In Pravat Chandra Mohanty and Ors v State of Orissa (CRA No. 207/210 of 1988), the Orissa High Court has directed two ex-police officers to serve simple imprisonment for a month for offences of acting in furtherance of a common intention and voluntarily causing hurt under the Indian Penal Code.

Simple imprisonment of one year has also been imposed on the appellants for voluntarily causing hurt by deadly weapons under the Code. They have also been directed to serve simple imprisonment for another three months for fraudulently using forged documents.

Further, Justice S.K Sahoo directed the the State Government to pay Rs.3,00,000/- in favour of the legal representatives of the deceased within a period of one month from the date of this judgment, i.e. November 9, 2020.

Senior Advocate Yasobant Das and Devasish Panda appeared for the appellants. Additional Government Advocate Lalatendu Samantaray represented the State.

Observing that it is a thirty-two-year-old case of custodial violence, the court said, “Custodial violence on a person which may sometimes lead to his death is abhorrent and not acceptable in a civilised society and it is a crime against humanity and a clear violation of a person’s rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

“Police excesses and maltreatment of detainees, under trial prisoners or suspects tarnishes the image of any civilised nation. Stern measures are required to be taken to check the malady against those police officials who consider themselves to be above the law and bring disrepute to their department, otherwise the foundations of the criminal justice delivery system would be shaken and common man may lose faith in the judiciary”, Justice Sahoo added.

Referring to the Supreme Court judgment Nilabati Behra (smt) @ Lalita Behra v State of Orissa 1993 (2) SCC 746, where the top court opined that even convicts, prisoners and undertrials cannot be denuded of their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Orissa High Court noted, “Act of custodial violence reflects tragic state of affairs indicating the apparent disdain of the State to the life and liberty of individuals, particularly those in custody and relief could be moulded by granting compensation to the next of kin of the deceased.”

Matter before the court

The Single-judge Bench was hearing criminal appeals by former inspector and senior sub inspector in a case pertaining to a person’s custodial death during an illegal confinement at Purighat police station in Cuttack in 1985.

In August 1988, the Assistant Sessions Judge -cum- Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (Special), Cuttack had convicted the appellants for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for five years and eight years respectively.

They were also sentenced to a maximum sentence of three years rigorous imprisonment for offences of fraudulent preparation of FIR, wrongful confinement and voluntarily causing hurt.

Both appellants had filed criminal appeals in the High Court of Orissa and were subsequently released on bail in August and September, 1988.

Keeping in mind the age of the appellants and that “occurrence in question took place thirty five years back and the appellants must have suffered immense mental agony and pain facing criminal proceeding for a considerable period”, the court acquitted both officers of charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and reduced the maximum sentence of three years rigorous imprisonment to one year simple imprisonment for other charges.

On the issue of why the imposition of sentence was necessary, Justice Sahoo opined, “One of the prime objectives of criminal law is the imposition of adequate, just, proportionate punishment which is commensurate with the gravity and nature of the crime and manner in which the offence is committed. The quantum of sentence imposed should not shock the common man. It should reflect the public abhorrence of the crime. The Court has a duty to protect and promote public interest and build up public confidence in efficacy of rule of law.”

Accordingly, their criminal appeals were disposed of and were directed to surrender before the learned trial Court within two weeks from the date of the judgment for undergoing the remaining period of sentence.

The judgment may be read here: 

Related:

India’s dark history of custodial abuse
Custodial killings in Kerala: Deconstructing facts
Madras HC orders Judicial Magistrate to conduct inquiry into alleged custodial deaths in Tuticorin

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Image: Reuters

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, has “deplored” India’s plan to deport Rohingyas “at a time of such violence against them in their own country.” He was equally “dismayed by a broader rise of intolerance towards religious and other minorities in India”. He was addressing the Human Rights Council on the opening day of its 36^th session on the human rights situation in 40 countries.

The current wave of violent, and often lethal, mob attacks against people under the pretext of protecting the lives of cows is alarming,” said al Hussein. “People who speak out for fundamental human rights are also threatened. Gauri Lankesh, a journalist who tirelessly addressed the corrosive effect of sectarianism and hatred, was assassinated last week. I have been heartened by the subsequent marches calling for protection of the right to freedom of expression, and by demonstrations in 12 cities to protest the lynchings”.

“Human rights defenders who work for the rights of India’s most vulnerable groups should be considered allies in building on India’s achievements to create a stronger and more inclusive society. Instead, many are subject to harassment and even criminal proceedings, or denied protection by the State” the High Commissioner.

Deploring the systematic attack on Rohingyas possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, the high commissioner said, “The Myanmar government should stop claiming that the Rohingyas are setting fire to their own homes and laying waste to their own villages. This complete denial of reality is doing great damage to the international standing of a government which, until recently, benefited from immense good will. I call on the government to end its current cruel military operation…”

The high commissioner expressed appreciation over the Bangladesh government’s “constructive engagement” with the office of the UN High Commissioner on Rohingyas who have sought refuge in Bangladesh.

On a more general note the high commissioner bemoaned the “hypocrisy” of States which “defend the rights of humans elsewhere… while at home they openly deny the rights of their own people?”

“Does it not occur to the many Governments who engage in intimidation and bullying, and commit reprisals against human rights defenders and NGOs which work with the UN human rights mechanisms – do they not realise that this only confirms to us, and to the world, how much oppression and injustice they exercise in their own countries? This is not a shared future; it is the theft of their peoples’ inalienable rights.”

The high commissioner urged the president and members states on the UN’s Human Rights Council “to develop a stronger, more unified voice in world affairs on behalf of human rights”.

“I also suggest consideration be given to the need to exclude from this body States involved in the most egregious violations of human rights,” he added.

Read the full text of the High Commissioner’s Opening Statement.
 

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In 2010, the UN General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, urging governments worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat this scourge. The plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programmes in order to boost development and strengthen security worldwide.

Three years later, in 2013, the   General Assembly held a high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action and through a resolution designated July 30^th as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. The resolution declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”

The world body states: “Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 21 million people are victims of forced labour globally. This estimate also includes victims of human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation.

While it is not known how many of these victims were trafficked, the estimate implies that currently, there are millions of trafficking in persons victims in the world. Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.”

The fact is that human trafficking has reached alarming levels all over the world. Whilst there is certainly a heightened awareness of this painful reality and that much more is being done to combat this scourge, the bitter truth is that nothing seems to be enough.

In March 2017, India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development told Parliament that there almost 20,000 women and children who were victims of human trafficking in the country in 2016.This number is a 25% increase from the previous year. This rise, the officials claim, is perhaps due to the fact that there are more people who are not only aware of this crime but are also reporting it.

However, there are many who are convinced that the actual victims of human trafficking in India could reach mind-boggling numbers. Many do not report the crime either because they are unaware of the law, are afraid of the human traffickers, or of the law enforcement officials, or are just too poor to have any other option in life.

India is today regarded as the South Asian hub for human trafficking. Thousands from rural India are lured daily by human traffickers to the big towns and cities with the promise of good jobs, more money etc. Most of the victims are women and children who are hopelessly trapped in bonded labour, prostitution rings and other nefarious activities. Some of them end up as domestic workers or have to sweat it out for long hours in small industrial units without the necessary safeguards and with unjust wages.

Hundreds of children are brought from neighbouring Rajasthan to work in the cotton fields of north Gujarat. In 2016 Rajasthan recorded the second highest number of trafficked children in the country. Mumbai, India’s commercial capital has brothels teeming with trafficked women. West Bengal also has a very high percentage of human trafficking mainly because of the poorer bordering countries of Bangladesh and Nepal.

The National Crime Records Bureau reveals that in 2016 an almost equal number of children and women were trafficked in India. Grim facts and statistical data of this terrible reality from every part of the country is easily available; however, what there is in the public and official domain is only the tip of the iceberg.
Human trafficking is a highly complex reality. One is confronted with a myriad problems when one attempts to deal with the issue; the main one being taking on the big-time players: the trafficking syndicates and gangs and other vested interests.

Many of them are politicians and if not, they have powerful political connections and patronage. A few years ago a BJP MP of Gujarat was arrested for human trafficking. In March this year, a BJP woman from West Bengal was charged with running a flourishing child trafficking racket and she has also named some of the other political bosses who support her. In May a BJP leader of Madhya Pradesh was arrested for running an online sex racket. In this terrible game there are few who get caught; most get away!

A recent report of the US State Department on ‘Human Trafficking’ bluntly says: “India is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Forced labor constitutes India’s largest trafficking problem; men, women, and children in debt bondage—sometimes inherited from previous generations—are forced to work in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery factories. The majority of India’s trafficking problem is internal, and those from the most disadvantaged social strata—lowest caste Dalits, members of tribal communities, religious minorities, and women and girls from excluded groups—are most vulnerable. Within India, some are subjected to forced labor in sectors such as construction, steel, and textile industries; wire manufacturing for underground cables; biscuit factories; pickling; floriculture; fish farms; and ship breaking. Thousands of unregulated work placement agencies reportedly lure adults and children under false promises of employment for sex trafficking or forced labor, including domestic servitude”.

This problem however, is not confined to India alone. War and conflict in several parts of the world has resulted in a situation where many people (particularly children and women) who flee war and persecution, often fall prey to unscrupulous human traffickers and/or smugglers.

From Syria to Myanmar; from Congo to Colombia; from Afghanistan to Sudan ,the plight of migrant children labouring long hours in sweatshops; toiling in fields and other hazardous industries; begging on streets (supervised by syndicates) either in their own countries or in the ‘host’ countries is just despicable.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) states that, “Over half of the world’s refugees are children. Many will spend their entire childhoods away from home, sometimes separated from their families. They may have witnessed or experienced violent acts and, in exile, are at risk of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or military recruitment.”

The ISIS has captured an estimated 3.000 Yazidi women and uses them as sex slaves. Several other refugee and migrant women virtually have no choice but to allow themselves to be sexually exploited since they are in the clutches of powerful traffickers.

The Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons has certainly been making efforts to address the endemic issues of this problem. Real change can come about only if world leaders and governments have the political will to stop human trafficking.

Pope Francis is one leader who has shown undeniable courage to keep the issue on the radar and emphasizing the importance of it being dealt with at different levels. He has been very vocal in his stand against human trafficking referring to it as “a crime against humanity” “a form of slavery”, “a grave violation of human rights” and “an atrocious scourge”. He has also said that there is “evidence which brings one to doubt the real commitment of some important players.” This is plain- speak from the Pope who is certainly vexed about the problem and wants an immediate and urgent halt to it!

As we observe yet another day devoted to a fight against human trafficking, we need to pledge that we will show the courage and commitment to eliminate this crime against humanity, from the face of the earth!

* (Fr Cedric Prakash sj is a well-known human rights activist. He is currently based in Lebanon, engaged with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in the Middle East on advocacy and   communications. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com )             
 

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1984 Anti-Sikh Massacre. Photo courtesy: Caravan Magazine

A number can also tell a story. Yes. A number. A digit. It is immaterial whether the story makes you feel sad or it brings a smile on your lips. But a number can be associated with some names, some places, some details and many other things. And those elements are enough to build a story.

I am going to share with you the story of a number that is permanently etched on my memory. But I am sure it won't make you happy. Knowing that, I still would like to share it with you. It's not that I want to make you feel sad. All I want is to make you think, so that you get offended and angry. Why? I will tell you later. First let me tell you the story. And by the way, it's a story based on real events and not a fiction. 

The number that is on my mind is four. Yes. Number "4"; that reminds me of series of numbers that continue to haunt me.

The very first combination of digits that remind me of number 4 is 1984. How? Very simple. Add them all. 1+9+8+4. That makes it 10+12 = 22. Now add 2 and 2 and you will get 4. Therefore, I associate "4" with 1984, an unforgettable year.

For me number four is not just a reminder of ominous political events but also a key to keep our memory alive to make people in power accountable.

I was fourteen at that time. We lived in Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs. The most sacred shrine of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple complex, is in that city. The temple had come under military invasion that year in the month of June. The then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had sent army to the temple to flush out handful of militants who had turned it into a fortress.

They were angry with the government that was not listening to the demands of the Sikhs, who were fighting against discrimination and seeking some rights and privileges. The Hindus felt threatened by the militants who carried out armed insurgency from inside the shrine. While Hindus make 80 percent of the Indian population, they are only 40 percent in Punjab where Sikhs are in the majority. The Sikhs makes only about two percent of the national population. These numbers too explain a lot, but I need to focus on number 4.

Political killings and the mass murders of Hindus resulted in the army invasion on the temple leaving many devotees dead and the buildings inside the complex destroyed. The Sikhs were outraged and there were angry protests across the world. Sikhs felt that the attack was avoidable and was planned to please Hindu majority to win the forthcoming national elections.

After the siege was lifted and people were given access to the Golden Temple, our family also visited the place. The image of destruction inside shook me completely. Since I was born and raised in a Sikh family, as a teenager I could not control my emotions after seeing in front of me bullet marks everywhere. 

In October that year, the news came that Indira Gandhi has been murdered by her Sikh bodyguards who were seeking revenge for the invasion. But the story did not end there. Following her murder, Sikhs outside Punjab came under organized attacks by mobs led by the members of her Congress Party. We were always told that the Congress is a secular party that believes in equality and denounces religious fanaticism. But now, everything seemed to have gone wrong. Sikh men were being burnt alive and their women being raped by goons incited by Congress men. An entire community was being taught a lesson for the murder of Indira Gandhi by just two Sikh men.

We were worried about our relatives outside Punjab. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened to them, but they had to live through fear. They survived mainly because of their Hindu neighbours, who not only ensured their safety but also because they stayed indoors during the violence.

Why was the government doing this to its own citizens? First it invaded their place of worship and now it was targeting ordinary Sikhs everywhere? The mystery was over soon. It was election time and Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi was elected to power with a brute majority. His slogan for "national unity" in the wake of his mother's death paid him the dividends.

The invasion of the Golden Temple was justified in the name of national unity. The Sikh militants were accused of getting support from foreign powers, who the government claimed were bent upon dividing India. Indira Gandhi's assassination was also seen by her supporters as a terrorist act committed under international conspiracy. No evidence was needed to prove that Sikhs were targeted to win the election that followed these horrible events.

Survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy march for justice. Photo credit: Indian Express

Before we move further I want to quickly add here that the year 1984 was also very painful for the people of Bhopal. In December that year, following large-scale repression of Sikhs a month earlier, one of the biggest industrial disasters struck the city. Gas leakage at the Union Carbide plant killed many people and left many blinded and the drinking water contaminated.

The CEO of the company Warren Anderson who was from US was allowed to leave the country. Slowly it became visible to everyone that the plant was constructed at a wrong place despite warnings of a possible accident in future. This could only have happened in exchange of favours given by the owners of the plant to the corrupt leaders of the Congress who ruled both in Delhi and in Madhya Pradesh, the state where Bhopal is located.

Obviously, Anderson was given a safe exit as part of cover up. A similar cover up was used to hide the complicity of the government in the massacre of Sikhs. Both the poor slum dwellers who lost their lives in Bhopal and the Sikhs who were systematically murdered became numbers that remain irrelevant for the privileged society and the ruling classes of India whose constitution guarantees social and economic equality.

In his first public reaction to the criticism of violence against Sikhs, Rajiv Gandhi shortly after assuming the post of the Prime Minister had remarked, “When a big tree falls, earth around it shakes a bit.” The statement itself was a part of the cover up. Gandhi tried to make everyone believe that it was a reaction of people over the death of their beloved leader. Clearly, he did not want to acknowledge the complicity of the state machinery in the massacre.

His big lie could not cover another historic reality.

Photo credit: The Hindu

The year 1948 again reminds me of number 4, a much bigger tree had fallen, but the earth did not shake at all.

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Marathi Hindu extremist. That Gandhi, like it or not, was much more respected than Indira and Rajiv. Yet, Marathi Hindus did not become target of such madness. For that matter when Rajiv Gandhi was killed by Tamil separatists in 1991, Tamil Hindus were not punished by the mobs belonging to his Congress party.

Both the Sikhs and the sufferers of Bhopal tragedy continue to await justice. No senior Congress leader has been convicted until now. HKL Bhagat, one of the top-notch leaders involved in the carnage, died after illness while others continue to move around freely. Anderson too remained unpunished.

The precedent of dividing people, letting big shots involved in deaths of civilians go scot free and allowing impunity for crimes was already set by the year 2002. You read it right; 2002 that also equals 4.

Photo credit: Firstpost

I had moved to Canada by then. The current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat back in that time.

The birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi – who was opposed to Hindu theocracy and was murdered for this reason – went up into flames. Muslims became target of violence by the supporters of Modi’s Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that believes in Hindu theocracy. Not surprisingly, some of its hawkish leaders consider Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi as their hero. The BJP happens to be the political wing of the ultra-Hindu supremacist group Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) that was banned after Mahatma Gandhi’s death. Godse was an RSS man.

In 2002, the 1984 technique that was applied on the Sikhs to avenge the assassination of the then prime minister was repeated to terrorise Muslims.

The massacre followed the burning of a train bringing Hindu pilgrims from the disputed site of Ayodhya. The Hindus believe that it is the birthplace of their revered god, Lord Rama. The BJP supporters claim that the original temple built there was demolished by Babar – a Muslim emperor long ago to build a mosque. The BJP has always desired to build a grand Ram temple at the exact location [Editors’ note: The Ram temple became an issue for the BJP only in mid-1980s]. In 1992, they gathered there and razed the Babari mosque. Since then the place remains a point of conflict.

The Hindu pilgrims were returning from Ayodhya after performing prayers at a make shift Rama temple in February 2002. Some of the supporters of BJP had harassed Muslim passengers and vendors at railway stations along the route. Under these circumstances, a compartment of the Sabarmati Express caught fire leaving over 50 passengers dead. Though one commission of enquiry found that it was an accident, the Modi government blamed Muslim extremists allegedly supported by Pakistan.

Hell broke out on Muslims throughout Gujarat after the mobs were given free hand to kill and loot with the help of police.  

Modi won another round of Assembly election for the BJP in the aftermath of the massacre with a huge mandate. He also fought the election on the plank of threat to national security from Pakistan-based terrorists. Much like Rajiv Gandhi, he also tried to rationalise the bloodshed and violence by saying that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. In a way, he was using a similar argument with some variation to cover up the complicity of the state in crimes against humanity.

The events of 2002 are the culmination of politics of hate started much earlier. Down the road I won’t be surprised to come across more such connections.  

I have not shared these details to promote numerology or suggest that number four is unlucky. This is just my story. Because I associate the number with these gory incidents it does not mean that number four should be considered ominous by all. You may have some sweet memories associated with the number four. Likewise, for others some other numbers might bring worse memories than the ones I shared.

For the oppressed groups, like Dalits or so-called untouchables, the LGBT, the tribals, the indigenous peoples, women and the disabled every day is an ugly reminder of structural violence and injustice. For them my version of number four or the events related to the years, 1948, 1984 or 2002 might not mean anything. From their perspective, much worse incidents might have occurred between 1948 and 2002 and continue even now.

This is not to suggest either that the incidents I have listed were the only tragedies that happened during those years. The story I have shared is more to do with keeping our memories alive however painful they might be, because those in power want us to forget. They want to erase these memories to deny us justice. For me number four is not just a reminder of ominous political events but also a key to keep our memory alive to make people in power accountable.
 

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