On March 12, when some villagers were celebrating Holi in Bihar’s Aurangabad, the police reached the spot and started beating up young boys. Their mothers and other women tried to stop the police from beating the innocent boys but were in turn beaten up by the police.

In Bantara village of Devkund police station in Aurangabad, the women then sat on a Dharna seeking suspension of the in charge of the police station for assaulting the boys, mistreating them, manhandling the women and registering false cases against them.

In a detailed on ground report by NavBharat Times, the publication spoke to the women sitting on dharna, demanding action against the police officers. One woman recounted the incident and said that around 8-9pm some music was being played and the boys were dancing to celebrate Holi. Just then the Police came and started beating up the boys. She said that they gave no reason for why they were being assaulted and when the women went ahead to save the boys, the women were also beaten. The on ground report can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAp4wV_QN7s 

Pointing towards the blatant discrimination faced by Dalits, CJP wrote in its complaint, “The denial of basic human rights to Dalits is a grave concern. This incident is a classic example of blatant discrimination and social prejudices against the Dalits. In all probability, the police officer was opposed to Dalits playing music and dancing while celebrating Holi, which is as per certain “upper castes” a privilege only accorded to them and not the Dalits. This is a clear case of caste-based violence.”

The complaint further states that if no action is taken against the police officer who indulged in the violence it would amount to violation of fundamental rights of Dalits against discrimination and prohibition of untouchability.

The complaint also underscores violation of various sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Indian Penal Code. Through the complaint, CJP seeks inquiry into whether any action was taken against the station in charge after the women sat on Dharna and to check whether compensation was given to the aggrieved families.

The complaint may be read here:

Related:

DALIT BEATEN OVER ALLEGATION OF COW SLAUGHTER.

IN UP’S MEERUT, A DALIT YOUTH LAKHAN’S HAND AND FEET TIED TO THE TREE AND HIS FACE WAS BLACKENED AND THEN MADE BALD IN FRONT OF THE CROWD.

DALIT STUDENT BRUISED AND BEATEN FOR DRINKING WATER FROM BUCKET IN SCHOOL: UP

INDORE : DALIT FAMILY BRUTALLY ASSAULTED BY THAKURS, FORMER HAD GONE TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THEIR FARMLAND

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The Bihar police have allegedly arrested 13 minors and identified them as “adults” over the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests on December 21, 2019 in the town of Aurangabad, Bihar that had turned violent, reported Firstpost. All the arrested are Muslim youths.

The publication had earlier reported that the police had earlier arrested two youths, Ahmed and Syed from two different families, whose ages were 16 and 12 respectively. In the FIR, their ages were stated to be 28 and 19 respectively. The hearing for their case is scheduled for January 28, 2020 where the Juvenile Justice Board will decide on their age.

Meraj Khan, the lawyer appearing for the minors who are mostly between the ages of 14 and 17, the youngest being 12, said that he would apply for the bail plea after the decision of the Board.

It has been reported that out of the 13 only 1 has been sent to the juvenile home after sustaining serious injuries on his hands due to the lathi charge. The 12 remaining minors have been lodged in an adult prison for the past month, in the company of hardened criminals. He said, “It’s a straightforward case. We have their birth certificates, documents and we have presented them before the Juvenile Justice Board on January 16. On January 28, the Board will declare them juveniles.”

About the police wrongly charging the minors as adults, Khan said, “It has been done intentionally. There is no juvenile home in Aurangabad. It is under construction. The closest one is about 60 kilometers from here in Gaya. If the police had written their accurate ages, they would have had to hire a separate vehicle and travel to Gaya. The police did this to avoid extra effort.”

Currently, the probation officer is preparing a Social Investigation Report of the kids said Khan. “It includes their details, the families they come from, and whether they have had a criminal past. That would be considered when we argue for their bail. I hope the report is ready in time for the hearing and they understand the gravity of minors being in adult prisons.”

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had called for a bandh in Bihar on December 21, 2019 to protest against the CAA. At the time, Additional Director General, Bihar Police, Jitendra Kumar had told reporters that around 1,550 preventive arrests had been made in connection with the bandh.

Firstpost reported that the Aurangabad police blamed local councilor Sikandar Hayat for the violence that erupted in the FIR. The document noted that the bandh called by the RJD ended at around 12.15 p.m. when a mob of 200 people came to the site of the protest. The FIR read, “The mob started beating up shopkeepers, asking them to shut shop. When police tried to intervene, the mob chanted slogans against them and started throwing bricks and stones. A brick landed on a policeman’s head, and he got seriously injured. Hayat was egging the protesters on.”

However, eyewitnesses stated otherwise. They said that the violence broke out as a result of the scuffle that took place between people who wanted to enforce the bandh and people affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who were trying to get it stopped.

A fact-finding team that visited Aurangabad, Bihar where violence erupted, on their investigation found that the police ransacked homes, damaged private vehicles and assaulted men, women and children inside their homes.

The police were also caught on camera, picking up a minor and vandalising public property. Mohammad Enamul Rab, whose relatives were picked up from his home, included his younger brother Saddam (12), uncle Mukhtar and brother-in-law Rizwan and another brother Imran.

He told Firstpost, “The police raided our home, and accused them of hiding here. Ab ghar ka aadmi ghar pe nahi rahega toh kaha rahega? My brother-in-law had come to visit with my sister. There was no lady constable, yet the men in uniform dragged my mother and sister up to the road. The police said they are following orders, and asked us to shut up, while they continued to vandalise our home.”

Saddam, Rab’s brother, who is 12, as per his age recorded in his school certificate has been booked for launching a “life threatening attack on the police.” Rab is worried that his brother has already spent a month in prison with seasoned criminals. He said, “When police is patrolling the areas, parents tell their kids to get inside the homes. Now we don’t even feel safe in our own homes. They are supposed to protect us. And people are fearful of them. I hope my brother comes out unscathed but the administration should understand that a 12-year-old should not be kept with criminals.”

However, it isn’t just Bihar where minors have been detained and assaulted during the anti-CAA agitation. The Delhi Police too had detained 18 minors at the Daryaganj Police Station. The minors had visible head injuries and were seen in clothes soaked in blood. They had been stripped below the waist and were beaten up, with the police shouting communal slurs at them all the while during the assault. Their medical reports too clearly stated that their injuries were sustained due to lathi charge and being beaten up in police custody.

The UP police was also accused of allegedly torturing Maulana Asad Raza Hussaini and his students from the Saadat hostel and orphanage in Muzaffarnagar. It was alleged that police sexually tortured many of the minor detainees in custody after which some of the boys were admitted to the hospital with cases of rectal bleeding. The boys ranged from the ages of 14 to 21 and were reportedly abused through the night. A hostel resident told Newsclick, “While beating us, they abusively told us ‘this is the azadi (freedom) that you wanted’. Some of them asked us to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Meanwhile, one student fell unconscious.”

The police that has been used as an agent by the State for spreading the fear of the regime in its people, has been allowed to use crowd-control measures like mass detentions, lathi charge, tear gas, bullets and stun grenades without the fear of being questioned. It is evident that most of those deceased in the firings by the police to quell the CAA protests have been from the Muslim community.

Is the state now sponsoring the retributive brand of justice to get its way and force people into toeing the line by giving a freehand to violence?

Related:

Did UP police sexually torture minors in custody?
Delhi Police detains 18 minors in Daryaganj during anti-CAA protests
Fact-finding report reveals police brutality at Aurangabad and Phulwari Sharif
UP sees the worst of Police Brutality
‘Bloody Sunday 2019’- PUDR releases report on Jamia police brutalities
Undeterred, AMUSU releases Ground Report detailing police brutality on students
Disproportionate and extraordinary use of force by police at AMU: Fact-finding team

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A Constitutional Conduct Group of retired IAS, IP, IFS and other central services wrote a letter to Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar with regards to the Sitamarhi custodial killings demanding speedy independent investigation, per SC and NHRC guidelines, prosecution police personnel responsible, legal aid and protection for families, and compensation for their loss.
 
Six days after two Muslim youths died in police custody allegedly following physical torture, eight policemen accused in this case are still absconding. Police claimed that raids were being conducted to arrest them.
 
Gufran Alam (30) and Taslim Ansari (32) were accused of robbery and tortured to death in police custody in Sitamarhi in Bihar on March 7. They were picked up by police from Ramdiha village in connection with the theft of a motorcycle and murder of its owner Muzaffarpur resident Rakesh Kumar, nails were allegedly hammered into their bodies as part of the torture resorted to by the cops.
 
A group of former civil servants in their letter to Kumar urged him to take immediate action to conduct independent enquiry; follow set guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court in custodial torture and death cases; prosecute those found responsible, ensuring the severest punishment and provide the families adequate compensation, protection where need be and legal aid.
 
“Media reports of the incident reveal grave violations by the police. These include the alleged torture to death of the men picked up in a case of robbery and murder. Families have shared photos and a video clip of the victims’ bodies showing marks of nails hammered into them. The police did not allow the families to see the bodies when they first informed them of the deaths, the bodies themselves having been handed over to the families only after 24 hours of death. And while the Director General of Bihar Police has confirmed the custodial death and called it “unacceptable”, it is being reported that the FIR registered does not mention the appropriate sections, viz. Section 302, IPC for murder, nor does it name the police personnel involved. These lacunae already raise serious suspicion about the police’s intent to probe this case lawfully,” their letter said.
 
They wrote that this was a very serious case of violation of the right to life and due judicial process of the victims. “In an environment of communal polarisation, concerns are being raised about this being, besides a case of police excess, also one that might be motivated by bias against a particular community. Given the circumstance, we urge you to ensure immediate action so as to restore trust in your administration,” they added.

Photos and a video clip of their bodies being washed before their burial showed marks of nails hammered into them, The Indian Express had reported. 
 
In their letter they demanded the following actions:
 
i. Immediate arrest and prosecution of the absconding police officers under Sec. 302 IPC
ii. Follow in full, NHRC’s guidelines on custodial torture and death, including instructions on conducting post mortem, video-filming, and magisterial enquiry.
iii. Ensure that the investigation is conducted by police from outside the district, preferably by an SIT comprising of senior officers with impeccable integrity.
iv. A time-bound and independent inquiry under Section 176(1-A) CrPC be conducted immediately by a Judicial Magistrate, and her report acted upon, besides sharing the report with the NHRC as required under law.
v. State government award compensation to the families for reparation of the loss.
vi. State government ensure victim/witness protection, and provision of legal aid to the families, seeing to it that the State Legal Services Authority appoint a senior lawyer to assist the family from this stage onwards.
 
Signatories:
1 Ambrose, SP IAS, Retd. Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, Government of India (GoI)
2 Agnihotri, Anita IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI
3 Balagopal, Gopalan IAS, Retd. Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
4 Balakrishnan, Chandrashekhar IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
5 Bhaduri, Madhu IFS, Retd. Former Ambassador to Portugal
6 Burra, Sundar IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
7 Chandramohan, R. IAS, Retd. Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
8 Chaudhuri, Kalyani IAS, Retd. Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
9 Dani, Anna IAS, Retd. Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
10 Dayal, Nareshwar IFS, Retd. Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
11 Deb, Pradeep K. IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
12 Desiraju, Keshav IAS, Retd. Former Health Secretary, GoI
13 Devasahayam, MG Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
14 Ghate, Prabhu IAS, Retd, Former Addl. DG, Department of Tourism, GoI
15 Gupta, Meena IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
16 Habibullah, Wajahat IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner
17 Hassan, Sajjad IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Government of Manipur
18 Jaswal, Kamal IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Department of Information Tech., GoI
19 Khanna, Vinod IFS, Retd. Former Additional Secretary, MEA
20 Kumar, Brijesh IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Department of Information Tech., GoI
21 Kumar, Sudhir IAS, Retd. Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
22 Lal, Subodh IPoS, Retd. Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
23 Mehta, Aditi IAS, Retd. Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
24 Mukhopadhyay, Pranab IAS, Retd. Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI
25 Nampoothiri, PGJ IPS, Retd. Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat
26 Pande, Amitabha IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
27 Perti, Alok IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
28 Raghupati, NK IAS, Retd. Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
29 Ribeiro, Julio IPS, Retd. Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & Ambassador to Romania
30 Sanan, Deepak IAS, Retd. Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
31 Saxena, N. C. IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
32 Selvaraj, Ananthappa IRS, Retd. Former Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Chennai, GoI
33 Sen, Ardhendu IAS, Retd. Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
34 Sengupta, Abhijit IAS, Retd. Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
35 Seth, Aftab IFS, Retd. Former Ambassador to Japan
36 Sharma, Ashok IFS, Retd. Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
37 Talha, Parveen IRS, Retd. Former Member, Union Public Service Commission
38 Tayabji, Hindal IAS, Retd. Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
 

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Bihar Opposition protests over police assault on Dalit students

दलितों ने मुसलमानों और पिछड़ों के साथ मिलकर आपकी झोली वोट से भर दी. बदले में अगर उनकी स्कॉलरशिप बंद होनी है और विरोध करने पर लाठी ही खानी है, तो एक बात आप लोग भी समझ लीजिए… राजनीति में कोई अमृत पीकर नहीं आता.

जो जनता बनाती है, वह बिगाड़ भी देती है. बहुत बेरहम होती है पब्लिक. इकबाल खत्म हो गया, तो बहुमत होने के बावजूद राज चलाना मुश्किल हो जाता है. देख रहे हैं न नरेंद्र मोदी की दुर्गति. अपना गृह राज्य नहीं संभल रहा है.
दोषी पुलिस अफसरों को दंडित कीजिए. एक पत्थर नहीं उछला और छात्रों पर लाठी चार्ज कर दिया. क्यों?

Pandemonium prevailed in the Bihar Assembly on Thursday with the Opposition vociferously protesting over police assault on agitating Dalit students and a legislator fainting inside the House after being physically pulled down from a table he stood on during the protest. As the House sat for the day, Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi rose from their seats and demanded the Speaker take up the issue of police beating up Dalit students in the city on Wednesday while they were agitating over lowering of the post-matriculation scholarship amount for SC/ST students.

The Indian Express reported that when Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary refused to do so, BJP and its allies trooped into Well of the House and raised anti-government slogans. Prem Kumar, Manjhi and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav also sat on the floor of the Well in protest. CPI-ML MLA Mehboob Alam, who had joined the Opposition protest climbed on a table holding a placard when Chaudhary ordered the marshals to take him down. As the marshals bodily lifted him down, the MLA slipped on the floor and fainted. As the marshals were busy attending to Alam, some BJP MLAs including Vijay Sinha and Sanjeev Chaurasia climbed on the same table. They were also brought down by the marshals. The CPI-ML MLA was latter brought out of the House by BJP MLAs and taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital in an ambulance.

The Speaker tried to conduct the Question Hour but had to adjourn the House till recess as all efforts to persuade the protesting legislators failed to bring order. The protesting NDA MLAs sat at the entrance of the Assembly and raised slogans against the government.

At least seven policemen and six students were injured in brick-batting and police lathicharge on Dalit students protesting against the lowering of scholarship for SC and ST students in Patna on August 3. BJP had attacked the government over the issue.

The post नीतीश जी और लालू जी, राजनीति में कोई अमृत पीकर नहीं आता. appeared first on SabrangIndia.