Image credit: Patrika.com

In its judgement, the court had come down heavily upon Madhya Pradesh police and had acquitted Akeel Khilji, on September 30, 2015, who was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), while the other two – Amzad Ramzan Khan and Mohammed Saliq were declared “proclaimed offenders” by then, according to the report. The court had reportedly questioned the jurisdiction of the investigation officer to carry out the probe under UAPA, and had slammed police for not sending key pieces of evidence for forensic analysis.
 
The court had also acquitted Abdullah – brother of Zakir Hussain who was also killed in Monday’s encounter, and Khilji’s son Mohammad Jaleel in the same case, who were booked under various sections of UAPA and IPC sections 153(A), pertaining to “promoting enmity between two groups”; 153(B) relating to imputations and assertions deemed harmful to national integration; and, 124 (A) on sedition.
 
The police chargesheet reportedly claimed that Khilji along with other few people had assembled at Khilji’s house to plan execution of a big attack in 2011. Police had purportedly raided his house to confiscate “SIMI literature” and CDs that were termed as “provocative”.
 
After a four-year trial, the Khandwa court had acquitted all the accused charged under the UAPA.
 
On purported SIMI literature and “provocative” CDs submitted by police, the court had ruled, “The evidence produced before the court is not clear whether it supports or contradicts the message and picture in the CD. There is no evidence to establish what was the message in the CD. In case of a book, especially objectionable text or conversation, if the entire context is laid out along with the evidence, then it cannot be concluded these are objectionable or provocative towards society, religion or nation. They might be provocative in nature, but the prosecution has not presented any clear evidence in this regard.”
 
The court had also observed that the investigating officer did not have sufficient powers to probe the case, according to the Express report.

The last rites of four of the eight SIMI activists killed this week were conducted in Khilji’s house in Khandwa on Thursday. Khilji had been awaiting trial in Bhopal’s Central Jail after being charged in at least three cases — two under the UAPA and another “for promoting enmity”.
 
For full story by The Indian Express, click here.
 
 

The post Bhopal Encounter: Court had found Evidence ‘not believable’ in a Case related to 3 SIMI Men appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: The Indian Express
 
Out of the 62 accused in the massacre that was probed by a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team, 31 were convicted for life imprisonment and the remaining had pleaded not guilty in the special court in 2011. While upholding the conviction of 17 remaining convicts, the court dismissed the appeal petitions of state government, Supreme Court appointed-special investigation team (SIT) and victims who had challenged the acquittal of 31 accused by the special court.
 
The division bench of justice Harsha Devani and justice Biren Vaishnav pronounced the order acquitting 14 persons.
 
Out of 14 persons who acquitted of murder charges, the court granted benefit of doubt to 11 and did not find evidence against three others, said advocate Yusuf Shaikh, who represented witness-survivors.
 
In this case, the trial court had refused to believe that the convicted people had hatched any conspiracy. The lower court dubbed this incident of violence as a spontaneous reaction to the Godhra carnage, in which 59 passengers in S-6 of Sabarmati Express were charred to death by a violent mob on February 27, 2002.  
 
During the post-Godhra massacre of Sardarpura, in 33 persons – mostly women and children were burnt alive in a north Gujarat village on March 1, 2002.
 
In 2011, special judge SC Srivastava had delivered a verdict after three years of trial against 73 from Sardarpura and nearby villages in Mehsana district. She had held 31 guilty of murder and rioting and were sentenced to life. Out of 42 persons who were acquitted by the trial court, 31 were granted benefit of doubt and 11 got exonerated due to lack of evidence against them.
 
 
 
 Also read: Sardarpura Special Trial Court – Judgement Convicting 31 Powerful Accused
Also read: Gujarat 2002: Sardarpura Massacre, 33 Killed, 31 Convicted
 

The post Gujarat HC acquits 14, upholds Conviction of 17 in Sardarpura Massacre Case appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Hindustan Times
 
Following the brutal killing of Dalit youth Sukhchain Singh Pali on Monday, an FIR has been registered against six people – Balbir Singh, Hardeep Singh, Sandhu Singh, Amandeep Singh, Babrik Singh and Sita Singh, who allegedly committed the murder of the 20-year-old and chopped off Pali’s leg in a case of inter-gang rivalry. While Balbir, Hardeep and Sandhu were arrested on Wednesday. All of them including the deceased are reportedly petty liquor smugglers.
 
According to a news report, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar informed that the six were booked for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code on Tuesday. Sources in police have claimed Pali was murdered to settle old scores. He had beaten up Sadhu Singh’s brother and also had a brawl with three of the accused a day before he was murdered, as per this report.
 
The kin of the deceased have refused to cremate his body, and have accused Shiromani Akali Dal MP Balwinder Singh Bhundar of shielding the smugglers. The family has been protesting at the civil hospital since Tuesday morning.
 
The incident has given to rise to a political storm in the state with political parties making accusations on each other. According to news reports, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich targeted the SAD on the issue, alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state president Vijay Sampla has instituted a party-level inquiry into the incidents of alleged atrocities against Dalits.
 
Congress state legislator Sunil Jakhar, who visited the family on Wednesday, accused the SAD-BJP government of patronising the liquor mafia in the state. “These liquor contractors have hired henchmen, who often attack and harass others,” he said, while demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Akali MP Bhundar denied the allegations levelled against him. “I am not in Mansa for the past couple of days, and I have no connection with any of the accused booked in this case,” he told Hindustan Times.
 
Raj Kumar Verka, vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, has assured legal assistance to the victim’s family. He said top state police officials have been asked to arrest all the suspects soon, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Related story: Dalit Women Student Brutalised Before Murder: Kerala

Related story: Why Dalits are turning against the BJP
 

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“The more we help others, the more we help ourselves”: Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay), 1942-2016

The boxing legend Muhammed Ali breathed his last yesterday at the age of 74.

Announcing the death of “The Greatest of All Time”, his official website noted, “Boxing was just one of the amazing facets of Muhammad Ali – the man. His story, told in and outside of the ring, is unparalleled in modern celebrity”.

Ali died at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix in Arizona where he had spent the last few days being treated for respiratory complications.

Here are some glimpses into the life of the self-proclaimed ‘King of the World’ —  life time record of 56 wins including 37 knock-outs and 5 losses before he hung up his gloves —  as narrated on his website:

Cassius Clay Sr. gifted his son a new red-and-white Schwinn in 1954, which was promptly stolen. The 12-year-old, 89-pound Cassius Clay vowed, “I'm gonna whup whoever stole my bike!” A policeman, Joe Martin, told young Cassius Clay that he better learn how to fight before he challenged anyone. After 6 months of training with Joe Martin, Cassius won his debut match in a three-round decision. Young Cassius Clay dedicated himself to boxing and training with an unmatched fervor. According to Joe Martin, Clay set himself apart by two things: He was “sassy,” and he outworked all the other boys.

Rome Olympics: Fear of flying
Shortly after his high school graduation, 18 year-old Cassius Clay began his journey towards greatness at the 1960 Rome Olympics. His expansive personality and larger-than-life spirit earned him the nickname ‘The Mayor of Olympic Village.’

The future 3-time Heavyweight World Champion nearly missed the trip to Rome due to his fear of airplane travel; he insisted on bringing a parachute on the plane with him.
On September 5, 1960, ‘The Greatest’ proved his dominance in the Light Heavyweight Boxing Division by beating Zigzy Pietrzykowski of Poland, capturing the Olympic Gold Medal. Sports Illustrated praised Clay's “supreme confidence” and “intricate dance steps.”

‘My name is Muhammed Ali’
While training for his title bout against the fearsome heavyweight champion, Sonny Liston, Cassius Clay met Malcolm X. Malcolm became young Clay's mentor and brought him into the Nation of Islam. Despite the 7-1 odds, Clay defeated Sonny Liston in Miami and became Heavyweight Champion of the world in 1964. Shortly after, he announced to the world that he was a member of the NOI and that his name was now Muhammad Ali. Weeks later, Malcolm X left the NOI and their friendship ended. Howard Cosell was one of the few journalists who acknowledged Ali's name change at the time.

[As his profile rose, Ali spoke out against American racism. On being refused services at a soda fountain counter, he said, he threw his Olympic gold medal into a river. Ali was 22-years-old when he decided to give up his “slave name” to be renamed Muhammed Ali by the Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammed].

Refusal to fight in the Vietnam War
When Muhammad Ali refused to enter the Vietnam War draft he was stripped of his championship titles, passport, and boxing licenses. He lost an initial court battle and was facing a 5-year prison term. Muhammad Ali was the first national figure to speak out against the war in Vietnam. During his 3 ½ year layoff, Ali earned a living speaking at colleges. In 1970, with the mood of the country changing, Ali staged his comeback; first against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, and then Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden. In his next match, billed as “The Fight of the Century”, Ali faced undefeated Champion, Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971.

Ali fought valiantly, but lost. Months later, however, he won one of the biggest fights of his life – the Supreme Court reversed his conviction and upheld his conscientious objector claim. Ali was free of the specter of prison, and once again able to box anywhere in the world.

Battle with Parkinson’s
In 1984, Muhammad Ali publicly announced that he had Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological condition. Following his diagnosis, he created and continues to raise funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Although his disease has progressed, Ali remains an active public figure and philanthropist, dedicated to his faith and humanitarian beliefs.

Tributes:
"At a time when blacks who spoke up about injustice were labelled uppity and often arrested under one pretext or another, Muhammad willingly sacrificed the best years of his career to stand tall and fight for what he believed was right. In doing so, he made all Americans, black and white, stand taller. I may be 7ft 2in but I never felt taller than when standing in his shadow."
– former basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world.''
– Don King, who promoted many of Ali's fights, including the Rumble in the Jungle.

"There will never be another Muhammad Ali. The black community all around the world, black people all around the world, needed him. He was the voice for us. He's the voice for me to be where I'm at today." – Floyd Mayweather, world champion boxer across five divisions.

"You were a champion in so many ways. You 'fought' well. Rest well."
– Bernice King, daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

The post Boxing legend Muhammed Ali is no more appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Delivering its verdict in the Gulberg Society massacre case in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, a Special Trial Court today convicted 24 of the 66 accused while 36 others were given the benefit of doubt and acquitted.

Of the 24 convicted, 11 have been held guilty of serious offences including murder, while the remaining 15 have been convicted for attempt to murder, arson and rioting. The sentencing and final judgement will be decided on June 6.

List of 11 Accused convicted for serious offences:
1. Kailash Dhobhi
2. Yogendra…
3. Jayesh Gabbar
4. Krishnakumar s/o Champabehn (alias Bhuriyo
5. Raju alias Tam Avtar Tiwari
6. Narayan Channelwalla
7.Lakhansingh Lakhio
8.Bharat Telli
9. Jayesh Dhabhuji Parmar
10. Bharat Laxmansingh Rajput
11. Girish Prabhudas Rajput
 
When senior advocate for the survivors, SM Vohra asked about whether section 120(b) had been applied the judge orally said, "I have not accepted conspiracy”.

The full text of the order (Part 1) may be read here.
Part 2 may be read here.
  
 

The post Special Court Convicts 24 of 66 Accused, Acquits 36 Others in Gulberg Society Massacre Case appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Union home ministry’s order directing the Lawyers Collective to show cause why its FCRA registration should not be cancelled and suspension of its registration for a period of six months with immediate effect has been condemned by the LC as a move to “suppress the voice of dissent”.  LC which headed by noted lawyer and former additional solicitor general of India, Indira Jaising and her senior lawyer, husband Anand Grover is well-known for its legal interventions concerning human rights.

Curiously, while LC is yet to receive a formal communication from the home ministry, copies of the Order were made available to the media yesterday and the same is now posted on the official website of the FCRA department.
According to the notice, LC has violated several provisions of the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 2010 and Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules 2011. An FCRA team had inspected the accounts and related records of LC at its office from January 19-23, 2016 following which it had sought LC’s responses/ comments of LC to the alleged findings regarding FCRA violations.

LC responded to the findings in March end challenging each of the alleged FCRA violations.

However, the home ministry’s order dated June 1 states that after “detailed examination” of all the records made available to the ministry,   “it was found that the same was not satisfactory; that the same did not provide adequate explanation vis-à-vis the violations found and pointed out, and therefore it has been decided to reject the same and proceed in accordance with law”.

The statement issued by the Lawyers Collective has condemned the "blatant attempt of the government of India to victimise the organisation and its office bearers Indira Jaising and Anand Grover. This is nothing but a gross misuse of the FCRA Act which is being used to suppress any form of dissent”.

The statement further stated: “It is far too well known that both Anand Grover and Indira Jaising have represented several persons in their professional capacity as lawyers in several cases against the government and the functionaries including the president of the BJP party, Amit Shah protesting his discharge in the Sohrabuddin murder case.”

A major alleged violation according to the home ministry is that Jaising received payments from the foreign contributions received during her tenure as additional solicitor general. Challenging this, the statement added: “The allegation against Jaising was based on the footing that she was a government servant, who was prohibited from receiving FC under the FCRA. However, she was a public servant and not a government servant, on whom there was no bar to receive FC.”
 
Human rights defenders view the home ministry’s latest move against LC as part of the present government’s tactic of using FCRA Act as a weapon against NGOs who refuse to toe the government’s line. In the past one year, the ministry has initiated similar vindictive action against Green Peace and three organisations – Citizens for Justice and Peace, Sabrang Trust, Sabrang Communications and Publishing Pvt. Ltd. – with which the co-editors of Sabrang India are associated.
 
Among other things, LC had provided legal service to Priya Pillai of Green Peace and spoken out against the attempt to victimise and silence Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand.

The lawyers collective condemns the blatant attempt  of the government of India to victimize the organization and its office bearers India Jaisng and Anand Grover .This is noting but a gross misuse of the FCRA Act which is being used to suppress any form  of dissent . it is far too well know that both Anand Grover and Indira Jaising have represented several persons in their professional capacity as lawyers is several cases against the government and the functionaries including  the President of the BJP party ,  Amit Shah  protesting his discharge in the Sorabudin murder case . The lawyers collective intends to challenge the order as   unconstitutional and required to be set aside . 

The order/show cause notice is a malafide act and an act of vindictiveness on the part of the Government. This is being done because of the cases that Lawyers Collective (‘LC’) and its Trustees, Ms. Indira Jaising and Mr. Anand Grover, are involved in, including but are not limited to Sanjiv Bhatt, Yakub Memon and Priya Pillai. The aim is to destroy the credibility of LC by leaking it to the media, before even serving it on LC. LC till today has not received the order purportedly issued on 31st May, 2016, though it is available to the press. Specifically on the order, LC submits as follows:

At the outset, LC states that all the foreign contribution (‘FC’) received were spent for the purposes received and accounted for.

The allegation against Ms. Jaising was based on the footing that she was a government servant, who was prohibited from receiving FC under the FCRA. However, she was a public servant and not a government servant, on whom there was no bar to receive FC. In any event, FC was received only by LC and Ms. Jaising was only paid remuneration for her services rendered to LC, on whom there is no prohibition. This aspect has not even been looked at by the authorities.

So far as Mr. Anand Grover is concerned, it was the mandate of LC to work on the issue of Fundamental Rights, including the right to health. The work of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Right to Health was part of LC’s work. No money was received by Anand Grover as foreign contribution. He was only reimbursed expenses incurred by him, while abroad, for doing LC’s work, including telephone and internet expenses.

The Novartis case is part of LC’s mandate to work on access to medicines. Expenses were only incurred for that, including for Ms. Jaising for her advice on the case.

Expenses for workshops/seminars/conferences are part of the mandate of LC and money is spent only for that purpose. This allegation is made for the first time now and not in the observation report dated 29.02.2016.

The FC received from abroad can be spent abroad. There is no restriction in FCRA at all.
LC entered into legitimate contracts with foreigners to provide services in India and abroad. And expenses were incurred for that reason. There is no violation of FCRA at all.

The receipt of FC in FC-utilisation account and, opening of certain bank accounts, transfer of FC from FC-utilization to another utilisation account and from local accounts to FC-utilisation has been explained in detail in the Association reply dated to the Inspection Report but not considered.

No money was spent on rallies or dharnas having any political hue or colour. FCRA, 2010 was not applicable for expenses incurred in 2009, while in 2011 and 2014, it was spent from domestic/United Nations funding, which is exempt from FCRA.

The post ‘Bid to Suppress Dissent’: Lawyers Collective Condemns Suspension of FCRA Regn appeared first on SabrangIndia.

BMMA, the letter addressed to NCW chairperson, Dr Lalitha Kumaramanglam says, “is confident that you will support the legitimate and democratic demands of Muslim women. We also hope that you will be the ambassador for Muslim womens’ demand for justice at various governmental platforms”. The organisation  is simultaneously contacting women’s commissions in different states for their “support and solidarity”.

A press statement issued by BMMA says that alongside its ongoing national campaign for more signatures, it continues to compile more and more cases across India of women victims of the “inhuman practice” of instant divorce.

BMMA’s earlier report, ‘Seeking Justice within Family’, based on a nationwide study found that 92% of Muslim women want an end to this practice which destroys their life and the lives of their children. Coupled with oral divorce, BMMA is also seeking abolishing of the “heinous practice of nikah halala”. (Nikah halala means that once a husband divorces his wife, the two can remarry only if she marries another man, the marriage is consummated and her new husband divorces her).

BMMA has been running a campaign in the past few years to educate Muslim women and men that there is no sanction for instant/oral divorce in the Quran. “In fact the Quranic method requires a 90 day process of dialogue, reconciliation and mediation before divorce takes place”.

Despite the clear Quranic injunction, women continue to be divorced unilaterally, rendered completely helpless as they have no say in the arbitrary process. BMMA bemoans the fact that “Qazis approve this malpractice and support the Muslim men to divorce their wife in this un-Quranic manner. Qazis also encourage nikah halala and even offer themselves as temporary husbands”.

BMMA is demanding a legal prohibition to unilateral divorce – triple talaq and nikah halala. It is also demanding that the mediation process must be made mandatory as per the provisions of the Quran.  

“Muslim women are citizens of India and all Constitutional safeguards are applicable to her. The Muslim personal law must be reformed in such a manner that all discriminatory practices are struck down as illegal and Muslim women’s Constitutional and Quranic rights are safeguarded”, BMMA has demanded.

With substantial presence in 13 states across the country, BMMA already has over one lakh members.
 

The post 50,000 Signatures and Counting: Muslims Support BMMA’s Campaign to Abolish Triple Talaq appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Through half-page advertisements published this morning in all editions across six states of the Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara, 17 prominent ulema and muftis from different sects have issued a joint statement warning all Muslims to beware of a man named Shakeel bin Hanif and his followers. Hanif, who is ‘Hazrat JI’ to his band of followers, claims to be Jesus and Imam Mahdi whose return to earth at the end of times forms part of the belief of Muslims.

Though Hanif claims to be a devout follower of Islam, according to the statement, he is a fraud and an apostate and so his followers too are apostates. Thus they are “outside the fold of Islam” and Muslims are advised to beware of the “mischief” of this “Dajjal”. Muslims believe Dajjal is an evil figure who will surface close to the Day of Judgment pretending to be Jesus returning to earth.

The joint statement asks Muslims to remain on high alert, immediately inform religious leaders of the activities of any of his followers, severe all relations with them and not allow them to enter their mosques.

The immediate prompt for the ad-blitz is the incident in Delhi two days ago when four followers of Hanif reportedly entered the Hari Masjid in Jamia Nagar to propagate their belief. The Rashtriya Sahara yesterday reported that “caught red-handed” they were handed over to the trustees of Hari Masjid.

The trustees reportedly tried to reason with the young men and later asked them to leave the mosque. As soon as they came out of the mosque the foursome allegedly resorted to stone throwing following which they were apprehended and handed over to the police who have registered an FIR against Hanif’s four followers.

Hailing originally from Darbangha in Bihar, young Hanif moved to Delhi in 1991 after being disowned by his family who refused to subscribe to his claims of being the promised Imam Mahdi and Jesus. He is currently believed to be living underground and propagating his faith among Muslims in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

While his present contacts are not known, a booklet in Urdu may be accessed online – wherein Hanif rebuts the many allegations against him – provides some interesting details of his background.

Here is ‘Hazrat Ji’ in his own words: “In 1991 I was studying in a college in Darbangha city and staying in a lodge. While the battle between Saddam Hussain and the Allied Forces was in its last stage, around the time of the last namaz of the evening, I received a command from Allah to dedicate my life in the service of Islam. I, therefore, had to abandon my college studies to devote myself to the task assigned to me.”

The joint statement says Muslims and the ulema who have already been fighting the “kufr” of the Ahmeddiyas for a long time have now to join battle against the new “apostates”. The Ahmeddiyas who consider themselves to be Muslims and followers of Islam but according to the other Muslims they are apostates and have had to face severe prosecution in Pakistan.

The post Ulema warn Indian Muslims to Beware of a ‘False Prophet’ in Their Midst appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Union home ministry has approved a request by the Gujarat chief minister to restart disciplinary proceedings against an outstanding IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Rahul Sharma, who in sheer disgust took voluntary retirement last year and is now a practicing lawyer in Gujarat. The state government is bent on initiating punitive measures against Sharma for allegedly not responding to show cause notices issued to him on petty grounds.

When contacted for his comments, Sharma told Sabrang India that he had not yet received any communication from the government. In any case if reports in a section of the media are true, it pertains to a minor matter, he said, adding, “I will fight it out”.

The latest petty move against Sharma is one more example of what is often said about Modi: he never forgets, he never forgives.

Ever since former Gujarat chief (and home) minister Narendra Modi moved to Delhi in 2015 to occupy the PM’s chair, the Union home ministry and the Gujarat government seem to be acting in perfect sync. At least this is so when it comes to vindictive action against all those, including police officers, who did not see the state-sponsored 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat through Modi’s eyes.

The latest petty move against Sharma is one more example of what is often said about Modi: he never forgets, he never forgives.

Either an effective communication channel is in place between the PMO and the Union home ministry, or the bosses in the latter ministry are very good at reading the PM’s mind. PM Modi does not seem to have forgotten Sharma who, to the great annoyance of Modi and his sangh parivar, insisted on behaving as a loyal upholder of the Indian Constitution instead of acting at the behest of the political masters. How then can the Gujarat government forget Sharma?

On January 28, 2016, disregarding a severe reprimand from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) five days earlier quashing the charge sheet filed by the Gujarat state home department against Sharma as “tainted by mischief” and “coloured by malafide”, the home department had issued a fresh show cause notice to him asking him to explain why action should not be taken against him for making “unnecessary” payment of a little over Rs 3,000 to his driver and gunman while in service.

Sharma was charge sheeted in January 2011, while the investigations into the Zakia Jafri case were still being conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), soon after he had met the Amicus Curaiae, Raju Ramachandran. The Zakia Jafri criminal complaint seeks to prosecute those in positions of power, politically and administratively, for acts of commission and omission in the handling of the violence in 2002. The matter is presently being heard in the Gujarat High Court.

As reported by Sabrang India, in their speaking order delivered by Dr KB Suresh and KN Shrivastava of CAT had declared that the charge sheet against Sharma “is tainted by mischief, mala fides and malice and coloured by arbitrariness, illegality and designed to defeat proximate and pertinent matters blessed by constitutional compulsion and designed as an engine of oppression”. The motive behind the issuance of the charge sheet was to suppress the mobile tracking records in the CD which in turn was to benefit the actual perpetrators of brutal and violent crimes through which hundreds of innocents died a needless and violent death. The full text of the CAT order may be read here.

What obviously riled the Gujarat government (and the Union home ministry) is the fact that early this month, the Gujarat High Court directed the state government to respond to a PIL filed by retired ‘supercop’ Julio Ribeiro challenging the government’s decision to appoint as the acting head of the state police, PP Pandey who following a High Court appointed investigation had only a fortnight earlier been charge-sheeted by the CBI for offences under the Arms Act and for offences of abduction, wrongful confinement, and premeditated murder of four persons.

The lawyer who argued Ribeiro’s PIL was none other than Rahul Sharma.

The post Centre’s go Ahead to Gujarat Government to go after Retired IPS Officer, Rahul Sharma, Yet Again appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Last week it was the Bajrang Dal, the militant men’s wing of the VHP that was in the news for holding weapons training camps for its cadre in UP. It now turns out that the UP police are taking a close look at parallel training camps being held for members of the VHP’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini.

The Indian Express has reported that on Sunday a police team made a surprise visit to a Durga Vahini training camp being held at the Bharti Siksha Mandir school in Varanasi and later reported that the women were only being taught judo. “We did not find any firearm… not even airguns and lathis,” the Sigra police station officer Anupam Srivastava told the media.

Curiously, while the police claimed to have found nothing, VHP office bearers spoke in different voices. VHP’s Kashi Prant Organisation Secretary Diwakar said 125 volunteers, including nine members of Matra Shakti, are being trained at the camp. “Senior workers of Durga Vahini are training them… Such training is important for the security of women,” he said.

Excerpt from the film 'The World Before Her' on the Durga Vahini by Nisha Pahuja

However, VHP joint secretary for Kashi region, Anand Singh, sang a different tune: “Airguns are being used to train the volunteers at the camp. Temporary structures have been erected and volunteers are using airguns to target these. Whatever they have learned, the volunteers will display the same on Monday before senior leaders in Varanasi.”

The Ayodhya convenor of Bajrang Dal was arrested on May 26 for holding a weapons training programme and charged under section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

While the VHP leaders have sought to explain away these camps as annual programmes that are no different from similar camps held by all kinds of civil society organisations, the BJP president Amit Shah sought to distance his party by falsely claiming that the Bajrang Dal has nothing to do with the BJP.

For earlier reports on the use of such camps for weapons training and the role of the Bajrang Dal militants in communal violence see below:

Sangh’s Sinister Drive to Militarise ‘Hindu’ Society ahead of 2017 UP Polls.

Bajrang Dal convenor arrested for arms training camp, spreading communal hatred in Ayodhya.

If Bajrang Dal is not BJP, what of the RSS, Mr Shah?
 

The post After Bajrang Dal, UP police take a close look at Durga Vahini’s ‘self-defence’ training camps appeared first on SabrangIndia.