PaRCha - JNU - AISA material - 2011 ID-28425
.
to light in recent past which were conclusively proved to be instances of police frame-ups of Muslim youth through fabricated charges. .
.
Md. Salman, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS from Siddharthnagar on 6 March 2010, was accused of being a conspirator in the 2008 Delhi blasts. On 5th February 2011, additional sessions Judge Ms. Santosh Snehi Mann threw out all charges against him in all five cases in Delhi bomb blasts for lack of any evidence that could prove that he had conspired to bomb various places in Delhi in 2008. .
.
.
In 2007, the Tamil Nadu SIT exposed how police had fabricated evidence to arrest five members of Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP) on the charges of conspiring to bomb hospitals in Coimbatore. .
.
.
In 2008, it was exposed that Delhi Police had picked up Tariq Ahmed Batloo at the Delhi airport, but falsely claimed to have arrested him from his hideout in Kashmir. .
.
.
In another case, the CBI exposed how two police informers Mohammad Qamar and Irshad Ali were declared terrorists of Al-Badr group by the Delhi Police special cell. .
.
.
The miscarriage of justice is clearly not confined to an isolated case here and there it permeates the very process and procedures of investigations - and will do so until we insist on a no-tolerance policy for such procedures. What Aseemanands confession and the trail of investigations kicked off by Hemant Karkare have laid bare is the dangerous extent to which terror investigations are tainted by majoritarian communal prejudice. If hundreds of Muslim youth were branded as masterminds and arrested, tortured, jailed and even declared convict of crimes which Aseemanand now confesses were perpetrated by saffron groups, it raises a serious question about the credibility of our investigative and judicial process. It is important to point out: had Aseemanand not had a change of heart and confessed, then communal profiling and scapegoating of minorities by the investigative agencies and a pliant media would have continued unquestioned! .
Compensate the Victims of Witch-hunt .
While we need to be vigilant that the investigations are now not derailed by prejudice of security agencies and state governments; the issue of compensation to those unjustifiably arrested and tortured needs to be addressed urgently. .
Dr. Haneefs case inAustraliawhere theAustralian government apologised and paid undisclosed large sums of money as compensation for wrongful terror accusations and detentionshould serve as a model for us here. .
Contrast this with the attitude of the Andhra Pradesh Government, which chose to offer a rehabilitation package of Rs 30,000 Rs 80,000 as loans (!) to those who suffered arrests and torture can only add insult to the already inflicted injury (Andhras Healing Touch to innocent Muslims, Indian Express, 14 Nov 2008). Just for the sake of record, even these loans have not materialised!! On the other hand, the state government is contesting the damages of Rs 20 lakhs each being claimed by the victims in the Hyderabad City Civil Court. .
In Azamgarh, the families of the boys killed in the Batla House encounter still await justice. They are being used as political fodder by the Congress leader Digvijay Singh but the Government has outright refused to submit the encounter to an impartial probe! Other young men from the same area continue to be jailed, hunted, and branded as terrorists for the crime of being Muslims from Azamgarh! .
.
Justice Must Prevail .
.
The Home Ministry must release a White Paper on the total number of those Muslim youth arrested and in jail currently in various blast cases which Aseemanand has claimed as the handiwork of his organization and associates. .
.
.
Those still languishing in prisons must be released without any further delay. .
.
.
Those authorities responsible for framing innocents in the series of blasts for which Aseemanand has claimed responsibility, must face exemplary punishment..
.
.
The Central and State governments must .
apologise and compensate all those whose .
lives have been destroyed, psychologically .
scarred and socially stigmatized by these .
false charges. .
.
.
.
Abhishek Kr. Yadav, Vice-President, AISA, JNU Atif Rabbani, Jt.Secy., AISA, JNU .
aisa .
.
.
PaRCha - JNU - AISA material - 2011 ID-28425
.
to light in recent past which were conclusively proved to be instances of police frame-ups of Muslim youth through fabricated charges. .
.
Md. Salman, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS from Siddharthnagar on 6 March 2010, was accused of being a conspirator in the 2008 Delhi blasts. On 5th February 2011, additional sessions Judge Ms. Santosh Snehi Mann threw out all charges against him in all five cases in Delhi bomb blasts for lack of any evidence that could prove that he had conspired to bomb various places in Delhi in 2008. .
.
.
In 2007, the Tamil Nadu SIT exposed how police had fabricated evidence to arrest five members of Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP) on the charges of conspiring to bomb hospitals in Coimbatore. .
.
.
In 2008, it was exposed that Delhi Police had picked up Tariq Ahmed Batloo at the Delhi airport, but falsely claimed to have arrested him from his hideout in Kashmir. .
.
.
In another case, the CBI exposed how two police informers Mohammad Qamar and Irshad Ali were declared terrorists of Al-Badr group by the Delhi Police special cell. .
.
.
The miscarriage of justice is clearly not confined to an isolated case here and there it permeates the very process and procedures of investigations - and will do so until we insist on a no-tolerance policy for such procedures. What Aseemanands confession and the trail of investigations kicked off by Hemant Karkare have laid bare is the dangerous extent to which terror investigations are tainted by majoritarian communal prejudice. If hundreds of Muslim youth were branded as masterminds and arrested, tortured, jailed and even declared convict of crimes which Aseemanand now confesses were perpetrated by saffron groups, it raises a serious question about the credibility of our investigative and judicial process. It is important to point out: had Aseemanand not had a change of heart and confessed, then communal profiling and scapegoating of minorities by the investigative agencies and a pliant media would have continued unquestioned! .
Compensate the Victims of Witch-hunt .
While we need to be vigilant that the investigations are now not derailed by prejudice of security agencies and state governments; the issue of compensation to those unjustifiably arrested and tortured needs to be addressed urgently. .
Dr. Haneefs case inAustraliawhere theAustralian government apologised and paid undisclosed large sums of money as compensation for wrongful terror accusations and detentionshould serve as a model for us here. .
Contrast this with the attitude of the Andhra Pradesh Government, which chose to offer a rehabilitation package of Rs 30,000 Rs 80,000 as loans (!) to those who suffered arrests and torture can only add insult to the already inflicted injury (Andhras Healing Touch to innocent Muslims, Indian Express, 14 Nov 2008). Just for the sake of record, even these loans have not materialised!! On the other hand, the state government is contesting the damages of Rs 20 lakhs each being claimed by the victims in the Hyderabad City Civil Court. .
In Azamgarh, the families of the boys killed in the Batla House encounter still await justice. They are being used as political fodder by the Congress leader Digvijay Singh but the Government has outright refused to submit the encounter to an impartial probe! Other young men from the same area continue to be jailed, hunted, and branded as terrorists for the crime of being Muslims from Azamgarh! .
.
Justice Must Prevail .
.
The Home Ministry must release a White Paper on the total number of those Muslim youth arrested and in jail currently in various blast cases which Aseemanand has claimed as the handiwork of his organization and associates. .
.
.
Those still languishing in prisons must be released without any further delay. .
.
.
Those authorities responsible for framing innocents in the series of blasts for which Aseemanand has claimed responsibility, must face exemplary punishment..
.
.
The Central and State governments must .
apologise and compensate all those whose .
lives have been destroyed, psychologically .
scarred and socially stigmatized by these .
false charges. .
.
.
.
Abhishek Kr. Yadav, Vice-President, AISA, JNU Atif Rabbani, Jt.Secy., AISA, JNU .
aisa .
.
.