On November 10, the Supreme Court bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar continued to hear the arguments made by Senior Advocate Mr. Kapil Sibal in connection with the  Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Zakia Jafri, the widow of slain Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). In his arguments today, Mr. Sibal submitted in detail how the SIT failed to appreciate crucial and pertinent evidence related to the case and how a national tragedy could have been averted had the police and administration taken timely action.

Clarifying confusion

A distinction was drawn during the hearing today between the Zakia Jafri case and the Gilberg massacre. While Ahsan Jafri was killed by a right wing mob while he was trying to shield members of Muslim community during the Gulberg society massage that took place during the Gujarat genocide of 2002, the Zakia Jafri case pertains to the complaint (dated June 8, 2006) filed regarding the larger conspiracy behind the Gujarat violence, especially the inaction of State actors and complicity of authorities. The SLP being heard by the Supreme Court was moved by Jafri and CJP to challenge the Closure Report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) pertaining to the complaint of June 8, 2006, and the subsequent dismissal of their Protest Petition by the Magistrate and the Gujarat High Court. Therefore the SLP was not about any pending matter like the Gulberg trial, but in connection with the Zakia Jafri case where petitioners are demanding that a proper probe be conducted to fix responsibility on officials who permitted the violence across the state of Gujarat to continue unabated.

The hearing will continue tomorrow.

Arguments today

Advocate Sibal started with recapitulating how the complaint of Zakia Jafri about the Gujarat riots being a concerted conspiracy was not taken on as an FIR by the police which compelled her to approach the High Court and then the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then directed that the complaint be looked at by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) without the registration of an FIR.

“I am going to demonstrate that the SIT did not do any investigation in respect of these matters,” Sibal said, beginning his arguments.

The bench began with the query that in which proceedings was the SIT directed by the Supreme Court in Jakia Nasim Ahesan & Anr vs State Of Gujarat & Ors 2011 12 SCC 302. While the SIT report was submitted to the Magistrate court ultimately, Sibal argued that it was not just in the matter of the Gulberg case which is commonly confused with the Zakia Jafri matter. He clarified that while the Gulberg case relates to one of the many incidents that took place in Gujarat during the riots, the Zakia Jafri complaint and eventually the petition relates to the larger conspiracy behind how state actors, authorities, allowed such a large scale communal violence to go on in the state with no proper law and order measures in place, allowing the perishing of thousands of innocent lives.

The SIT that was directed by the Supreme Court via an order passed in 2011 for investigation of the various cases which included the Zakia Jafri complaint of a larger conspiracy, of which the bench was eventually convinced. Sibal argued that the SIT filed a closure report before the Magistrate court without carrying out any real investigation; it did not appreciate the evidence put forth before them, they ignored the Tehelka sting operation tapes authenticated by the CBI. Even the actions and reports by two respected police officers Rahul Sharma and B Shreekumar fell on deaf ears, with the latter accused of being spiteful upon being denied a promotion.

The mandate of SIT

In the 2011 judgement of the Supreme Court, it had directed the SIT to submit a final report and deal with the matter “in accordance with law relating to the trial of the accused, named in the report/charge-sheet, including matters falling within the ambit and scope of Section 173(8) of the Code(CrPC)”. Section 173(8) of CrPC allows the investigating officer to obtain further evidence and submit an additional report, even after the final report/chargesheet has been filed.

It further said, “If for any stated reason the SIT opines in its report, to be submitted in terms of this order, that there is no sufficient evidence or reasonable grounds for proceeding against any person named in the complaint, dated 8th June 2006, before taking a final decision on such `closure’ report, the Court shall issue notice to the complainant and make available to her copies of the statements of the witnesses, other related documents and the investigation report strictly in accordance with law…”

Sibal contended that this clearly indicated that the SIT was to do an investigation in accordance with the law. “You (SIT) don’t record statements, you don’t arrest persons, you accept the statements of the accused and file a closure report. You don’t call for CDRs, you don’t seize any phones…never checked why records were destroyed, never checked by the police were standing by, never checked how the bombs were manufactured,” Sibal submitted.

Sibal was referring to statements made by a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader about bombs being kept ready for furthering violence as exposed in the Tehalka sting operation titled Operation Kalank. 

Intelligence reports

Sibal pointed out that the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) had given reports that swords and trishul were carried to Ayodhya and there was a lot of communal tension. There were even intelligence messages that after the Godhra incident, agitated speeches were given by various right-wing and even religious leaders. VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena leaders had a meeting; kar sevkas were making speeches and vehicles were burnt and many such messages shared by intelligence agencies that were completely ignored during investigations.

The SIT failed to question why suitable action as per law was not taken by the police to prevent further exacerbation of these violent incidents. Were police officials specifically asked not to take action; is so then by whom? Or if they voluntarily decided not to take action, why were they not asked to explain that decision? Many basic questions that any investigation agency would ask, were left unasked!

The Tehelka Sting operation

Sibal argued that the sting operation which was carried out by Tehelka was authenticated by the CBI and was also used in the Naroda Patiya massacre case to convict the accused. But these tapes as evidence were not even looked at by the SIT. Sibal points out how Dhawal Jayantilal Patel who was recorded in the sting tapes, demonstrated how the bombs were made and supplied for the riots, he spoke about how they were supplied, role of the police and so on. There were many such statements in the tapes which were all collectively disregarded by the SIT as extra judicial statements.

Other arguments

Sibal also pointed out how Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in thousands had gathered around the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad after Jaydeep Patel, a VHP leader arrived there with dead bodies from Godhra. Even in the case of handing over dead bodies to a private person like Jaydeep Patel, SIT did not raise questions as to who in position power allowed the same in complete contravention of set procedure where bodies are only handed to family members. The Mamlatdar, a junior level employee, was held responsible for the same. Sibal asked, “Can you ever imagine Mamlatdaar taking this decision when a national tragedy has happened and he takes a call to give bodies to VHP? Impossible!” 

He also pointed out that in incidents of riots, the police register the FIR suo moto, however if a relative of the victim approaches the police to register FIR, they refuse since one FIR has already been registered and a second FIR in the same incident cannot be registered. He said that even if the victim’s relative is able to identify the accused, he is not named in the police’s FIR. In many cases the survivors knew their attackers well as they were from the same neighbourhood, but police shot down their claims saying it was dark, perhaps they misidentified the attackers. Sibal pointed out that this was a lacuna that needed to be corrected.

The bottomline of the arguments today was that the SIT was clearly mandated by the Supreme Court to carry out an investigation, however, it did not carry one out, and merely filed a Closure Report which was accepted by the Magistrate court. Also, that despite there being no dearth of evidence pointing towards inaction of authorities, the same was not appreciated by the SIT.

Having lost his grandparents to communal riots, Sibal said, “Communal violence is like lava erupting from a volcano and it’s an institutionalised problem, whenever the lava touches the ground on earth it scars it and it becomes a fertile ground for future revenge.”

Throughout the hearing, he kept reiterating that in such riots, the culprit is some other person and the victim is some other innocent person. “I am not (talking about) any high ranking person who gave instructions or not. You can take me on record. This is a bigger picture if rule of law can prevail or can muck be allowed to run its course,” he added. “This case is not just this case but it’s about the future,” he emphasised.

Referring to the Magistrate court accepting the closure report and refusing to direct further investigation, Sibal said, “No court with a conscience would ignore such evidence”.

The order may be read here:

Related:

SIT Investigation flawed, evidence of serious lapses by state functionaries ignored: Zakia Jafri & CJP argue in SC
Zakia Jafri case: All we want is an investigation, argues senior counsel Kapil Sibal
Zakia Jafri Case: Bringing the High and Mighty to Justice

The post Communal violence is like lava, leaving ground fertile for revenge: Kapil Sibal in Zakia Jafri SLP appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In yet another example of the Assam state government’s apathy, it has submitted before the Gauhati High Court that land has been demarcated to rehabilitate evicted and displaced people, however, their citizenship will have to be ascertained before confirming their eligibility, adding fuel to the baseless narrative that “outsiders” and “illegal migrants” had “encroached” upon public land.

This is shocking because this was in connection with families that were first forcibly evicted from their homes in Darrang district, and then faced a hail of bullets from the Assam Police when they protested. On November 3, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Kakheto Sema was hearing a batch of petitions related to rehabilitation of these evicted families.

Criteria for rehabilitation

Bar and Bench reports that Advocate General Debojit Sakia submitted that rehabilitation of evicted and displaced people will be carried out and that 1,000 bhigas of land were set aside for this purpose. However, in order to determine eligibility, it will have to be ascertained if the evicted people were indeed landless migrants, including ascertaining if they had a similar status in the districts from where they had originally migrated. He further said, it would have to be determined if they were landless on account of effects of erosion. Finally, he submitted that their names will have to be checked against the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to ascertain if they are indeed Indian citizens.

The last bit, is significant because the regime and their lapdogs have repeatedly taken advantage of how citizenship is a rather touchy subject in the state of Assam, where much blood was spilled before signing of the Assam accord. The NRC was also updated purportedly to weed out “illegal Bangladeshi migrants” from Assam.

Who are the “outsiders”?

However, as we have reported previously, nearly 60 percent of the people excluded from the NRC are rural housewives who do not have any documentation such as birth certificates or school leaving certificate, as most of them are born at home, rarely sent to school and married off in their teens. Thus, by the time their names are enrolled in the Voters List in their marital villages, the only document connecting them to their birth families as natal villages are certificates issued by the Gaon Burah (Village Panchayat Secretary). But this document was deemed a “weak document” and therefore isn’t enough to prove citizenship.

Also, when it comes to erosion, the area where evictions are taking place is a riverine region. Here entire villages are washed away in floods and people are forced to frequently relocate. In fact, the families that are now facing the brunt of evictions have descended from people who were forced to come to this region from Upper Assam (further upstream) where the erosion is more severe. They have been living here for anywhere between 40-50 years.

In fact, the only comfort these people have drawn since the September 23 firing is that eviction have been put on hold since then, and there has been no further violence.

Gauhati HC’s order

In its November 3 order, the court recorded, “Mr. D. Saikia states that as of now for the remaining alleged encroachers, no coercive measure is being adopted as efforts are being made to convince them to move to the demarcated area. All the same, as and when such measures are adopted, the petitioner would be at liberty to move an application before this Court.”

The State was granted one week to file a detailed counter-affidavit in the matter, and the petitioner was granted three weeks to subsequently file their rejoinder. The matter will be heard next on December 14, 2021. The entire order may be read here: 

Brief background of the issue

As we have reported previously, the Assam state government has been conducting an eviction drive to rid public land of people it calls “encroachers”. They say this land will then be handed over to indigenous youth for agricultural purposes. As part this eviction drive hundreds of families have been evicted from Gorukhuti, Phuhurtuli and other nearby villages that fall in the Sipajhar circle of the Dhalpur region of Darrang district.

On September 20, around 200 families were forcibly evicted from their homes in Phuhurtuli in Dhalpur. It is noteworthy, that 49 families nearby had been evicted from the same area on June 7. The support for the evictions came from the highest authority, with the Chief Minister congratulating the district administration on Twitter.

On June 7, I had inspected riverine areas encroached by illegal settlers near Dholpur Shiva Mandir. I had assured temple mgmt & local people to set up a Manikut, build a guest house & boundary wall. Today’s eviction is aimed at starting community farming by removing encroachment pic.twitter.com/VmnsfDXz8r

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 20, 2021

The narrative around the Shiva Mandir, added a communal angle to the entire inhuman exercise. A day after the firing, an unrepentant Himanta Biswa Sarma remained defiant and told mediapersons in Guwahati, “They call me Talibani, but can we leave Assam like this? Should we allow them to encroach on Shiva temple land? Next, they will encroach on the Kamakhya temple land.” The communal spin to a human tragedy did not go unnoticed.

In fact, we had reported on how the eviction drives are disproportionately targetting members of the Muslim community. There were also allegations of the forced conversion of a Hindu temple priest’s widow, an allegation Parbati Das, the woman in question, shot down in an exclusive interview to us.

Police Firing incident

Then came the fateful day of September 23. At midnight residents of Gorukhuti were sent notice of eviction via Whatsapp, in complete contravention of set procedure and law. The next morning, they were thrown out of their modest huts, with little time to gather together their meagre belongings. District officials had arrived with armed police personnel, and when people protested the injustice, police opened fire. Two people, Maynal Haque and Sheikh Farid, were killed in the firing.

While Maynal Haque was a daily wage earner, responsible for feeding his family of elderly parents, a wife and three small children, Sheikh Farid was a 12-year-old boy returning home from a nearby Aadhaar Card centre. What was also shocking was how, again in complete contravention of set procedure, police did not shoot people below the knee. In fact, victims and survivors sustained bullet wounds to their head, face, chest and stomach.

And since then, at least three infants belonging to evicted have died, purportedly due to being forced to live in makeshift tents that offer little defence against the elements. The youngest was just 5 days old.

Evictions – CM’s pet project, Darrang SP – CM’s brother

Three things cannot be ignored:

• Police action was disproportionate, brutal and illegal
• A majority of people evicted from their homes so far belong to the minority community
• The Superintendent of Police of Darrang district where the firing took place and where these evictions are being carried out is none other than Sushanta Biswa Sarma, brother of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The bigger questions are:

• Did a high-ranking police officer allow his family connection or personal politics to interfere with how he discharged his duties?
• Is the state government, run by a party with an anti-minority ideology abusing power and connections to selectively target followers of a certain faith?
• Does this not reek of ethnic cleansing?

Speaking to media person a day after the attack, the Chief Minister had refused to take action against district authorities and his own brother who heads the police in Darrang. He asked, “Why should I fire the District Collector and SP of Darrang when they were operating under my orders?” He tried to blame “outsiders” who he claimed had instigated locals to attack the police, forcing them to fire in retaliation.

Even then, Sarma had shot down demands for relocating evicted families saying, “Those who come from Baghbor and Sarukhetri, they have their own land at home. So why should I give them lands? It’s not my own land that I’ll give anyone I want. But those who are landless, I’ll give them 6 bighas of land as per the Land Act of Assam. And I have been saying this for two months!”

Related:

EXCLUSIVE: Three infants from evicted families die in Assam
Assam police firing: CJP aids families of victims move HC
Assam Police Firing: 12-year-old shot dead while returning home from Aadhaar centre!
Photo Feature: Evicted villagers struggle to rebuild lives in Dhalpur
Finally, FIRs filed in Dhalpur firing death cases

The post Evicted families will be rehabilitated only if name appears in NRC: Assam Gov’t to Gauhati HC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Assam eviction tragedy keeps on growing. Though no new evictions have been reported after the police firing on September 23, CJP’s on-ground team has learnt that at least three infants from these families have died. One of them was just 5 days old!

CJP’s Assam state team in-charge Nanda Ghosh says, “The children have been identified as 5-day-old Rajib Ahmed, 2-month-old Rohim Ahmed and Akhi Aktara who was just about a year old.” The cause of death of the children remains unknown.

“The children were living in makeshift shanties, huts and tents, raised by the evicted families by stringing together bamboo sticks, some old sarees, sheets of tarpaulin and hay with some rope. These were built alongside the river and barely provided any protection from the elements,” says Ghosh. “Infants and toddlers are always most vulnerable to disease, though it is not known exactly which disease afflicted them,” he adds.

The families had been evicted as part of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ambitious drive to evict the so-called “outsiders” and give the land to “indigenous people” for agriculture. As these people were seen as “outsiders”, they were deemed ineligible for any compensation.

The evictions had been taking place in different villages such as Gorukhuti, Phuhurtuli and other parts of Dhalpur that falls in the Sipajhar Circle of Darrang District. This is a char area or riverine region where entire villages are washed away whenever there is a flood. In fact, an estimated 7 percent of Assam’s land has been washed away since independence. Depending on how the course of the river changes, villagers relocate to landmasses where they can build new settlements. 

In fact, in case of the Dhalpur area, many of the settlements where forcible evictions took place were inhabited by such flood-affected people, who were conveniently labelled as illegal migrants by the regime that seems to be determined to cash in on the paranoia surrounding an alleged influx of Bangladeshis. Today this paranoia took the lives of three babies. Wonder how that would weigh on the conscience of the state’s people and their leaders…

*Feature image by CJP Team: A child playing outside as evicted families struggle to put together makeshift huts as a feeble shelter from the elements. NOTE: This is not one of the children who died.

Related:

Assam police firing: CJP aids families of victims move HC
Assam Police Firing: 12-year-old shot dead while returning home from Aadhaar centre!
Photo Feature: Evicted villagers struggle to rebuild lives in Dhalpur
Finally, FIRs filed in Dhalpur firing death cases

The post EXCLUSIVE: Lives shattered further for evicted families in Assam as three infants die appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The terrifying images from Assam’s eviction drive that escalated into brute action by the Assam Police who opened fire upon innocent civilians on September 23, 2021 in Dhalpur, must continue to haunt many. Hundreds of families were rendered homeless amidst a punishing monsoon and a raging Covid-19 pandemic with just a few hours’ notice sent over Whatsapp the previous midnight. When they protested, the response was bullets!

Since then, there has been an increase in incidents of injustice, both hate crimes and institutional violence, against the Bengali speaking Muslim minority in the north eastern state. Therefore, it has become even more pertinent to raise our voices to ensure that the impunity of any officer, who may have acted illegally and in bad faith, does not go un-punished in accordance with the law.

In CJP’s endeavour to bring justice to those rendered homeless in Assam during the eviction and to those who lost their family members to the police firing and brute action, we have filed two separate writ petitions in the Gauhati High Court:

• one in the matter of the death of 12 year old Sheikh Farid who fell victim to indiscriminate police firing at the eviction site, and,
• another in the incident where a farmer, Maynal Haque, whose house was being forcefully demolished, was shot down by the police.

One of the most gut-wrenching images from the September 23 police firing on evicted families in Assam, was that of an unconscious Farid. He had gone to the post office to collect his friend’s Aadhaar card, never to return. Also, in a video that was doing the rounds on social media showed extremely disturbing visuals of an agitated Haque running in self-defense with a stick, and being beaten up by a handful police officials and after he was visibly lifeless. In fact, thereafter, a photographer, covering the incident started stomping over the defenseless body.

The High Court has issued notice to the state government of Assam on the first petition (Sheikh Farid) October 25 and on the writ petition of the second victim (Maynal Haque) on November 1. The next hearing for both is scheduled for December 1.

In both petitions, the family members of the victims are the petitioners, hoping that some justice is delivered to them. While Farid’s family lost a young child, Haque’s family lost the breadwinner leaving his not only three young children without a father, and a grieving widow, but also elderly parents.

Petition for Sheikh Farid

Sheikh Farid, a resident of Kirakara village of the Dhalpur region, would not have “lost his life at the tender age of 12 had the police force handled the situation professionally and with due diligence and care. The area where the incident took place is a busy area and resident of the petitioners’ village have to travel through the said area to reach their part of village. As such the police force ought to have been better equipped and prepared to deal with any situation to cope with the situation to avoid any loss of human lives,” the petition states.

The petition asserts that Farid’s death was “caused by an act of use of force in excess of what was required inasmuch as assuming but not admitting that there was some mob violence the indiscriminate use of firearms when the area is a busy one, where women and children also reside and pass by ought to have been avoided.”

The petition seeks compensation for the family of Farid who came to know of his death in a video that was circulating on social media and disturbing images of his blood-soaked body doing the rounds.

Petition for Maynal Haque

Maynal Haque and his family had been residing in No 3 Dhalpur village since more than four decades after their previous home was washed away due to erosion of River Brahmaputra. Haque who died in the police firing was a farmer and has left behind his wife and three minor children.

In the wee hours of September 23, Haque and his family were made aware that some residents of the village were served eviction notices, while he had not received any. By 10 A.M that day, people from the District Administration along with a large force of police personnel came to the village asking residents to vacate their homes. At this point all residents gathered peacefully requesting the authorities to give them some time and to rehabilitate them. Naturally, at the thought of being left homeless, they were anxious and the officials did not grant them enough time to collect their belongings and instead started demolishing the houses forcefully. In this tense environment, the police used tear gas shells on the residents and started firing in the air.

Haque was shot as he took up a stick to defend himself against the police and even thereafter, his lifeless body was assaulted by the police, and a photographer, covering the incident, mercilessly stomped over Haque’s body.

The petition points out that the police were not accompanied with any water cannons or any other restrained measures of crown control. The police had other means to overpower a person like Haque who was merely yielding a stick, much less a bullet on chest of the victim. The petition highlights that Haque’s killing is not only an instance of excessive use of force but in fact is an act of police brutality and cold-blooded murder in broad day light. 

The petition underscores that the law is settled, that even trespassers cannot be evicted from any land without following the due process of law, which was, however, violated by use of brute force of the state police machinery in a period when people are beleaguered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both petitions point out that as per section 129 of the Code of Criminal procedure (CrPC) the police are to use civil force to disperse an assembly and under section 130, it is stipulated that “a police officer while seeking to disperse any assembly shall use as little force, and do as little injury to person and property, as may be consistent with dispersing the assembly and arresting and detaining such persons.”

Further, even under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 99, a public servant cannot act in defence unless there is apprehension of death or grievous hurt. The petition also points out various provisions of the Assam Police Manual which prescribes how to deal with assemblies and when can firearms be used.

Also, international conventions such as Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials states that firearms should be used only in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.

Finally, in both cases, right to life under Article 21 of both the victims was violated and the deaths were caused in clear violation of the accepted norms and standard under the various laws and also the norms accepted under the international standards.  

The two complete petitions may be read here:

The court orders may be read here:

Related:

Assam Police Firing: 12-year-old shot dead while returning home from Aadhaar centre!
Photo Feature: Evicted villagers struggle to rebuild lives in Dhalpur
Finally, FIRs filed in Dhalpur firing death cases

The post CJP aids families of victims of Assam Police firing move HC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In yet another example of the regime’s callous appathy, notices are being served by Foreigners’ Tribunals to flood-affected people in Assam to prove their citizenship. Our on-ground teams have found that such notices have been served in Jaraguri and Jamdoha village, that fall under Manikpur police station in Bongaigaon district.

“I’ve been working as a daily-wage worker since our agricultural land was inundated due to flooding. The Aie river washed away our home and now my family lives on the street,” says a crest-fallen Purna Arjya, who was served notice along with Nipen Arjya, Ramen Chandra Arjya and Bipin Arjya. All of them hail from economically weak backgrounds and are Bengali Hindus belonging to Scheduled Castes. All of them live in the same shanty-town comprising makeshift huts alongside the road.

“I have six mouths to feed, so I also make and sell bamboo baskets,” says Purna. Still in shock over the FT notice served upon his family he says, “This is a terrible injustice! First the flood, now the government!” He too appealed to CJP for help and we have now taken up his case.

“Residents of Jaraguri village mainly depended on agriculture. But each year flood from Aie river wreaked havoc on their lives,” says Nanda Ghosh, CJP Assam state team in-charge. “Many families have been forced for live by the roadside for three years, because their homes were first washed away and later, they could not return due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says. “Our team has been helping Sukumar and Sarathi Arjya who were first served notice when the pandemic had just struck,” says Ghosh showcasing how CJP has been working to defend the rights of such people for over a year.

Clearly, this is not the first time flood-affected people have been forced to defend their citizenship. As we have reported earlier, in July 2020, five people from the flood-hit Dhalpur village in Darrang district of Assam were been sent notices to appear before a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Mangaldoi to defend their Indian citizenship. This was at a time when the entire region was under 7-8 feet of water. CJP team had to take a boat to get there! But what was even more shocking is how breaking from protocol, the notices were not actually served to the people in question, but sent via Whatsapp to the Gram Panchayat President!

It is also noteworthy that it was in the Dhalpur region that police opened fire on people protesting forced evictions on September 23. Two people, including a 12-year-old boy were killed in the firing. Recently, we moved court demanding compensation for the families of the deceased.

CJP, has been working on the ground in Assam since 2017, to help our fellow Indians of all faiths, castes and ethnicities, navigate the complex citizenship crisis, so that nobody is victimised, especially on account of socio-economic backwardness. 

Related:

Shocking! Flood-affected people sent ‘foreigner’ notice in Assam
Assam Police shot dead 12-year-old returning from Aadhaar centre!
Crowd control by Police: How much force is too much force?
Assam Police Firing: Who are “encroachers” and who are “indigenous”?

The post Assam: Flood renders them homeless, FT questions their citizenship appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has written to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) over the targeted attacks experienced by members of the Muslim minority in Tripura. Over the last few days, mosques have been allegedly vandalised by right-wing groups. Further, shops and houses owned by Muslims have also not been spared by these mobs who are carrying out attacks as a retaliation to the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.

During the Durga Puja festival in Bangladesh, incidents of vandalism were reported from Hindu temples which led to aggravated violence that left three people dead and dozens injured. The Bangladesh government was forced to deploy paramilitary forces in 22 districts.

After this news surfaced, Tripura has been seeing “outbreaks of retaliatory targeted violence” where Muslims are being targeted and certain homegrown extremist groups are taking the law into their own hands. Muslim families have been living in fear and distress over the past few days. Over 15 mosques have been reportedly vandalised and shops only owned by Muslims have been ransacked by goons.

CJP’s complaint has referred to reports by the news portal Maktoob Media, as per which, districts in Unakoti, North Tripura, West Tripura, Sepahijala and Gomati have been impacted by the violence. Several mosques in these regions have been allegedly vandalised and burnt down.

As per reports, on October 26, the grocery stores, ration shops, and godown owned by one Nizamuddin and one Amiruddin were set on fire during the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) rally. They allegedly burnt down Amiruddin’s three shops – two grocery stores, and a godown – which led to a loss of at least Rs 10 lakh. Amiruddin is reportedly the sole earning source in his 13-member family.

A rally was organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which was moving by Assam-Agartala roads to Chamtila via Roa Bazar. It was reported that some miscreant groups from the rally allegedly set fire on shops. Additionally, they allegedly invaded homes of residents living near the market (Roa Bazar) and sexually molested women. They had also planned to attack Roa Jame Mosque, as per a complaint written by a group of 7 Muslims to the Panisagar police station.

CJP has urged the commission to check the veracity of such allegations, and conduct a full-fledged investigation under section 9 of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. “The repeated attacks, even though has been allegedly stopped as also claimed by the Tripura Police, needs thorough investigation and the culprits must be brought to justice”, read our complaint.

Our complaint has also referred to the Tripura Police’s stance that has said that it has provided “protection to mosques in sensitive areas” and has also warned against posting provocative messages on social media, and added “that the situation is under control”. They Took to Twitter on October 27 to state, “During yesterday’s protest rally in Panisagar, North Tripura, no masjid was burnt and the pictures being shared of burning or damaged masjid or collection of sticks etc are all fake and are not from Tripura. They may be from some countries.”

Since there are two sides to the story, we have urged the Hon’ble Commission to take cognisance of these scattered incidents and investigate these alleged attacks and targeted vandalisation.

The incidents of violent and direct attacks to hurt and alienate the minority community of the State, prima facie, reveal various brazen violations of the Indian Penal Code. CJP’s complaint has listed the various IPC provisions pertaining to being a member of an unlawful assembly, provocation to riots, hurting religious sentiments and acts prejudicial to national integrity.

We have brought to the attention of the commission that the rally of almost 3,500 people indulged in anti-Muslim sloganeering organised by Viswa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Jagran Manch, Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Lastly, our prayers state, “Conduct a full-fledged inquiry/investigation into the vandalisation and targeting of Muslim shops and home, and publish a comprehensive report on it for widespread distribution in the country” and “Take cognizance of the attack on the Muslim families in the state under section 9 (1) (d) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.”

CJP has also requested the commission to undertake studies into the various problems arising out of such discrimination against minorities and take up such matters with appropriate authorities under section 9 (1) (e ) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

The complaints may be read here: 

Related:

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CJP moves NCPCR and NCM against assault on minor
CJP petitions the National Commission for Minorities against RSS leader

The post Tripura: CJP writes to NCM over vandalisation of mosques and shops owned by Muslims appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On October 26, the Supreme Court began hearing a Special Leave Petition filed by Zakia Ahsan Jafri and Citizens for Justice and Peace. Zakia Jafri is the wife of slain congress leader Ahsan Jafri who was brutally murdered in the Gulberg massacre of 2002.

Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners highlighted the main grievance that arises from the closure report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that failed to take into account, the important evidence related to the case. Senior counsel Sibal said, “SIT was already in seizure of several facts which it did not look at all while filing its closure report…”

He further gave a background to the court that the petitioners had first filed an exhaustive complaint dated June 8, 2006 to the then Director General of Police, PC Pande. The complaint that ran into over 100 pages outlined the contours of a widespread conspiracy that, in the petitioners’ views contributed to the perpetrated violence that broke out in the state from February 27, 2002 onwards, the day of the tragic Godhra mass arson. The complaint has annexed 200 pages of evidence garnered from affidavits filed by serving officers of the state government. Evidence thereafter collated from 24,000 pages of the SIT Investigation records (in 2013) starkly corroborated this evidence.  

Senior counsel Kapil Sibal argued that the Magistrate and the revisional court (the High Court) were duty bound to take cognisance of the offence committed in the State, but they didn’t. He said, “The duty of the court…that’s the central question the lordships will have to decide…once the Magistrate receives information which according to us constitutes an offence, the Magistrate is duty bound to not only look at the information but also take cognisance of the offence.” Hence, the SIT’s decision whether an offence was committed or not is irrelevant, he argued.

He further stated that back on June 8, 2006, the complainant had filed a complaint addressed to the DGP, Gujarat wherein the complainants had categorically alleged that there was a wide-ranging conspiracy afoot that led to the collapse of the law-and-order situation in Gujarat after the Godhra train burning incident. In the said complaint, the petitioners stated that the political establishment and the bureaucracy were complicit in the carnage through overt acts and through omission of statutory duties.

He argued that the evidence in the matter that was part of official records was neither looked at by the SIT, nor the Magistrate and the Gujarat high court. “All we want is that our matter is looked at…if you don’t investigate, just file a closure report, where do we go?”, said senior counsel Sibal. ‘This Republic is too great to deny a person justice,” he stated.

The materials referred to by the counsel involve the records of the state intelligence bureau (SIB), the police exchanges and control rooms (PCR), documents, “If you don’t investigate, don’t look at this, file a closure report and that is accepted, where do we go?”, argued Mr. Sibal.

He further argued that the SIT also didn’t take into consideration the procedure and statements made before Justices (retd.) Hosbet Suresh, PB Sawant. Over the Court’s inquiry upon the reasoning given by the Magistrate to ignore this evidence on record, Sibal said, “The Magistrate stated that he’ll not look into anything else and will stick to the complaint filed by Zakia Jafri. His logic is simple, he is not concerned with any of this.”

Mr. Sibal added, “My lords, our case was that there was a larger conspiracy at play, where there was bureaucratic inaction, police complicity, hate speech and a conspired directed unleashing of violence. The Magistrate said I won’t look at it because the supreme court prevents me from doing that and only look at the Gulberg society case.”

He argued that the investigation, the SIT’s report was not only limited to the Gulberg society massacre but the entire state of Gujarat, including all complaints filed at that time. Sibal vehemently posed that if the purpose of the SIT was to investigate the reason behind the violence of 2002, they should have taken every evidence into consideration.  Reading out extensively from the first Inquiry Report filed by former CBI DIG, AK Malhotra before the Supreme Court (2010) and thereafter the closure report (2012) he detailed how the SIT itself had never restricted its inquiry/investigations only into Gulberg.

“I must have a remedy in law, what is that remedy? The magistrate doesn’t look at it, sessions court doesn’t look at it! The high court doesn’t look at it…Where will anyone go? I’m giving you official evidence and taking you through it. Because of police inaction, people were massacred.”

He pressed that the report of the SIT involved all kinds of crimes that were committed in Gujarat during the anti-minority violence and if this was not considered in its entirety, the rule of law will be threatened. He said, “If we limit it only to Gulberg, what happens to rule of law, what happens to all material? A Republic stands or falls on the basis of what the court does!”

The court will continue to hear the matter on October 27.

Background of the SLP

In 2018, CJP had filed the SLP seeking clarification of the gross anomalies in the judgements of both lower courts (Magistrate and Gujarat High Court) that are both legal and on the facts of this case.

In the present SLP, the petitioners have argued how, the order of the Gujarat HC records that the Magistrate has considered the Closure Report of the SIT and found no substance in the complaint of the Petitioner dated June 8, 2006. Thereafter the Court erroneously goes on to say that the Magistrate provided detailed grounds for not accepting the Protest Petition of Ms Jafri. This, in our submission, is factually incorrect.

It is our case that the Magistrate wrongly held that it was beyond the scope of his powers to direct further investigation. Besides, key and vital issues placed before the Magistrate, detailing our case and making out a sound and substantiated case of criminal conspiracy and abetment, we argue, have been not duly considered by the Magistrate or the High Court.

In the present case before the SC the petitioners (we) argue that it will be abundantly clear from a close perusal of the Protest Petition that the Ms Jafri has substantiated further acts of a larger conspiracy by detailing evidence about the prelude and build-up of a volatile atmosphere prior to February 27, 2002, the post mortems being conducted in the wide open in violation of statutory provisions, no preventive arrests and delayed implementation of curfew in Ahmedabad despite widespread violence from February 27, 2002 onwards, among other issues.

Besides, we argue that, an analysis of Police Control Room (PCR Records) shows Dereliction of Duty by First Responders. The conspiracy, as constructed in the Protest Petition also provides proof of:

• misreporting and misleading constitutional and statutory authorities
• destruction of records relating to Minutes of Meetings, Police Logbooks, Wireless Messages by those at the helm of power in 2002.

It is on these issues as also on the conscious and erroneous clubbing of the Zakia Jafri complaint with the single incident at Gulberg society (that took place on February 28, 2002 and according to us is just one of 300 incidents and one link In the wider conspiracy) that the lower courts have erred and we seek correction and remedy.

Brief Background of the Zakia Jafri case

Zakia Jafri is the widow of Congress MP Ahsan Jafri who was brutally murdered in the Gulberg Society massacre that took place on February 28, 2002 during the post-Godhra genocide in Gujarat. Zakia and Ahsan were sheltering their neighbours from a violent mob during the attack. Ehsan stepped out to plead with the mob for mercy for the people he was sheltering. He willingly sacrificed his own life in the process as the blood thirsty mob tortured and lynched Ahsan Jafri to death. Zakia Jafri, his widow, is no doubt a survivor of this individual incident of pre-meditated violence.

The Zakia Jafri case is a unique and unprecedented litigation that attempts to pin responsibility for the Gujarat 2002 carnage on the people who were in power at the time… people who failed to prevent the spread of violence, and may have done so deliberately. Often confused with the Gulberg Society case, mainly due to the persistence of powerful perpetrators to conflate the two, in a possible bid to derail justice, the Zakia Jafri case is a mammoth legal exercise aimed at holding accountable the architects of a vile and despicable conspiracy. While Zakia Jafri is the prime mover in the case, CJP through its Secretary Teesta Setalvad is the second petitioner. It was CJP that has, since the filing of the complaint in June 2006, assisted the first petitioner in galvanising the entire material that led up to the filing of the Protest Petition in 2013 and thereafter the Criminal Revision Application in 2015. From 2014, Setalvad and her partner Javed Anand became the target of the first attack by the newly elected regime at the Centre for their consistency in trying to bring survivors of the 2002 carnage to justice.

The Gulberg Society case is distinct from the Zakia Jafri case. While the former deals only with the massacre that took place at Gulberg Society, the latter seeks to pin criminal and administrative liability –as also trace command responsibility — for the approximately 300 incidents over 19 districts that made up the shocking genocidal carnage in Gujarat in 2002. 

First complaint (dated June 8, 2006)

On June 8, 2006 Zakia Jafri filed an FIR against 63 people for offences punishable u/s 302 r/w 120-B, of the Indian penal Code with sections 193 r/w 114 IPC, 186 & 153 A, 186, 187 of the Indian Penal Code and u/s Section 6 of the Commission of Inquiry Act; The Gujarat Police Act and The Protection of Human Rights Act [PHRA], 1991. The FIR filed by Zakia Jafri named not only the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and his close associate, who has since then gone on to hold powerful positions such as President of the political party that is in power at the center and Union Minister of Home Affairs, but also several other powerful people including top ministers, MLAs, leaders of right wing supremacist groups, top IAS and IPS officers, and other powerful office bearers in the state’s bureaucracy.

The entire complaint may be read here.

However, this complained did not get any response, forcing Zakia Jafri to file a petition in the Gujarat High Court praying that her complaint be treated as First Information Report (FIR) so that investigation into the wider conspiracy behind the Gujarat riots may begin. But the High Court dismissed this directing Zakia to file a private complaint, a tedious and complicated option.

SLP – 1088 of 2008

This is why Zakia Jafri moved Supreme Court via a Special Leave Petition (1088 of 2008) filed against the impugned judgement and order passed on November 2, 2007 by the Gujarat High Court. The SLP 1088 of 2008 may be read here. Following this the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to look into the Gujarat Riots cases was also directed by Supreme Court to investigate the claims in this SLP via an order passed on April 27, 2009.

The Supreme Court first appointed noted legal luminary Prashant Bhushan as the Amicus Curiae, but he was later replaced with Raju Ramchandran. Ramachandran was tasked with ensuring that the SIT investigation into the matter was headed in the right direction and conducted in accordance with provisions of the law. The Amicus Curiae filed the following two reports:

Interim Report by Amicus Curiae

Final Report by Amicus Curiae

SIT Report

The SIT also filed its Preliminary Report dated May 12, 2010. The SIT Closure Report dated February 8, 2012 may be read here:

Volume 1

SIT Closure Report Volume 1 Page 1 to 100

SIT Closure Report Volume 1 Page 101 to 200

SIT Closure Report Volume 1 Page 201-270

Volume 2

SIT Volume 2 Page 271-370

SIT Volume 2 Page 371-458

SIT Volume 2 Page 459-541

The SIT Report in case of the killing of Ehsan Jafri was shocking to say the least. Not only did they state that the Call Data Records of Ehsan Jafri were not available, they also blamed Jafri for instigating the violence by discharging a fire arm, towing the Chief Minister’s “action causing reaction” line! There were several other instances of shoddy investigation and glaring lapses.

The SIT filed a Closure Report in 2012, without giving an audience to Ms Jafri as is her legal right. Thereafter she had to petition the Supreme Court again in a fresh SLP.

SLP – 8989 of 2012

This SLP was filed to acquire the full and complete investigation records, reports and documents. The SIT, that had been clearly directed by the Order of the Supreme Court to supply all documents and reports related to the Investigation, in effect resisted and delayed matters to such an extent that between February 8, 2012, when its final report was filed, and February 7, 2013, when the Supreme Court finally directed that all reports should be provided to the Complainant, a year had passed!

This led Zakia Jafri and CJP to file a Protest Petition on April 15, 2013. 

Protest Petition

In the petition Zakia prayed,

That in deciding the Protest Petition the Hon‘ble Court has to exercise its Independent mind on the Final Report submitted by the Investigating Agency. The Court is not bound by the conclusions drawn by the Investigating Agency. The Court has to look at the material to satisfy itself whether prima facie it is a case for taking cognizance of the offence. The material has to be looked at, not from the angle that it is sufficient for conviction but that the material is sufficient for proceeding with the case. The Court cannot adjudicate on the material to find out whether an offence is made out or not, which is the domain when the trial starts and evidence is led by the parties.”

The two parts of the Protest Petition may be read here:

Protest Petition PART I

Protest Petition PART II

It is only after that order of the SC in February 2013, that the CJP legal team analysed close to 23,000 pages of documents that became the basis of the detailed construct and narrative of the Protest Petition. It is through this Protest Petition that the Petitioner has drawn out the lacunae in SIT’s investigation and constructed a more comprehensive and prima facie case for large conspiracy, abetment, dereliction of duty by First Responders and Hate Speech, which in the Petitioner’s opinion, is squarely made from the documents on record.

This Protest Petition was heard over 18 hearings. However, the petition was dismissed on December 26, 2013, when Magistrate Ganatra accepted the SIT Report and rejected the relief sought by Zakia Jafri. 

Gujarat HC Judgement

On October 5, 2017, Hon’ble Justice Sonia Gokani delivered a judgement that once again set in motion Zakia Jafri’s quest for justice. In, her judgement Justice Gokani observed:

It is one thing to say that it is agreeable with the report of SIT and hence, chooses not to direct further investigation. But, to say that in the given circumstances, it does not possess such powers is caring under the awe of events that led the SIT to directly look into the complaint.

Learned Metropolitan Magistrate Court was directed to consider the final report by the Apex Court in its final order and determine whether the collection of evidence compiled with the report of SIT and the Protest Petition cull out a case of lodgment of an FIR, by even explicitly stating the powers to direct further investigation and hence, to that extent, the conclusion drawn is in contravention of established legal principles.”

The court ruled:

… this revision application deserves to be SUCCEEDED PARTLY and the order of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate dated 16.12.2013 deserves interference to the extent the trial Court held and selflimited itself of its not having powers of further investigation.”

The entire judgement may be read here.

More details about the Zakia Zafri case, concerns raised and legal points made, may be read here.

Related:

Zakia Jafri Case: Bringing the High and Mighty to Justice

What is the Zakia Jafri Case?

Gujarat Genocide: Mystery of the ‘Clean Chit’

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Adv Mihir Desai explains Genesis of the Zakia Jafri Case

Advocate Mihir Desai explains how the SC dealt with the Zakia Jafri Case

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Adv Mihir Desai explains the Legal Technicalities in the Zakia Jafri Case

The post Zakia Jafri case: Petitioner asks for an investigation appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has written to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) over widespread reports of right-wing vigilante mobs that have been out on the streets in Mau, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly disturbing peaceful prayers and mistreating nuns by handing them over to the police, after falsely accusing them of carrying out religious conversions.

On October 10, goons who claimed to be activists of Bajrang Dal as well as Hindu Yuva Vahini reportedly disturbed a prayer meeting and took the worshippers to the police station including the pastor. In another incident, two nuns were taken to the police station on similar false allegations of ‘religious conversion’.

The complaint reads, “The allegations moreover appear to be completely baseless, never mind that Article 25 of the Indian Constitution gives every Indian citizen the right to freely profess and practice he/his faith. Our interviews with many of those religious persons, women, reveal a disturbing pattern of vigilantism that clearly enjoys high degrees of immunity from the authorities.”

Incidents mentioned in the complaint

On October 10, a school principal Sister Gracy Monteiro, her colleague Sister Roshni Minj and their driver were attacked by some people in Mau, Uttar Pradesh. Sister Monteiro spoke to CJP’s sister organisation, SabrangIndia and said that a mob of Hindutva radicals, accosted her along with sister Roshni Minj, roughed up their driver and forcibly took the three to the police station where there were kept till 6 P.M.

Sister Monetrio said she kept asking the mobs who they were, and kept trying to prevent them from hitting the driver, a non-Christian, even as the mob continued verbally and physically abusing them, accusing the three of religious conversion. She further alleged, “There were just the three of us. I was accompanying Sister Minj who was going home to Ranchi to visit her dying father. As we did not get the direct bus, we went to the Mau bus stand and Sr Minj went to ask about the bus, while the driver and I stayed in the car. Then a mob came and attacked the driver, dragged him out, and forced us nuns to walk to the police station.” 

On the same day, October 10, a regular Christian prayer service was attacked by a mob some of whom claimed to be activists of Bajrang Dal as well as Hindu Yuva Vahini. The group then forced the Christian worshipers, including the priest to the police station. According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by one Radheshyam Singh the worshipers have been accused of forcing people to convert to Christianity through allurements, as well as “violating Covid-19 protocol, using musical instruments, consuming narcotics and other intoxicants.”

Impact

CJP’s complaint states that this is not an isolated incident and that there is an attempt by some goons to create fear psychosis to carry out such attacks every few days targeting common people belonging to one particular faith and dissuading them from worshipping their gods. A few days ago, CJP wrote to the National Commission for Minorities over various instances of attacks on churches, allegedly by right-wing outfits in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh between October 2 and 3.

“This instance has gone a step ahead and the mob has attacked nuns who were simply waiting in a car at a bus stand. It was their clothes that gave away their religious identity and they were targeted only on the basis of their religious identity and false allegations of religious conversion were made. Clearly, these attacks had a motive of intimidating the members of the minority Christian community and creating an environment of fear psychosis on communal lines,” reads the complaint.

The complaint has also quoted Mahatma Gandhi who had said, “There are many religions as there are individuals; but those who are conscious of the spirit of nationality do not interfere with one another religion. If Hindus believe that India should be populated only by Hindus, they are living in a dreamland. The Hindus, the Mahomedans, the Parsees and the Christians who have made their country are fellow countrymen and they will have to live in unity if only for their own interest. In no part of the world are one nationality and one religion synonymous terms; nor has it ever been so in India”.

In a shocking display of unaccountability –and what amounts to making the victim pay as perpetrator, CJP has alleged that in one of these incidents the pastor and other members of the prayer congregation have been put behind bars by Mau Police on false allegations while they were merely offering prayers. This is against the basic values enshrined in our Constitution through Article 25 that gives everyone the right to freely practice their own religion. 

Prayers

Accordingly, we have urged the commission to conduct a full-fledged inquiry/investigation into these brutal and targeted attacks and publish a comprehensive report on it for widespread distribution in the country. Referring to the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, CJP has also urged the commission to undertake studies into the various problems arising out of such discrimination against minorities and take up such matters with appropriate authorities and also seek information on the case registered against the Pastor and others by Mau Police. 

We have also requested NCM to ensure physical protection to members of the religious minorities in a state like Uttar Pradesh where a culture of violence-driven immunity appears to prevail, and issue an immediate statement –pending the deeper investigation/inquiry –condemning these attacks, urging police to take stringent action to ensure the immediate release of those innocent in custody. If necessary, we have also urged the commission to approach our courts for relief. 

The entire complaints may be read here: 

Related:

CJP writes to Minorities Commission over attacks on churches
NCM seeks report from DIG Meerut on CJP’s complaint against Yati Narsinghanand’s disciple

The post CJP approaches minorities commission over attacks on Christian nuns, prayer congregation in UP appeared first on SabrangIndia.

One of the most gut-wrenching images from the September 23 police firing on evicted families in Assam, was that of an unconscious young boy with a blood-soaked shirt. That young boy was 12-year-old Sheikh Farid who succumbed to a hail of bullets fired by the Assam Police. It is now learnt that he was only there, as he was on his way back from an Aadhaar centre.

“He had gone to the Dhalpur Aadhaar centre. He was on his way back when the police shot him dead,” says Amir Hussain, brother of Sheikh Farid.

The boy, a resident of Kirakara village of the Dhalpur region, was one of the two people shot dead by Assam Police personnel who opened fire on people protesting eviction from Gorukhuti village that falls in the Sipajhar circle of Darrang District of Assam.

“We didn’t even know that he had been shot until the Facebook video began circulating,” recalls Hussain, adding, “After that, the entire family has been in shock.” Sheikh Farid’s parents, Khalek Ali and Golbhanu, have not been able to utter a single word since the day their son died! “What can they say? Their hearts are broken,” says Hussain.

The evictions, demolitions of the modest huts of deeply impoverished families and the eventual violent crackdown by the police, are all being seen by rights groups and civil society as a form of ethnic cleansing. Almost all families left homeless amidst a raging Covid-19 pandemic and the punishing monsoon season in this flood-prone riverine region of Assam, hail from the Bengali-speaking Muslim minority community.

CJP, has been working on the ground in Assam since 2017, to help our fellow Indians of all faiths navigate the complex citizenship crisis, so that nobody is victimised, especially on account of socio-economic backwardness. During our work, we have discovered how Bengali-speaking minorities are the most vulnerable as many are dubbed “Bangladeshi” or “foreigner” by a xenophobic regime.

Bengali-speaking Muslims stand at the intersection of two persecuted groups and are thus targeted with impunity by a regime that gains strength by fostering division instead of unity. Which is why, the forced removal of Bengali Muslims from a place where their families have lived for 40-50 years, seems motivated. But is someone who shoots a child dead, merely motivated, or full of hate and drunk on power?

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BREAKING: 2 killed, 10 injured in police firing in Assam

The post Assam Police Firing: 12-year-old shot dead while returning home from Aadhaar centre! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In some heart-warming news, the West Bengal government has confirmed the Indian citizenship of Gangadhar Pramanik, a man who had left Bankura a decade ago to look for a job in Assam, but instead found himself behind bars at the Goalpara Detention Centre. CJP had helped secure his release on conditional bail and our team had accompanied him all the way home.

The Telegraph reports that a team of Bengal government officials, led by Anup Kumar Dutta, sub-divisional officer (Bishnupur, Bankura) visited Pramanik’s home in Radhanagar village on Friday, September 17, and confirmed his Indian citizenship.

“I appreciate the way CJP took on the challenging task to bring me back to home, and how they persevered and even complete all the complicated formalities with all relevant authorities. I’m grateful to CJP. I am also grateful to local authorities and Bengal government for their help. I’m happy now,” says Gangadhar.

 “Gangadhar Pramanik has suffered an irreparable loss, of not just almost four years of his life spent behind bars, but also the death of his father. At CJP, we hope that this prompt, humane and Constitutional act of the Gov’t of West Bengal offers some form of compensation and relief to a family that has suffered so much,” said CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad.

“Hundreds of thousands of genuine Indian citizens hailing from different states, castes and communities are wilting under this burden of a civil death – manipulative denial of citizenship despite all proof – thrust upon them by an apathetic State. We hope that this action becomes a catalyst for this serial harassment to stop,” she adds.

Bankura District Magistrate K Radhika Aiyar told The Telegraph, “We have checked the land documents and details of his parents and their voter identity cards. Our officials also found his name in the register of the local primary school, where he studied till Class IV. This information makes it clear that he belongs to Bankura. We will now start the process to generate required documents and give him a job under the 100-day programme.”

Brief background of the case

33-year-old Gangadhar, had left his home in search of work all those years ago. Gangadhar’s father Mantu used to work in local shops while Gangadhar who had received an education till 5th standard, supplemented the family’s income by working in a saloon.

The young man, who had until then been a resident of Radhanagar village, that falls under the jurisdiction of the Bishnupur police station of Bankura district in West Bengal, boarded a train from Bishnupur to Howrah and then another train and eventually found himself in Guwahati!

Lost and penniless, he started working at a restaurant and later in a chocolate factory. But he had to quit after a drunk coworker assaulted him and left him with a head injury! Gangadhar quit and went back to his old job, where his former employer agreed to pay him his full wages when he went home. But it was not to be. “One day the police came and took me away. At the police station, they asked me my name and address,” he recalled his fresh bout of misfortune. “They kept me there overnight and then took me to another jail. I found out that they thought I was Bangladeshi,” a perplexed Gangadhar told us.

After Gangadhar went incommunicado on account of being arrested by the Border Police and being incarcerated in the detention centre, his father Mantu passed away, and his mother suffered from a bout of paralysis. Her mental health also deteriorated from the anxiety, and she moved in with Champa.

CJP overcomes unprecedented challenges

We had previously told you how CJP had found out about Pramanik from Dipak Deb and Fazar Ali, two other detainees we had helped get released on conditional bail. The men had been so demoralised, that they had contemplated everything from prison-break to suicide!

But we faced an unprecedented challenge in helping him get bail as he did not have an address or family in Assam. “When we found his address in West Bengal, we discovered that nobody lived there anymore. Moreover, there was no way to contact them as they had left behind no forwarding address or phone numbers,” says CJP Assam state team in-charge Nanda Ghosh. But we did not give up, and based on information provided by their former neighbours, we traced his mother Bharati to his sister Champa’s house. That was also when we learnt that Gangadhar’s father Mantu had passed away. But what was perhaps most heartbreaking was that Gangadhar found out about his father’s passing from the CJP team, as he had not been able to establish contact with anyone from his family until then.

After some difficulty we found a bailor, and even negotiated a complex set of conditions for his bail. “When we contacted the Border Police to start release formalities, we were told one of the conditions was that the released detainee should remain in Assam. But this is not possible for Pramanik,” explains Ghosh. Since Pramanik did not have an address in Assam, Ghosh and Advocate Abhijeet Chaudhury from CJP’s legal team had to give written undertakings that they would take him home to West Bengal and take responsibility for him. They were also made to submit copies of their own documents such as voter IDs and passports. Additionally, the CJP team helped establish contact between police officials from both states via telephone, so that the entire process could be completed smoothly.

We were coordinating between the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Border), the Additional Superintendent of Police (Bankura), and police officials from the Bishnupur police station under whose jurisdiction Pramanik’s village falls. “Now Pramanik will have to go and sign his attendance at the Radhanagar outpost of the Bishnupur Police Station every week. The officials from West Bengal Police will then send a copy of this via email to the Assam Border Police,” says Ghosh explaining the complex arrangement.

On September 14, Nanda Ghosh and Abhijeet Chaudhury boarded the Saraighat Express to Bardhaman with Gangadhar Pramanik. We reached Radhanagar on September 15, and there his entire village came out to greet the son they thought they had lost. Gangadhar’s mother, his cousin, and even the owner of the saloon where he once worked and many people in the area came. And then, a victory celebration broke out. The people brought sweets, puri etc.

Friends and family gathered around him, and his mother Bharati remained in shock for a while, her eyes wide in wonder at the sight of her son. “This is my son… My Ganga is back,” she kept saying as she hugged and held him. “I didn’t know what had happened to you,” she said, asking, “Couldn’t you have called me? Did they not let you call me?” She finally got to feed her son a home-cooked meal. She turned to the CJP team and said, “Baba (term of endearment), stay well. God bless you!” Then she looked at her son and said, “This is my son, this is my son, this is my Ganga.”

Other examples of Indians declared “foreigner” in India

Over the last few months, we have brought to you instances of people from other Indian states being declared foreigners in Assam and sent to detention camps. These include Lalit Thakur – a barber from Bihar, Dipak Deb – who hails from Tripura, and Mrinal Mandal – who originally hails from West Bengal, but moved to Assam after marrying an Assamese woman. CJP remains committed to helping all our fellow Indians live with dignity.

Related:

“This is my son… My Ganga is back!”
CJP helps yet another man from West Bengal declared “foreigner” in Assam
CJP helps secure release of Bihari man dubbed Bangladeshi in Assam!
CJP helps Tripura man reunite with ailing mother
CJP comes to the rescue of West Bengal man dubbed “foreigner” in Assam!

The post CJP Impact: Gangadhar Pramanik’s Indian citizenship confirmed by WB gov’t appeared first on SabrangIndia.