FIGHT TO Award winner Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s safety valve Bill boomerangs; Delhi Chief MinisterTHE Arvind Kejriwal in last mile battleFINISH with Lieutenant-Governor in Supreme Court; and, Chief Justice of India wants a speedy trial of tainted netas LEGAL NOTES LEGAL NOTES ONE-ON-ONE ONE-ON-ONE placed, or innocent men put behind the bars in You have taken keen interest in legal battles the name of ‘love jihad’ or terrorism. ranging from the right to food to securing ‘Current phase in India’s history is as compensation for farmers and acid attack You are known to be a fighter for the rights of victims. the poor and the underprivileged for decades, It is my passion that keeps me moving forward dark as the Emergency’ setting many legal precedents in the process. despite resistance from various quarters. These The 65-year-old Senior Supreme Court Advocate Colin Gonsalves has been chosen for When did you start thinking of these people? movements take a big toll on an individual’s life. the prestigious 2017 Right Livelihood Award, widely known as ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ I was a civil engineering student at the Indian For the Right to Food case, I went to the court Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.
    [Show full text]
  • Reproductiverights.Org…
    LITIGATING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Using Public Interest Litigation and International Law to Promote Gender Justice in India Center for Reproductive Rights 120 Wall Street New York, New York 10005 www.reproductiverights.org [email protected] Avani Mehta Sood Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow Yale Law School [email protected] © 2006 Center for Reproductive Rights Avani Mehta Sood Any part of this report may be copied, translated, or adapted with permission of the Center for Reproductive Rights or Avani Mehta Sood, provided that the parts copied are distributed free or at cost (not for profit), that they are identified as having appeared originally in a Cen- ter for Reproductive Rights publication, and that Avani Mehta Sood is acknowledged as the author. Any commercial reproduction requires prior written permission from the Center for Reproductive Rights or Avani Mehta Sood. The Center for Reproductive Rights and Avani Mehta Sood would appreciate receiving a copy of any materials in which information from this report is used. ISBN: 1-890671-34-7 978-1-890671-34-1 page 2 Litigating Reproductive Rights About this Report This publication was authored by Avani Mehta Sood, J.D., as a Bernstein International Human Rights Fellow working in collaboration with the Center for Reproductive Rights. The Robert L. Bernstein Fellowship in International Human Rights is administered by the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School. In 2004, the Center for Reproductive Rights launched a global litigation campaign to promote the use of strategic litigation for the advancement of women’s reproductive rights worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018, Four Senior Most Judges of the Supreme Court, Namely Justice
    Rebellion in the Supreme Court By N.T.Ravindranath, dated 12-03-2018 On January 12th, 2018, four senior most judges of the Supreme Court, namely justice Chelameshwar, Ranjan Gogoi, Joseph Kurian and Madan Lokur stunned the people of India by openly revolting against the Chief Justice of India and conducting a press conference in Delhi accusing CJI Deepak Mishra of selective allocation of important cases for hearing to junior judges in an improper and inappropriate manner. Allocation of cases to different benches is the sole prerogative of the Chief Justice of India. Many important cases have been allocated to junior judges in the past and there is nothing unusual or unfair about it. The four dissident judges claim that all judges are equals and that the chief justice is only the first among the equals. On the other hand, contradicting their own assertion, they refuse to treat their own junior judges as their equals. Thus, their allegations against the chief justice Deepak Mishra can be seen as baseless and without any merit. Hence, the open mutiny staged by the four rebel judges is highly condemnable. This episode has not cast any shadow of doubt on the reputation and credibility of CJI Deepak Mishra. On the contrary, it is the four rebel judges who now stand exposed as crooks by their open expression of frustration and anger over non-allocation of certain cases of their interest to them. Their open revolt has only helped to expose their undue interest in getting certain cases allocated to them for their own vested interests which has raised questions about the impartiality and credibility of the Supreme Court.
    [Show full text]
  • Breathing Life Into the Constitution
    Breathing Life into the Constitution Human Rights Lawyering In India Arvind Narrain | Saumya Uma Alternative Law Forum Bengaluru Breathing Life into the Constitution Human Rights Lawyering In India Arvind Narrain | Saumya Uma Alternative Law Forum Bengaluru Breathing Life into the Constitution Human Rights Lawyering in India Arvind Narrain | Saumya Uma Edition: January 2017 Published by: Alternative Law Forum 122/4 Infantry Road, Bengaluru - 560001. Karnataka, India. Design by: Vinay C About the Authors: Arvind Narrain is a founding member of the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, a collective of lawyers who work on a critical practise of law. He has worked on human rights issues including mass crimes, communal conflict, LGBT rights and human rights history. Saumya Uma has 22 years’ experience as a lawyer, law researcher, writer, campaigner, trainer and activist on gender, law and human rights. Cover page images copied from multiple news articles. All copyrights acknowledged. Any part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted as necessary. The authors only assert the right to be identified wtih the reproduced version. “I am not a religious person but the only sin I believe in is the sin of cynicism.” Parvez Imroz, Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society Coalition (JKCSS), on being told that nothing would change with respect to the human rights situation in Kashmir Dedication This book is dedicated to remembering the courageous work of human rights lawyers, Jalil Andrabi (1954-1996), Shahid Azmi (1977-2010), K. Balagopal (1952-2009), K.G. Kannabiran (1929-2010), Gobinda Mukhoty (1927-1995), T. Purushotham – (killed in 2000), Japa Lakshma Reddy (killed in 1992), P.A.
    [Show full text]
  • Müller Indien Ganz Rechts 2014 04 29
    1 DEUTSCHLANDFUNK Sendung: Hörspiel/Hintergrund Kultur Dienstag, 29.04.2014 Redaktion: Karin Beindorff 19.15 – 20.00 Uhr Indien ganz rechts Die Karriere des Hindunationalisten Narendra Modi Von Dominik Müller URHEBERRECHTLICHER HINWEIS Dieses Manuskript ist urheberrechtlich geschützt und darf vom Empfänger ausschließlich zu rein privaten Zwecken genutzt werden. Jede Vervielfältigung, Verbreitung oder sonstige Nutzung, die über den in §§ 45 bis 63 Urheberrechtsgesetz geregelten Umfang hinausgeht, ist unzulässig. Deutschlandradio - Unkorrigiertes Manuskript - 1 2 O-Ton Anand Sharma, Wirtschaftsminister Would you insult at hundreds of million of voters in India? .... Respect democracy, respect our country! Sprecher 1 Würden Sie hunderte Millionen Wähler in Indien beleidigen? Würden Sie ihnen vorschreiben, wie sie zu entscheiden haben? Schreiben wir anderen Ländern vor, wie ihre Wähler abstimmen sollen? Respektieren Sie die Demokratie, respektieren Sie unser Land! Atmo Nachrichten CNN-IBN Erzähler Anand Sharma, der amtierende indische Wirtschaftsminister, ärgerte sich, als die US-Bank Goldman Sachs Anfang November 2013 eine Prognose über die Entwicklung der Wirtschaft in Indien veröffentlichte. Schon der Titel „Modi-fying our view“ war eine wenig subtile Wahlempfehlung für den Spitzenkandidaten der größten Oppositionspartei: Narendra Modi von der BJP, der Bharatiya Janata Party, der Indischen Volkspartei. Die mächtige US-Bank machte Stimmung: Sprecher: (Modi ist) ein Agent des Wandels, der Indien von einem Leichtgewicht zu einem Marktschwergewicht
    [Show full text]
  • An Architect of Conscience
    ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846 An Architect of Conscience Mukul Sinha (1951-2014) MANISHA SETHI Vol. 49, Issue No. 22, 31 May, 2014 Manisha Sethi ([email protected]) is with the Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association and teaches at the Centre for Comparative Religions and Civilizations, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. Mukul Sinha’s death remained largely beyond the limelight amid the din over Narendra Modi’s anointment as the next Prime Minister. His steadfastly resolve and meticulous eye for detail, strengths he demonstrated while dealing with hostile administration in several cases, will remain a guiding light for many activists. As news of the demise of Mukul Sinha – trade unionist, lawyer, civil rights worker, and a widely loved communist – came in, no news channel cared to pause the hysteria over exit polls. Not even momentarily. The giddy coverage of voting in Benaras and possibility of the Modi wave reaching the parliamentary shores safely could not be suspended for even a five- minute solemn remembrance of this remarkable man. No one recalled that Mukul Sinha had been instrumental in sending Amit Shah, being feted as the architect of Modi’s victory in Uttar Pradesh, to jail in 2010 in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case. An organic trade union leader Like K Balagopal, another of our great civil liberties fighter, Mukul Sinha came to law quite late. The former was a mathematician by training, the latter a physicist. Both were forced to abandon science – Balagopal because of a false police case, which made it unsafe for him to remain in Warangal and continue teaching; Sinha because the government laboratory where he worked could not tolerate his trade unionism in defence of his retrenched colleagues.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sangh Parivar, Narendra Modi, and the Government of Gujarat
    Genocide in Gujarat The Sangh Parivar, Narendra Modi, and the Government of Gujarat Coalition Against Genocide March 02, 2005 Genocide in Gujarat The Sangh Parivar, Narendra Modi, and the Government of Gujarat Contents Gujarat: Narendra Modi and State Complicity in Genocide---------------------------------------------------3 * Under Narendra Modi’s leadership, between February 28 and March 02, 2002, more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Gujarat, aided and abetted by the state, following which 200,000 were internally displaced. * The National Human Rights Commission of India held that Narendra Modi, as the chief executive of the state of Gujarat, had complete command over the police and other law enforcement machinery, and is such responsible for the role of the Government of Gujarat in providing leadership and material support in the politically motivated attacks on minorities in Gujarat. * Former President of India, K. R. Narayanan, stated that there was a “conspiracy” between the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in the State of Gujarat behind the riots of 2002. * According to independent human rights observers, the events in Gujarat meet the legal definition of genocide. The Sangh Parivar: Narendra Modi’s Inspiration---------------------------------------------------------------7 * Narendra Modi was a functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization. * Nazi and fascistic ideologies motivated founding ideologues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organization. * Modi has incorporated the teachings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in his governance of Gujarat. Gujarat: Continuing Violence --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 * Following the events of February 27-March 02, 2002, the Government of Gujarat was grossly and willfully negligent in providing necessary support, security, relief, resettlement and rehabilitation measures to the victims.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Narco-Analysis, Polygraph and Brain-Mapping: a Glimpse 2.1 Introduction
    CHAPTER 2 NARCO-ANALYSIS, POLYGRAPH AND BRAIN-MAPPING: A GLIMPSE The object of criminal law is in terms of order- survival, security, maintenance of conditions which permit the society to progress, experience of higher values and finally the good life which subsumes all the ideals of the world; in which a democratic society moves. Justice Hall 2.1 INTRODUCTION Justice is the basis of law. Speaking particularly about criminal law, it contains a set of rules for the maintenance of social order in society where change is constant 1. Whether one examines the legal socialization process, the judicial process or the criminal justice process, the concerns about justice pervades in all these areas 2. In a democratic country like India, the system of governance is based on the concept of ‘Rule of Law’ i.e. law is the supreme authority, all are equal before law and justice is to be achieved through it 3. In the words of Justice S.R. Bannurmath, “ The ultimate aim of criminal law is protection of right to personal liberty against invasions by others, protection of weak against strong, law abiding against law-less, peaceful against violent.” It would be correct to say that the human beings’ right to life and security has to be respected and protected otherwise it would defeat the very core of Rule of Law and would give rise to the ‘Law of Fishes’, the strong will swallow the weak. Of all the branches of law governs every aspect of a man in a civilized society still criminal law is one that specific branch that has contact with an individual in his everyday routine.
    [Show full text]