In the current episode while many subordinates have been named and are to be charged Bhole Baba is not in the list of those who are guilty. The reason for the stampede was the propagation that the earth where Baba treads is a cure for most of the diseases. As he was leaving satsang people rushed to collect the earth where he had put his feet, a stampede took place and people died in the process. The popularity of the Baba can be gauzed from the fact that there was permission for 80000 people but 2.5 Lakh people turned up.

As such baba phenomenon is neither unique nor exclusive to India. Though of course their following has gone up in recent times. While some Babas come to be known for specific reasons there a big breed of them scattered all over the country. The notorious one’s like Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Insan are cooling their heels in jails for charges like rape and murder. The other successful Babas like Baba Ramdev have been reprimanded by the Supreme Court for his confident undermining of Modern medicine, Sri Sri Ravishanker was involved in damaging ecology of river Yamuna, Jaggi Vasudev’s Ashrams have various criminal charges as well. What is common among these Baba’s is their astounding self-confidence, wealth and promotion of blind faith.

In India while strict correlations are difficult it can be safely said that their prowess and impact has risen during the last few decades. It will not be easy to correlate their increasing prowess with the rise of politics in the name of religion. It is true that in other countries also such Charismatic’s (US) and holy Preachers in some Muslim countries do exist, but the impact of such people is phenomenal in India. These preachers do wear the garb of religion. They do not belong to the formal clergy, which is part of institutional religion. Most of them are self-made and their intelligence in mind reading and taking advantage of the weaknesses of followers is phenomenal.

The other side of this is why do people throng to them? Baba’s salesmanship is very intelligent but the followers have their own weaknesses which land them up in the lap of these frauds. Mostly people with severe problems, not easily solvable, look for soothing words, somebody who gives them confidence which tells them that their problems will be solved by the earth where Baba treads, or by subjugating themselves to the Baba, or by following some advice which Baba gives etc. The followers throng to these Babas mainly due to their own insecurity in the society. There are many other aspects of success of Babas, their nexus with the political class being one such. Just as an example Gurumeet Ram Rahim has been mostly on parole, especially when elections are due. One recalls Manoharlal Khattar took his whole Cabinet to Gurumeet to take his blessings.

The insecurity aspect of followers is the key to understanding their psychology. More the insecurity, more the submission to Baba, the common sense or rational thinking is given a total go bye by the followers. Insecurity aspect can be properly understood when we see the global scenario. In the countries where economic and social insecurity is less, religions are seeing a decline in their active followership. Key finding from Global Research by PEW shows that, “The United States is far from alone in this way. Western Europeans are generally less religious than Americans, having started along a similar path a few decades earlier. And the same secularizing trends are found in other economically advanced countries, as indicated by recent census data from Australia and New Zealand.

Centre for Political Studies Michigan’s Inglehart in “Giving up on God,” (pages 110-111) tells us “From about 2007 to 2019, the overwhelming majority of the countries we studied—43 out of 49 became less religious. The decline in belief was not confined to high-income countries and appeared across most of the world. Growing numbers of people no longer find religion a necessary source of support and meaning in their lives. Even the United States—long cited as proof that an economically advanced society can be strongly religious—has now joined other wealthy countries in moving away from religion.”

The challenge of combating this is not easy. Contrary to the Values of Constitution, Article 51 A (h) under the Fundamental Duties, “[It shall be the duty of every citizen of India] to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”, Babas flagrantly violate this clause, and those protecting or promoting them do the same?

In India at social level there are active groups who oppose the Babas scattered all around by practically exposing them, especially their tricks of taking out ash from hand or walking on fire. Maharashtra has seen Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti (Committee for eradication of Blind Faith) associated with Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. He was brutally murdered by activists of conservative groups probably like Sanatan Sanstha. Similarly the murders of Com Govind Pansare, Gauri Lankesh and Prof. Kalburgi were also done by similar forces. After the murder of Dr. Dabholkar, Maharashtra Assembly passed a law against blind faith and magic remedies.

We need to have similar laws all over the country and promote scientific temper. At the core can we march towards social and economic security for one and all? The present system where the poor are becoming poorer and rich are becoming richer needs to be substituted by Mahatma Gandhi’s vision where the social policies are planned keeping the last person in the line; in mind That alone can bring in a sense of security in society.

The post Why Babadom Flourishes: Insecurity is the Core appeared first on SabrangIndia.

If he had consulted Brij Bhushan Singh, he would be roaming around freely.

If a prosecution was launched there would organised protests by leading lights, like the Kathua rape-murder case.

If he was accused no cases would have been seriously prosecuted, the guys accused of rape and murder of the Dalit girl in Hathras in 2020 would have advised him.

If he was indeed convicted of rape and murder, he could come out on bail every other day. Gurmeet Ram Rahim would have informed him.

If he didn’t like to come out on bail again and again he could have come out for being ‘sanskari’, ask the Bilqis Banu rapists.

If he wanted a grand welcome on coming out after 121 stampede deaths he had great prospects of being garlanded by Ministers, ask the Ramgarh (Jharkhand) mob lynching guys or even ask Jayant Sinha. Besides, not being Yeshwant Sinha’s sons any other Ministers garlanding him would not even have been dropped from election contests!

But, being on the run within the country must be considered below the dignity of some of these gurus and babas. The guy to emulate is Nithyananda Paramashivam and set up something like the micro nation of ‘Kailaasaa’.

If none of these things worked and Bhole Baba still felt insecure the powers-that-be could have done the opposite of what they did with the BK-16, they could hack the Baba’s computer and secretly install files that proclaimed his innocence.

In Nehru’s time there may only have been tax exemptions. We now live in much better times with ‘Amrit Kaal’ and ‘Achche Din’ and can avail of crime exemptions, prosecution exemptions, conviction exemptions if you’re on the ‘goli maaro saalon ko side’. Then there are the ‘perennial bail scheme’, ‘garland-the-accused scheme’, ‘overturn-conviction scheme’, ‘you-get-convicted-someone-else-serves-jail-time-scheme’, ‘join-the-ruling-party scheme’, ‘washing machine programmes etc. All in all, there’s a scheme for every class of crime! Why should liberalisation be limited only to the economic sphere? Unleashing the animal spirit in every sphere of life can result in all-round social development towards becoming Vishwagurus. And finally, of course, we have the option of rewriting history. The idea, earlier, was to rewrite past history. We can now graduate to rewriting current history.

Amen

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

The post The Naive Bhole Baba appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Navigating Uttar Pradesh (UP) opaque procedures meant delays in accessing documents and even getting the case listed but the grounded work by his legal team, a support group and his wife have ensured his release. Thereafter it took a month for the ‘verification’ of documents of eminent citizens who stood bail surety for Kappan.

Siddique Kappan and three others were arrested in October 2020 while on their way to Hathras where a Dalit woman died allegedly after being raped

One whole month after he was finally granted bail on December 23, 2022 and more than two years after he was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police while heading to the Hathras home of a young Dalit woman who died after an alleged gang rape, journalist Siddique Kappan was released from a Lucknow jail on Thursday (February 2, 2023) morning.

This was confirmed by Lucknow senior jail superintendent Ashish Tiwari to The Indian Express. Kappan was finally released at 8.30 am on Thursday. “All his paperwork was completed, and then he was released,” said Tiwari. Kappan’s release comes more than a month after he was granted bail on December 23 by the Allahabad High Court in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Speaking to the media after his release, Kappan said that it was a “long fight” to acquire bail and be released. “After 28 months and a long fight, I am out today. I got a lot of support from the media and I am happy,” he said. He has consistently denied all allegations levelled by the police against him, he said, “I had gone to do reporting there (in Hathras). What is wrong with that?…Nothing was found on me except my laptop and mobile phone. I had two pens and a notebook too.” Kappan and three others were arrested in Mathura on October 5, 2020, while heading to Hathras. There were also serious allegations about Kappan’s harsh treatment on the day of his arrest.

The high court in an order passed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh had said that “except for allegations that Rs 5,000 was transferred to the bank account of co-accused, Atikur Rahman, there is no other transaction, either in the bank account of the accused-applicant or in the bank account of co-accused”. The High Court also stated that Kappan was entitled to be released on bail as the “proceeds of crime is less than Rs 1 crore and there is no likelihood” of Kappan “to commit the same offence in future”.

Kappan had been granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 9, 2022 in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act –UAPA –case after being booked by the UP Police for alleged links with the radical Popular Front of India– the outfit and its affiliates were banned by the Centre on September 28. Senior constitutional lawyer, Kapil Sibal appeared in the apex court both for Kappan’s bail and before that on a habeas corpus petition.

While granting Kappan bail in the UAPA case, the Supreme Court inquired what exactly had been found against him, and also noted “the length of custody undergone”. In December 2023, a Lucknow court framed charges against Kappan and six others in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The other accused are K A Rauf Sherif, Atikur Rahman, Masud Ahmad, Mohammad Alam, Abdul Razzak and Ashraf Khadir.

Support Group for Siddique Kappan

Sabrangindia spoke at length to a member of the support group that spontaneously emerged for journalist Siddique Kappan. Says Geeta Seshu, senior journalist who runs Free Speech Collective, and is a part of this unique mobilisation for Kappan,

“A number of journalists and human rights activists helped support the campaign for Kappan’s release. They include the Kerala Union of Working Journalists in Delhi, the Siddique Kappan Solidarity Committee and its convener, senior journalist NP Chekutty in Kerala,  Sevanti Ninan, founder editor of The Hoot, journalists like Geeta Seshu from Free Speech Collective who took on the campaign after Kappan was transferred to an NIA court in Lucknow in 2021.” She adds, “Siddique Kappan was always very particular that he would only take the help of journalists and journalists’ organisations or press freedom groups because he was a journalist and travelling for his journalistic work.

Kappan worked for Tejas, a publication in Kerala when Chekutty was editor. But, says Seshu, it is the amazing legal support that the support group could muster for Kappan that is worthy of mention and note. This Support group that included senior journalist, Geeta Seshu, was and is conscious of the huge service or contributions made by a group of efficient and committed lawyers (advocates) who worked pro bono. In Kappan’s team, IB Singh, senior lawyer at the Lucknow bench of the High Court who was in fact out of the country when Geeta Seshu contacted him, did not take more than a few minutes to accept and agree. These are advocates of highly respected seniority.. then his son Ishaan Baghel stepped in with his team at the PMLA and NIA courts in Mathura and Lucknow. While bare expenses were paid through this support group no legal fees were charged. The Bail Application, Discharge application and Quashing Petition, applications to access case papers, were all handled by Singh and his wider team.

After the Mathura court rejected the bail in November 2021, the matter/case (scene) shifted to the NIA Special Court in Lucknow.  After his bail was rejected in Nov 2021, the PMLA case was filed and these dual proceedings became predictably the double-edged sword. This is when Ishan Baghel stepped in with his team to ensure that this case was followed up meticulously.

“The lessons learned are profound and lasting. Professional journalists are usually clueless about the complications related to legal and court procedures and therefore the first and critical steps are to ensure credible, senior level legal support that has a standing. Kappan like so many others just did not have lawyers, did not have access to lawyers,” elaborates Geeta.

Then there is the emotional support that the family of those jailed need: there are multiple issues involved here, especially in a state like UP. Getting access to the jailed journalist with his/her family: to navigate the fear (legitimate) that relatives have. A bitter experience that one of the co-accused in this case was shocking. Barely reported in the media bar some, the fact that the family was from Kerala and Muslim was enough to get them jailed themselves! Their crime? They came to Uttar Pradesh with a RTCPR (Covid-19 test) that was not from “a recognised health facility.”!

Sabrangindia: How was it navigating the legal quagmire in UP?

Geeta Seshu (GS): The real struggle was accessing documents – for months, Kappan was not given access to the entire charge-sheet  of the 5,000 pages. This defies the very basic tenets of Indian criminal law and due process when an accused is denied information on why and on what grounds his personal liberty has been challenged. Then there were/are the listing problems often cases such as these are not listed on the dates scheduled, there is no accountable system of ensuring transparency and promptness on this. The final blow was the ghastly delay in the verification of documents once we had managed to put together persons who were willing to stand surety.

The crucial assistance to find people to stand surety came from the Rihaii Manch in Lucknow, Sandeep Pandey and Arundhati Dhuru, the Press Club of India president Umakant Lakhere and journalist Kumar Sauveer who stood surety and came to court to sign the verification documents even though he had suffered a stroke just a day after agreeing to stand surety!

Sabrangindia: Where and what were the hurdles that he, his legal team and the support group faced in actually navigating these different hurdles and complications?

GS: First of all, we need to recognise there is no operative basic rule of law in Uttar Pradesh. Every institution of law and order and justice delivery functions arbitrarily. Then, there is a huge sense of prevalent fear in Uttar Pradesh that all persons in jail experience and have to overcome, but especially those from the marginalised sections, the minorities. Then there is black hole of procedure where we get no information, there is no transparency, where the police are not accountable to even the courts for inordinate delays (in verification of documents etc.). This is a challenge for us, the media, the human rights movement to re-calibrate and re-think our strategies. The endless delays we faced, since first September 2022, then November 2022 to just get official documents ‘verified’ is frustrating, shocking and frightening for the average person. And here we are happy and successful (as we should be) that Siddique Kappan is finally out.

Background

In September 2022, when former pro vice chancellor of Lucknow University publicly declared that she would stand surety for journalist Siddqiue Kappan, her statement was received with awe and appreciation by the journalist and human rights community. Prof Verma had then told the media, “I am not completely aware of the details of Kappan’s case, but it looks that opening my mouth is a serious crime. He was heading to cover a crime incident in Hathras, but the scribe is arrested and suddenly serious offences Acts and sections such as UAPA, money laundering are slapped on him. Further, he becomes suspected of having links with notorious outfits. Such back-to-back developments to tighten the noose create doubts in citizens like me, and it seems that action against Kappan is motivated. I may be proven wrong if Kappan is indeed found guilty by court, but still at this moment, his right to bail cannot be suppressed.”

Related

Ex-LU VC, Roop Rekha Verma stands as bail surety for journalist, Siddique Kappan

The post Journalist Siddique Kappan’s release after 28 months in a UP jail, where a black hole with opaque procedures affected release appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Uttar Pradesh Government has informed the Allahabad High Court that the three persons arrested alongside journalist Siddiqui Kappan while they were going to Hathras, were not arrested on the basis of media reports, reported LiveLaw.

As per the three petitioners’ counsel, Ankur Azad, the Uttar Pradesh Government has claimed that the arrests were made on the basis of “certain intelligence inputs”, although the FIR against them does not mention this information.

While speaking to the media, lawyer Ankur Azad said that it is the Government’s case that the three detenus were trying to create Islamic Rule in the nation and it has also recovered certain incriminating materials at the time of arrest, in the form of mobile phones, laptop, pamphlets having headlines of “Justice for Hathras Victim” etc. But the petitioners have submitted that they did not carry any such pamphlet.

According to a report in LiveLaw, all accused persons have sought default bail under Section 167(2) in the rejoinder affidavit filed through Advocates Shashwat Anand and Ankur Azad. It states that the petitioners have been languishing in jail since October 7, 2020, and the period of 90 days expired on January 5, 2021.

If the police fails to file a chargesheet within 90 days of the arrest, the law allows detained persons to apply for default bail under section 167(2). The petitioners’ case is similar, where the police has not filed a chargesheet and the Right to Default Bail accrued to the petitioners on January 6.

On January 4, the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mathura had extended the period of judicial remand of the petitioners from 90 days to 180 days. The petitioners have contended that this extension of remand order has been passed without any authority of law. They have also argued that an Additional Sessions Judge is not a competent authority under the NIA Act to extend their remand, as laid down in Bikramjit Singh vs. State of Punjab.

The plea read: “In the circumstances, the petitioners have an indefeasible and absolute right to Default Bail, accrued to them as aforesaid, and are ready and willing to furnish bail, and solemnly undertake to comply with and adhere to such terms and conditions of their release as may be deemed reasonable by this Hon’ble Court”, reported LiveLaw.

In an alleged bid to create caste-based unrest in Uttar Pradesh, the Police detained the three accused/petitioners along with Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, and booked them under strict provisions of sedition and promoting enmity between groups under the Indian Penal Code. They were also booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for conspiracy and raising funds for terrorist acts.

The matter will be taken up today, on February 24.

The order may be read here: 

Related:

UP Police arrest Muslim journalist, 3 others near Hathras for carrying ‘suspicious literature’
Muslim journalist, 3 others arrested near Hathras, booked under sedition law
Right to default bail: Not just statutory, but a fundamental right

The post Siddique Kappan’s co-accused arrested based on intelligence inputs: UP Gov’t tells Allahabad HC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Lucknow Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Rajan Roy at the Allahabad High Court heard the state of Uttar Pradesh and the victim’s family in Suo-Moto In Re : Right To Decent & Dignified Last Rites/Cremation Vs. State Of U.P. Thru Addl. Chief Secy. Home And Ors. on October 12, 2020. The victim’s family was represented by Advocate Ms. Seema Kushwaha and Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Vinod Kumar Shahi, Additional Advocate General and Sri Manish Mishra, learned Standing Counsel appeared for the State. Sri J. N. Mathur, Senior Advocate along with Sri Abhinav Bhattacharya appeared as amicus curiae yesterday.

The court has passed a detailed interlocutory 11 page order. The next date for hearing is now November 2, 2020. It has directed Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to come out with a draft policy by the next date to make sure that law and order is responsibly maintained and a decent burial/cremation is ensured in the future. Specifically, all branches of the law and order machinery and administration must be aware of the basic Constitutional Rights of all Indians, consistently emphasised by the Courts, including the Supreme Court of India. The Division Bench also directed the State administration to ensure the safety and security of the family members of the victim so that no harm is caused to them. The directions also included the inquiry/investigation which is being carried-on in the matter, either by the S.I.T. or by the CBI, to be kept in full confidentially and no report or post thereof is leaked out in the public.

In a day long hearing conducted amidst tight security yesterday, October 12, the division bench recorded the statements of Om Prakash Vakmiki, father of the deceased, the mother of the deceased and the brother of the deceased. The bhabhi (sister in law), Sandhya’s statement was also recorded and all these find mention in the Order. The family unequivocally states that they were given no space for the last rites despite repeated pleadings and requests. The family will place its account on affidavit at the next date of hearing.

To avoid unnecessary confusion and speculation around the case, the court has also specifically directed that no officer who is not directly connected with the investigation should be allowed to make any statement in public regarding commission of the offence alleged. The media and political parties have been directed to act in a manner that does not disturb social harmony and violate the rights of any family member of the victim. Even though the family is reluctant to accept any compensation, the court has directed the State to offer the family monetary support at the earliest and if they still refuse to take it, it will be deposited with the District Magistrate concerned, who shall invest it in an interest bearing account with the Nationalized Bank to be utilized as directed by the Court in the future.  The Order further states that no one should indulge in character assassination of the victim just as the accused should not be pronounced guilty before a fair trial. The court, which took up the matter suo motu on October 2, 2020, is hearing the account of the government and the family of the 20-year-old who died last month after brutal torture and alleged gangrape.

The Bench heard the District Magistrate, Hathras who elaborately defended the hasty cremation on grounds of a growing ‘law and order situation.’ Moreover, he insisted that it was not a disposal where ‘kerosene had been sprinkled on the body” but a proper cremation as per Hindu rites. Ruling on this aspect of the administration’s defence, the Court has observed, , “We do not at this stage find any good reason on behalf of the administration as to why they could not hand over the body to the family members for some time, say for even half an hour, to enable them to perform their rituals at home and thereafter to cremate it either in the night or next day.”

The court noted that they have two issues at hand: First, to ascertain whether there was a violation of fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India of the deceased-victim and her family. Second, the larger issues involved in the context of such rights which are generally available to all residents of the State and even beyond it so that valuable constitutional rights are not compromised casually and whimsically.

The court also remarked that if there is ever a similar situation in the future, the authorities must organize themselves in a manner where people’s sensitivities towards burial/cremation traditions and administration measures are both venerated. “Sensitivities of the people which the constitution recognizes as fundamental rights such as a right to decent burial/cremation as per traditions and customs followed by the family, have to be respected and if considerations of maintenance of law and order are pitted against such valuable rights, the situation needs to be handled deftly and responsibly on a proper appreciation of both the aspects as such valuable rights can not be trampled or trifled casually or whimsically especially when those likely to be deprived are of the downtrodden class, uneducated and poor”, said the court.

This order comes at a crucial time examining the possibility of an infringement of important fundamental rights that guarantees all citizens Right to Life with personal liberty and freedom to practice any religion. Family members permitted to narrate their account of misery in an open court restores some faith in the system that has failed miserably to protect the young Dalit girl who was allegedly gang raped, tortured and murdered by four Thakur men in September.

On October 1, following extensive media reportage around the hasty cremation that occurred in an almost surreptitious manner at 2.30 a.m on September 30, suo moto cognisance had been taken by the same bench. On October 1, 2020, in a short order, the court had stated that,  “The above facts and circumstances, as of now, ex facie, reveal that the decision to cremate the victim in the night without handing over the body to the family members or their consent was taken jointly by the administration at the local level and was implemented on the orders of the District Magistrate, Hathras. This action of the State Authorities, though in the name of law and order situation, is prima facie an infringement upon the human rights of the victim and her family. The victim was at least entitled to decent cremation in accordance with her religious customs and rituals which essentially are to be performed by her family”, they noted.

Any other applications, including those received by email will be also placed for hearing on November 2.

The Order in PIL Civil No 16150 may be read here:

Related

It has shocked our conscience: Allahabad HC takes cognisance of Hathras incident

Family of Hathras victim to testify in Court shortly

No dignity even in death for Dalits

The post BREAKING: A’bad HC summons suspended SP, Hathras on November 2, Victim was Entitled to Dignified Cremation appeared first on SabrangIndia.