NDTV.com
Tehelka sting: Pandya cries foul play
NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, October 27, 2007 (Ahmedabad)
The Election Commission has questioned the ban ordered by the Gujarat state collector on TV channels which aired the Tehelka sting.
The sting showed several Sangh Parivar members involved in the Gujarat riots admitting to mass murder and rape.
One of the men featured in the sting is Gujarat government counsel Arvind Pandya who has resigned from his post and has filed an FIR against the Tehelka reporter who conducted the sting.
'They came to me and said they were making a serial. And to give a touch of reality, they wanted me to play a role. I would initially be portraying a negative role and later a positive one. I was given a script with all dialogues and I just had to read them. They also made me practice my lines,' he said.
The Election Commission has seeked an explanation from State Collector Dhananjay Dwivedi.
Meanwhile, Social activist Teesta Setalvad has moved the Supreme Court, urging it to look into the Tehelka sting.
Teesta, in her application, said Tehelka records should be used as evidence in the riot cases. She has also sought action against those people who have made on-camera confessions.
Setalvad has also urged the court to speed up the riot cases pending since November 2003 because the security of the witnesses was at stake.
A day after the sting operation revealing gory details of the Gujarat riots in 2002, news channels in Ahmedabad were the first target of Chief Minister Narendra Modi's anger.
Ahmedabad collector Dhananjay Dwivedi ordered the channels showing Tehelka expose to go off air in the city. He said airing of the sting could disturb communal peace in Ahmedabad.
The Tehelka sting showed several Sangh Parivar members involved in the Gujarat riots admitting to mass murder and rape with the connivance and active encouragement of elements in the state administration.
Political stunt?
Meanwhile, instead of going on the defensive, the BJP questioned the political independence of the sting.
'We were expecting this kind of a political stunt. Since Congress cannot go directly to people and give this message they have used Tehelka,' said Prakash Javdekar, Spokesperson, BJP.
But BJP's rivals say the sting only confirms what was suspected for long.
Demand for probe
The Congress, Left parties, RJD's Laloo Prasad Yadav and others have demanded a fresh probe against the Modi government.
The Left parties want both the Nanavati Commission, which is investigating the riots, and the Supreme Court to proceed against the Modi government.
''Whatever has happened can be called state-sponsored terrorism. The sting operation shows that the chief minister had a role to play in the incident,'' said B K Hariprasad, General Secretary, Congress.
Many of those accused in the sting refused to speak to NDTV but for the families of the riot victims this is clear vindication.
Zakiya Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri - who was hacked to death in Ahmedabad during the riots - has demanded action.
'Fresh investigation should be carried out by the CBI and Modi should be punished and barred from contesting elections,' said Zakiya.
Though the sting operation has heated up the political atmosphere in the country, it remains to be seen if the guilty are punished.
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