Indian Express
28 November 2011 - Op Ed
Four states, same story of discrimination
by Subhashini Ali
The last six months have witnessed attacks on members of the minority community in four different states: Forbesganj, Arhariya in Bihar, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and Gopalgarh, Bharatpur in Rajasthan. All those who have been killed and suffered material losses have been members of the minority community. Despite the fact that the states concerned are ruled by very different political dispensations — the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, JD(U)-BJP in Bihar, the BJP in Uttarakhand and the Congress in Rajasthan — the unforgivable and dangerous communal bias displayed by the police and administration and the ways in which political rulers have sought to cover up, justify or downplay this bias, have been similar. Those who believe that all Indian citizens have the right to equal treatment from the administration and the judiciary must voice their concern.
Affected families from Forbesganj, Moradabad and Gopalgarh attended a convention against communal conflict organised by the All India Democratic Women’s Association in the capital recently. Rudrapur went unrepresented because the families of victims have fled the town. They spoke at the convention about bereavement. It was not pity they sought, but recognition of injustice, and punishment of those responsible.
[. . .]
The events of recent months have emphasised the necessity of making the police, administration and judiciary free of bias and committed to secular principles. Exemplary punishment must be meted out to those who violate these principles. Governments must display much more sensitivity and commitment to rehabilitation. The state has to prove its commitment to the secular Constitution through action that cannot be half-hearted and tardy.
The writer is vice-president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association and member of the central committee of the CPM
FULL TEXT AT: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/four-states-same-story-of-discrimination/881210/0
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Showing posts with label Forbesgang Police Firing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forbesgang Police Firing. Show all posts
November 28, 2011
July 04, 2011
Why Media's Silence on Forbesganj Killings in Bihar ?
The Economic and Political Weekly
June 25, 2011
Editorial
Silence on Killings in Bihar
Nitish Kumar is able to brazen out the police killings in Forbesganj, thanks to the silence of the media.
On the afternoon of 3 June, the police in Forbesganj block of Araria district of Bihar shot, stomped on and beat to death four unarmed villagers and injured at least nine others, in what is, by all accounts, a wanton act of state violence. The dead include a pregnant Shazmeena who received six bullet wounds in her hand, spine and stomach, six-year-old Naushad who was shot twice in his spine, 22-year-old Mukhtar Ansari who was shot in his head, chest, stomach and spine and 18-year-old Moham- mad Mustafa, who was shot six times and then when not yet dead, had a policeman repeatedly jump and stomp on his injured body and kick it mercilessly to make sure he died. All the bullet wounds of the dead and injured are in the head, chest, stomach, hands and spine. Not only do these indicate a clear intent to kill in the firing, it also shows that those who were running away or had fallen down were shot by a trigger-happy police.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appears to have decided to brazen out the incident, alleging that some activists were making a mountain out of a molehill. Police officials have said that they only fired in “self-defence” when villagers supposedly threw stones and brandished firearms. However, testimonies of the victims, video footage and photos show that the Bihar police shot unarmed villagers who were not even protesting at the time. Given the manner in which the state machinery already appears to have absolved the killers of Forbesganj and is busy building alibis for them, there can be little hope that the victims will receive any justice from the judicial inquiry that Nitish Kumar has reluctantly ordered.
The villagers of Bhajanpura village, on the outskirts of Forbesganj town, have been protesting against construction of a boundary wall for a proposed factory which is linked to an important leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ashok Agarwal, who is a lieutenant of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi. The boundary wall would block Bhajanpura’s only access road. On 1 June, representatives of the administration and the factory assured the villagers that the wall would only be built once an alternative road had been provided to them. However, on the morning of 3 June, the residents of the village found that their road had been blocked overnight by a newly constructed factory wall. They gathered in large numbers, broke down the wall and started accessing the road as they had been doing for at least the past six decades. The police arrived a few hours later and, it appears from witnesses, fired randomly at those using this road.
Thus the dead include a pregnant woman on her way to the hospital and a young man going to buy vegetables.
While the entire incident is shocking, the conduct of the political leadership of Bihar has been outrageous. What has added an edge to the police violence is that the victims are all Muslims while the instigators of the violence appear to be among the state leadership of the BJP with links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Some activists have charged the latter organisation with creating the conditions for a re-enactment of Gujarat. This incident is now being used by political opponents of Nitish Kumar to hit at his support among the Muslims of the state. Nitish Kumar has foregrounded the demands of the Pasmanda (dalit and back- ward class) Muslims and has thus managed to fracture the Muslim electoral base which had traditionally been led by the elites of the community. His electoral success has depended crucially on bringing the Pasmanda Muslims into an alliance with upper caste Hindu groups, the latter forming the core support groups of the BJP and the JD(U). However, the killing of Pas- manda Muslims in Forbesganj to help an upper caste factory owner close to the BJP leadership can unravel the alliance and it appears that the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress are using this incident precisely for this purpose. Unfortunately, such cyni- cal political games may further deny the victims of Forbesganj the chance of getting justice.
Apart from such self-serving support, few have stood up for the victims of Forbesganj. It has only been the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), led by its chairman, Wajahat Habibullah, and member Syeda Bilgrami Imam, which visited Bhajanpura and heard the testimonies of the victims. Nitish Kumar refused to meet the NCM team and has so far not even announced compensation for those killed in the police firing or suspended those policemen who have been shown to be prima facie guilty.
The silence of the mainstream media about the Forbesganj killings, even when photos and videos of police brutality were available is not only disturbing but a pointer to the very nature of Indian media today. Nitish Kumar is the anointed “best” chief minister of India and nothing, it appears, can pierce his Teflon coating. While the poor, unarmed villagers of Forbesganj were being shot dead to facilitate the operation of the factory of a ruling party leader, the mainstream media was busy hyperventilating on the theatrics of a yoga guru and sundry “civil society”. A dispassionate analysis of the media’s role in this entire affair will suggest a deliberate attempt to protect Nitish Kumar and his government. This exposes the politics and prejudices which underlie our “free press”.
Is it still possible for India’s civil society, properly defined, and its democracy to find justice for the victims of Forbesganj? Can we hope that the perpetrators of the murders – not just the policemen involved, but also those who gave the orders for such action – are brought to stand trial?
June 25, 2011
Editorial
Silence on Killings in Bihar
Nitish Kumar is able to brazen out the police killings in Forbesganj, thanks to the silence of the media.
On the afternoon of 3 June, the police in Forbesganj block of Araria district of Bihar shot, stomped on and beat to death four unarmed villagers and injured at least nine others, in what is, by all accounts, a wanton act of state violence. The dead include a pregnant Shazmeena who received six bullet wounds in her hand, spine and stomach, six-year-old Naushad who was shot twice in his spine, 22-year-old Mukhtar Ansari who was shot in his head, chest, stomach and spine and 18-year-old Moham- mad Mustafa, who was shot six times and then when not yet dead, had a policeman repeatedly jump and stomp on his injured body and kick it mercilessly to make sure he died. All the bullet wounds of the dead and injured are in the head, chest, stomach, hands and spine. Not only do these indicate a clear intent to kill in the firing, it also shows that those who were running away or had fallen down were shot by a trigger-happy police.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appears to have decided to brazen out the incident, alleging that some activists were making a mountain out of a molehill. Police officials have said that they only fired in “self-defence” when villagers supposedly threw stones and brandished firearms. However, testimonies of the victims, video footage and photos show that the Bihar police shot unarmed villagers who were not even protesting at the time. Given the manner in which the state machinery already appears to have absolved the killers of Forbesganj and is busy building alibis for them, there can be little hope that the victims will receive any justice from the judicial inquiry that Nitish Kumar has reluctantly ordered.
The villagers of Bhajanpura village, on the outskirts of Forbesganj town, have been protesting against construction of a boundary wall for a proposed factory which is linked to an important leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ashok Agarwal, who is a lieutenant of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi. The boundary wall would block Bhajanpura’s only access road. On 1 June, representatives of the administration and the factory assured the villagers that the wall would only be built once an alternative road had been provided to them. However, on the morning of 3 June, the residents of the village found that their road had been blocked overnight by a newly constructed factory wall. They gathered in large numbers, broke down the wall and started accessing the road as they had been doing for at least the past six decades. The police arrived a few hours later and, it appears from witnesses, fired randomly at those using this road.
Thus the dead include a pregnant woman on her way to the hospital and a young man going to buy vegetables.
While the entire incident is shocking, the conduct of the political leadership of Bihar has been outrageous. What has added an edge to the police violence is that the victims are all Muslims while the instigators of the violence appear to be among the state leadership of the BJP with links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Some activists have charged the latter organisation with creating the conditions for a re-enactment of Gujarat. This incident is now being used by political opponents of Nitish Kumar to hit at his support among the Muslims of the state. Nitish Kumar has foregrounded the demands of the Pasmanda (dalit and back- ward class) Muslims and has thus managed to fracture the Muslim electoral base which had traditionally been led by the elites of the community. His electoral success has depended crucially on bringing the Pasmanda Muslims into an alliance with upper caste Hindu groups, the latter forming the core support groups of the BJP and the JD(U). However, the killing of Pas- manda Muslims in Forbesganj to help an upper caste factory owner close to the BJP leadership can unravel the alliance and it appears that the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress are using this incident precisely for this purpose. Unfortunately, such cyni- cal political games may further deny the victims of Forbesganj the chance of getting justice.
Apart from such self-serving support, few have stood up for the victims of Forbesganj. It has only been the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), led by its chairman, Wajahat Habibullah, and member Syeda Bilgrami Imam, which visited Bhajanpura and heard the testimonies of the victims. Nitish Kumar refused to meet the NCM team and has so far not even announced compensation for those killed in the police firing or suspended those policemen who have been shown to be prima facie guilty.
The silence of the mainstream media about the Forbesganj killings, even when photos and videos of police brutality were available is not only disturbing but a pointer to the very nature of Indian media today. Nitish Kumar is the anointed “best” chief minister of India and nothing, it appears, can pierce his Teflon coating. While the poor, unarmed villagers of Forbesganj were being shot dead to facilitate the operation of the factory of a ruling party leader, the mainstream media was busy hyperventilating on the theatrics of a yoga guru and sundry “civil society”. A dispassionate analysis of the media’s role in this entire affair will suggest a deliberate attempt to protect Nitish Kumar and his government. This exposes the politics and prejudices which underlie our “free press”.
Is it still possible for India’s civil society, properly defined, and its democracy to find justice for the victims of Forbesganj? Can we hope that the perpetrators of the murders – not just the policemen involved, but also those who gave the orders for such action – are brought to stand trial?
June 18, 2011
After Forbesganj police firing demand for action against Bihar's deputy chief minister
Deccan Chronicle
Demand for action on Modi grows
June 18, 2011
By ANAND S.T. DAS
Correspondent
Patna
Even as the injured victims of the Forbesganj police firing languish at a Patna hospital without proper medical care, hectic politicking continues unabated in Bihar amid communal undertones and growing demands for action against deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the brutal crackdown on Muslim villagers.
The June 3 firing on villagers protesting against land acquisition by a private factory, which killed four people, and subsequent revelations of police brutality leading to the death of a bullet-hit teenager in the presence of Araria SP Garima Mallik have given the Opposition parties enough ammunition to bombard the JD(U)-BJP coalition government. Sharp criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led government by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and social activist Shabnam Hashmi have added to the morale of the Congress, RJD, LJP, NCP and the Left parties.
A series of demonstrations by these parties and their demands for wide-ranging punitive action for the attacks on the Muslim villagers have hit two significant pillars of Mr Kumar’s robust position in power, his painstakingly acquired credibility among Muslims despite the alliance with the BJP and his continuous efforts to improve the work culture and image of the Bihar police force.
Bihar Congress president Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser said the Forbesganj police firing will eventually quicken the ouster of Mr Kumar’s government just like incidents in Singur and Nandigram led to the exit of West Bengal’s Left Front government.
Demand for action on Modi grows
June 18, 2011
By ANAND S.T. DAS
Correspondent
Patna
Even as the injured victims of the Forbesganj police firing languish at a Patna hospital without proper medical care, hectic politicking continues unabated in Bihar amid communal undertones and growing demands for action against deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the brutal crackdown on Muslim villagers.
The June 3 firing on villagers protesting against land acquisition by a private factory, which killed four people, and subsequent revelations of police brutality leading to the death of a bullet-hit teenager in the presence of Araria SP Garima Mallik have given the Opposition parties enough ammunition to bombard the JD(U)-BJP coalition government. Sharp criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led government by filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and social activist Shabnam Hashmi have added to the morale of the Congress, RJD, LJP, NCP and the Left parties.
A series of demonstrations by these parties and their demands for wide-ranging punitive action for the attacks on the Muslim villagers have hit two significant pillars of Mr Kumar’s robust position in power, his painstakingly acquired credibility among Muslims despite the alliance with the BJP and his continuous efforts to improve the work culture and image of the Bihar police force.
Bihar Congress president Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser said the Forbesganj police firing will eventually quicken the ouster of Mr Kumar’s government just like incidents in Singur and Nandigram led to the exit of West Bengal’s Left Front government.
June 17, 2011
Activists meet National Minorities Commission Chairperson, NCM to visit Forbesganj on 21st June 2011
Activists meet National Minorities Commission Chairperson about Forbesganj Firing: NCM to visit Forbesganj on 21st June.
A team of civil rights activists today met with the Chairperson of the National Minorities Commission, Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, to express anger and distress over the police firing in Forbesganj—in which four people, including an infant were shot dead at pointblank range by the Bihar Police on 3rd June—seeking his urgent intervention to ensure justice for the victims of the horrendous torture and killings. Mr. Habibulallah apprised the team that he had sought a response from the Bihar Government but was not satisfied with it. In a letter to the Chief Minister dated 14th June, Mr. Habibullah wrote, “The Commission is entirely dissatisfied with the report received from Araria District SP Ms. Garima Malik, which fails to explain why it should have become necessary for the police to open fire so indiscriminately as to target women and babies, and disappointed by the communication received from Shri Amir Subhani, Home Secretary, Bihar.”
Disappointed by the casual approach of the Bihar government, the Chairperson informed the delegation that he has decided to lead a team to visit Forbesganj on 21st June to make a first-hand assessment of the situation. The following day, the team will also be seeking a report from the Chief Minister on the action taken in this matter. We welcome the active intervention of the Commission Chairperson and hope that the NHRC will also take note of the gravity of human rights violations of the poorest and the most marginalized people by the government of Bihar. The delegation also urged the Chairperson to pay a visit to the injured victims in PMCH, whose miseries are being compounded by the lack of medical attention and government apathy. The demand that the injured must be provided the best possible medical care on government expense was reiterated by the activists.
Sd/-
Mahtab Alam and Iqbal Ahmed (Committee for Justice for Victims of Forbesganj Firing)
9811209345/ 9818215030
Manisha Sethi and Ahmed Sohaib (Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association)
9811625577/ 9899462042
Endorsed and supported by ANHAD, AISA, NAPM, INSAF
A team of civil rights activists today met with the Chairperson of the National Minorities Commission, Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, to express anger and distress over the police firing in Forbesganj—in which four people, including an infant were shot dead at pointblank range by the Bihar Police on 3rd June—seeking his urgent intervention to ensure justice for the victims of the horrendous torture and killings. Mr. Habibulallah apprised the team that he had sought a response from the Bihar Government but was not satisfied with it. In a letter to the Chief Minister dated 14th June, Mr. Habibullah wrote, “The Commission is entirely dissatisfied with the report received from Araria District SP Ms. Garima Malik, which fails to explain why it should have become necessary for the police to open fire so indiscriminately as to target women and babies, and disappointed by the communication received from Shri Amir Subhani, Home Secretary, Bihar.”
Disappointed by the casual approach of the Bihar government, the Chairperson informed the delegation that he has decided to lead a team to visit Forbesganj on 21st June to make a first-hand assessment of the situation. The following day, the team will also be seeking a report from the Chief Minister on the action taken in this matter. We welcome the active intervention of the Commission Chairperson and hope that the NHRC will also take note of the gravity of human rights violations of the poorest and the most marginalized people by the government of Bihar. The delegation also urged the Chairperson to pay a visit to the injured victims in PMCH, whose miseries are being compounded by the lack of medical attention and government apathy. The demand that the injured must be provided the best possible medical care on government expense was reiterated by the activists.
Sd/-
Mahtab Alam and Iqbal Ahmed (Committee for Justice for Victims of Forbesganj Firing)
9811209345/ 9818215030
Manisha Sethi and Ahmed Sohaib (Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association)
9811625577/ 9899462042
Endorsed and supported by ANHAD, AISA, NAPM, INSAF
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