PUCL condemns Police conduct re Mr . Yusuf Sheikh, a human rights and social activist of Vadodara

PRESS RELEASE
DATE: 25-8-2008

· PUCL condemns the way Mr. Yusuf Sheikh, a human rights and social activist of Vadodara, member of PUCL was summoned and interrogated by the Vadodara Police in a non-transparent manner.

· The PUCL reiterated the need for an in depth and impartial enquiry into the tragic bomb blast cases that occurred in Ahmedabad last month.

· While PUCL understands the need for summoning and questioning people, it strongly feels their human rights should be respected.

· PUCL demands that the Police pursue the investigations constitutionally, professionally and stop terrorizing the Muslim community in the act of hunting down terrorists.

An emergency meeting of the PUCL - Gujarat was convened at Vadodara to take stock of the situation arising out of the indiscriminate arrests and illegal detention of Muslim youth in the Ahmedabad-Surat blast investigation cases.
The PUCL reiterated the need for an in depth and impartial enquiry into the tragic bomb blast cases that occurred in Ahmedabad last month. However the PUCL team expressed concern that in the name of investigation, several persons from the Muslim community are harassed and their constitutional and fundamental rights violated. Many Muslim youth have been summoned for investigation, detained on vague and arbitrary charges and their families not even informed about their whereabouts thereafter. It is shocking that people are summoned verbally and not in writing, which is contrary to recent order of the Bombay High Court.
The PUCL condemns this unconstitutional manner of investigation which is bound to deviate the investigation from fair and impartial lines thereby preventing the police from arriving at the truth and arresting the real perpetrators of the bomb blasts.
The PUCL also condemns the harassment of human rights activists and vocal leaders of the Muslim community - this reminds of the way the Gujarat Police operated in 2002.
PUCL condemns the way Mr. Yusuf Sheikh, a human rights and social activist of Vadodara, member of PUCL was summoned and interrogated by the Vadodara Police in a non-transparent manner for 3 days on 29th, 30th and 31St July 2008 and on August 23rd - 24th in an old decrepit building (old police station in Karelibaug, Vadodara), till 2 a.m. in the morning.
While PUCL understands the need for summoning and questioning people, it strongly feels their human rights should be respected. PUCL demands that the Police pursue the investigations constitutionally, professionally and stop terrorizing the Muslim community in the act of hunting down terrorists.
We would like to put on record that the Supreme Court in its recent interim order dated 22nd September 2006 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 310 of 1996 clearly observed "...The petition refers to a research paper 'Political and Administrative Manipulation of the Police' published in 1979 by Bureau of Police Research and Development, warning that excessive control of the political executive and its principal advisers over the police has the inherent danger of making the police a tool for subverting the process of law, promoting the growth of authoritarianism, and shaking the very foundations of democracy.
The commitment, devotion, and accountability of the police have to be only to the Rule of Law. The supervision and control has to be such that it ensures that the police serve the people without any regard, whatsoever, to the status and position of any person while investigating a crime or taking preventive measures.
... Similarly, we can only express our hope that all State Governments would rise to the occasion and enact a new Police Act wholly insulating the police from any pressure whatsoever thereby placing in position an important measure for securing the rights of the citizens under the Constitution for the Rule of Law, treating everyone equal and being partisan to none, which will also help in securing an efficient and better criminal justice delivery system."

For People's Union for Civil Liberties, Gujarat
Rohit Prajapati, Vadodara
Dr. J. S. Bandukwala, Vadodara
Chinu Srinivasan, Vadodara
Girish Patel, Ahmedabad
Hiren Gandhi, Ahmedabad
Sophia Khan, Ahmedabad
Trupti Shah, Vadodara
Prasad Chacko, Ahmedabad
Swati Desai, Dediapada
Shabnam Hashmi, Anhad
Johanna Lokhande, Vadodara
Shobha Shah, Vadodara
Ashok Gupta, Vadodara
Reshma Vohra, Vadodara
Yusuf Sheikh, Vadodara
Amrishbhai Brahmbhatt, Vadodara
Hamidaben Chandul, Vadodara
Kantibhai Mistry, Vadodara
Hozefa, Ahmedabad
Dipti Bhatt, Vadodara
Meera Rati, Ahmedabad
Deepak Solanki, Ahmedabad
Ambrish Mehta, Vadodara
Trupti Parekh, Vadodara
Anand Mazgaonkar, Rajpipala
Fr. Xavier Manjooran, Rajpipala Social Service Society, Rajpipala
Rajni Dave, Ahmedabad
Jyotibhai Desai, Vedchhi
Teesta Setalvad, Communalism Combat & Citizens for Justice and Peace.
Cedric Prakash, PRASHANT-A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, Ahmedabad
Krishnakant, Vadodara
Fr. Francis G. Parmar