Batla House fake encounter

Lessons from Batla House encounter: Truth will prevail

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net,

Mahatma Gandhi started his satyagraha from Champaran district of Bihar. This force of truth is what ultimately led to India’s independence. After independence, India adopted "Satyameva Jayate" [Truth Alone Triumphs] as its motto. A 23 year-old youth from Champaran is testing India’s commitment to its truth and in the process showing the mirror to the Indian republic and asking them the same questions that Gandhi’s followers asked the colonial rulers.

Afroz Alam was born in Champaran district of Bihar in 1987. He is acutely aware of the historical importance of Champaran in India’s freedom struggle. Through Right To Information (RTI) Act, he has started his own “satyagraha” for seeking out the truth. Since 2005, he has filed thousands of RTI applications seeking information on local and national issues but what has made him famous is his unprecedented successes in finding truth of Batla House killings of Sept 19, 2008 that was termed as encounter by Delhi Police and fake by the population living in that area.

RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil

Two years ago today, in Batla House area of Jamia Nagar, Delhi two civilians Sajid and Atif, and a police officer Mohan Chand Sharma were dead after some gun-shots were heard in the morning. What had happened there in flat number L-18 that day that led to three deaths is not clear. Afroz Alam Sahil, then a student of Mass Communication in Jamia Millia Islamia and an RTI activist, filed around 40 applications seeking more information about this “encounter” but has met by deafening silence from all sides.

Getting information through RTI has never been easy but it has been a special challenge to find out anything about the Batla House encounter case. He has filed appeals after appeals with different departments but without much success. He has filed RTI applications with the Prime Minister’s Office, President of India, Union Home Ministry, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi Police, and Delhi Minority Commission with little or no response from most of these organizations.

But his dogged persistence has paid off when in March this year, NHRC finally released the post-mortem report of Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid, two youth who were killed in Batla House encounter. The post-mortem report, which AIIMS and Delhi Police still refuses to give, revealed that both Atif and Sajid had injuries on their bodies which occurred before their death. Delhi Police’s version of event had it that no physical interaction happened with the youth and the police but then how would one explain these injuries that AIIMS doctor clearly marked as “ante-mortem” or before death.
http://www.twocircles.net/2010mar17/batla_house_post_mortem_report_confi

Just a few days ago, RTI officer at AIIMS again refused to give any information about post-mortem reports of Batla House victims, thought it has been already made public by the NHRC. The reason for refusal, cited by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) is RTI act 8 (g) and 8 (h):

8. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen,

(g) information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; (h) information, which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

I would leave it to the readers to figure who will get hurt from the information that is being refused to be given by various government agencies and who benefits from this silence?

Though harassed along the way and humiliated by government officials, Afroz has refused to give in. It was big news when in July 2009, NHRC gave clean-chit to Delhi regarding their action in Batla House. "We are clearly of the opinion that having regard to the material placed before us, it cannot be said that there has been any violation of human rights by action of police," the commission wrote in a report submitted to the Delhi High Court. But a year later, in June 2010, NHRC finally admitted that it never paid a visit to Batla House flat, where the encounter took place, or talk to anyone involved in the case. In fact, India’s statutory human rights body conducted the enquiry only after they were ordered by the Delhi High Court and relied solely on Delhi Police version and evidence, and that too uncritically. One might ask what is the usefulness of NHRC if they will enquire only when ordered to do so and then believe what police had to say about the incident.

But what Afroz Alam has seen so far leaves no doubt in this mind that Batla House encounter was fake. And he finds it strange that though CBI is enquiring encounters in Gujarat, where BJP is the ruling party but not in Delhi, where Congress is in power.

Another unintended revelation from Afroz’s RTI activism was that Muslim organizations have been totally ineffective in India. Muslim youth in India were hunted down in the name of terrorism since 2001 and Muslim organizations except for issuing statements have not been able to do much in this regard. They were unable to convince the larger population that various encounters were fake or work with the government to get innocents released those that had been arrested and framed on terrorism charges. The story of Afroz Alam Sahil is a matter of inspiration and hope for Muslim youth and organizations- there are many legal means of getting justice in India, though it may be a long and frustrating journey but there is no other way to hard work and the truth will prevail.

Lashkar, ISI Expanding Anti-India Operations in Afghanistan: NYT

Srinagar, August 4: Many Afghan and international intelligence officials and diplomats stationed in Kabul have confirmed that with the help of ISI, Lashar-e-Taiba (LeT) has expanded its anti-India operations into Afghanistan and set up training camps, NYT reports. 

Officials said that LeT is believed to have masterminded and carried out three major attacks on Indian government employees and private workers in Afghanistan in recent months, reports said. 

The New York Times reported that Pakistan maintains that it doesn’t support or help Lashkar any longer but its expanded activities in Afghanistan, particularly against Indian targets, raises suspicion that it has become one of Pakistan’s proxies to counteract India’s influence in the war ravaged country, said reports. 

“Our concern is that there are still players involved that are trying to use Afghanistan’s ground as a place for a proxy war,” Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan’s deputy national security adviser, was quoted as saying. “It is being carried out by certain state actors to fight their opponents,” Abdali was quoted as saying. Experts opine that now the LeT is more of a threat in Afghanistan than even Al Qaeda is, reports said. The paper said that there were a few Lashkar cells in Afghanistan three or four years ago, but they were not focused on Indian targets and, until recently, their presence seemed to be diminishing, said reports. In a recent testimony to the US Congress, Pakistan analysts described the LeT as a terror group ‘having ambitions well beyond India’, reports said. 

   

“They are active now in six or eight provinces. They are currently most interested in Indian targets here, but they can readily trade attacks on international targets for money or influence or an alliance with other groups,” a senior NATO intelligence official, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, was quoted as saying.

“Bharat Teri Shahmat Aayi …Lashkar Aaayi…Lashkar Aaayi. Translation : India , you are now faced with worst time as "Lashkar" has arrived .

Dear editor,

Lashkar-e-Taiba is a pro-jehadi organization fighting the forced Indian occupation in Kashmir. They have been known to be the most lethal, technologically advanced, highly trained and the most destructive force among all of the Kashmiri resistance groups and have been bleeding the Indian occupation forces in Kashmir for years now. In accordance with Islamic teachings, they have a policy of not attacking civilians, and have denounced countless terrorist acts targeting civilians in both India and Pakistan.

In addition to their resolve and ability, one of the reasons Lashkar-e-Taiba has been so effective in Kashmir is the popular support they enjoy among ordinary Kashmiris. Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris have taken to the streets every day demanding freedom from India, chanting such slogans as ‘India teri maut ai, lashkar aai lashkar aai‘ and ‘lashkar-e-taiba se rishta kya, la ilaha il-Allah’

Meanwhile the vale of Kashmir reverberates with the slogan of “Bharat Teri Shahmat Aayi …Lashkar Aaayi…Lashkar Aaayi. Translation : India , you are now faced with worst time as "Lashkar" has arrived .

laming Lashkar-e-Taiba is not only a great diversion for the understandably angry Indian pulbic looking at their leaders for answers, it also helps paint Lashkar-e-Taiba as mindless terrorists and Pakistan as a state sponsor of Terrorism. Pointing towards the ‘traditional enemy’ means they can’t be held accountable, and provides the perfect cover for home grown Hindu terrorists, giving them a free hand to keep slaughtering Muslims and Christians in India.

Jahangir Khan

Via e-mail

Srinagar

'Difficult to say if Lashkar is behind J&K violence' Mufti Mehboba

Srinagar: Jully 02: People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti reacted sharply when asked if there was any truth in the allegation that her party has been providing money to some Kashmiris to stage-manage the ongoing violence in the valley.

In an interview with Rediff.com's Onkar Singh, the leader of Jammu and Kashmir's  main Opposition party describe Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's  government as a total failure on most fronts.

This is downright rubbish and false to the core. Those who have made these allegations should look at their own deeds.

Even if I presume for a moment that what they say is right, then going by the same logic, it should also be said that the central government 'purchased' over 60 per cent votes in the 2008 election. is difficult to say whether Lashkar is behind these incidents of violence or not. The militancy in the state has almost come to a nil. What you see is spontaneous outpouring of anger of the Kashmiris against the repression unleashed by the central forces, particularly the Central Reserve Police Force.

33 innocents have so far lost their lives as per the statement issued by P Chidambaram. But this number could be more. The people of the state are agitating against the gross violation of human rights

I am deeply pained at these allegations, because when we were in power, violence in the valley had come down noticeably.

It is difficult to say whether Lashkar is behind these incidents of violence or not. The militancy in the state has almost come to a nil. What you see is spontaneous outpouring of anger of the Kashmiris against the repression unleashed by the central forces, particularly the Central Reserve Police Force.

Meanwhile,curfew in Srinagar, other towns to the Eidgah march, the authorities continue to impose indefinite curfew in Srinagar and other major cities and towns of the Valley to thwart the march towards Eidgah, Srinagar, today.

Call for the march has been given by the forum patronized by veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani to protest against the unabated killing of innocent Kashmiris by Indian troops in the disputed  territory.

Life in the Kashmir Valley remains paralysed for the eighth consecutive day, today, amidst curfew and shutdown. All shops, business establishments, educational institutions, public and private offices and banks are closed while traffic is off the road in all the districts across the Valley.

Loudspeaker-fitted vehicles were on the streets of Srinagar making announcements of the extension of the curfew. “Policemen and paramilitary vehicles are moving through the old city and announcements have been made that curfew has been imposed,” a resident of Nowhatta told media men over phone. Similar announcements were being made in other major towns of the Valley.

“Curfew is being imposed to prevent people from marching towards Eidgah,” a police official said. “Curfew and restrictions will continue on Friday (today) in Srinagar and other towns of the Valley, which have seen massive protests in the wake of recent killings,” a police spokesman had told media men on Thursday evening.

India-Pakistan pilgrimage for peace and harmony

Srinagar: Feb, 08: More than a dozen NGOs from India in association with their Pakistani counterparts are planning a march in May this year to promote peace and harmony in the region.

According to Feroze Mithiborwala - President of Awami Bharat, the March that would be a combination of a Rath-cum-Padyatra would begin from Mumbai and follow the route from Dahanu (Maharashtra), Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Mehsana - (Gujarat), Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Ajmer, Jaipur (Rajasthan), Agra, Mathura - (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, Panipat - (Haryana), Chandigargh (Haryana-Punjab), Ludhiana, Amristsar (Punjab), Wagah (India-Pakistan border) before entering Pakistan and culminating in Karachi.

The march is expected to travel over 2000 kilometers in India and around 1000 kilometers in Pakistan by May 31, 2010.

Stating that a consensus is building for India and Pakistan peace and a vast majority of people in both the countries are in favor of peace, Feroze Mithiborwala said, "At the time when both the governments are now conducting discussions, we would only be adding to the climate & creating a larger space within the people of the two countries, as well as the powers that be."

Titled as India-Pakistan pilgrimage for peace and harmony, the march has been borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha launched during the British rule in the Indian subcontinent.

"Considering the religio-cultural history of South Asia, that has a deep devotion to Sufi & Bhakti Saints & for where Pilgrimages, either to Amarnath or Ajmer, are a holy & spiritually purifying act, we chose the name for our peace march", added Feroze.

"Throughout the course of our journey for peace, we would appeal to people to contribute a Mutthi bhar mitti - fist full of soil, that would then be collected from every city, town & village along the way. By this, people would feel that they are a part of the larger process of peace & unity", he said.

Noting that Peepal is the tree under which Buddha received his enlightenment and South Asia currently needs a generous dose of the same kind of enlightenment, he said, "We will also carry saplings - preferably Peepal from each of these places & plant them in the "GARDEN OF PEACE" that we will create along with a "PILLAR OF PEACE" or Bharat-Pakistan Shanti Stambh. This could then be made in all the cities towns & villages across the two countries."

"We do need a lot of emotional markers on our cultural landscape - We will create the same with the soil of the two countries", he noted. (Writer-South Asia)

'Love Jihad' - A Jihadi Organisations to trap Hindu girls

Pathanamthitta (Kerala): Few days back a secular Malayalam Daily, Kerala Kaumudi exposed shocking revelations about a jihadi organisation named ‘Love Jihad’ which has been conveniently ignored by rest of the media.

Trapping naive Non Muslim girls (Read as Hindu girls) in the web of love inorder to convert to Islam is the modus operandi of the said organisation. Already more than 4000 girls have been converted to Islam by this Jihadi Romeos.

Special branch of Police started investigation when marriages of such large scales are reported within last 6 months. As per the instructions to recruits of this organisation, they have to love a Hindu girl within the time frame of 2 weeks and brainwash them to get converted and marry within 6 months. Special instructions to breed atleast 4 kids have also been given. If the target won’t get trapped within first 2 weeks, they are instructed to leave them and move on to another girl.

College students and working girls should be the prime target. Once completed their mission the organisation will give 1 lakh Rupees and Financial help for the youth to start business. Free Mobile Phone, Bikes and Fashionable dresses are offered to them as tools for the mission.

Money for this Love Jihad comes from Middle East. Each district have their own zone chairman’s to oversee the mission. Prior to College admission they make a list of Hindu girls and their details and target those whom they feel vulnerable and easy to be brainwashed.

It’s upto our Secular parents and Hindu Soceity as a whole to decide whether they should inculcate the ethos of Sanathana Dharma upon their Sons and Daughters before getting targeted by these evil doers. The story of a Marxist MLA’s daughter which hit even National Headlines (Although for Maligning Hindu Organisations) is only the tip of the iceberg.

‘Love Jehad’ is a new phrase coined by the Sangh Parivar – that is being echoed in courtrooms and cabinets across the country. The Sangh Parivar has claimed that thousands of Hindu girls are being lured by Muslim boys into conversion to Islam and recruitment into ‘jehadi’ outfits. And what is extremely worrying is that the Kerala HC, Karnataka HC and even the Maharashtra Government have expressed the same sentiments.

The Kerala HC made its comments on ‘Love Jehad’ in the context of two cases where Hindu women had eloped to marry Muslim men. The women’s parents had filed complaints claiming the women had been abducted, and the Kerala High Court ordered them to stay with their parents for a week. At the end of the week one of the women had given a statement claiming she had been brainwashed into adopting Islam and shown ‘jehadi’ CDs. Based on this single statement, the Kerala HC chose to order the Kerala Government and the Union Home Ministry to probe what it alleged was a nationwide ‘Love Jehad’ racket. Following this, the Karnataka HC passed similar observations in the case of a 23-year old woman civil engineer who told the Court clearly that she had converted to Islam of her own accord and wished to marry her lover Ashgar and live with him. The HC chose to suspect the veracity of the woman’s statement, ordered her to stay with her parents, and ordered a probe by the Karnataka police saying the matter had ‘national ramifications concerning security, besides the question of unlawful trafficking of women.’ Earlier, the Congress-NCP Government of Maharashtra had passed an order to investigate into every case of Muslim men marrying Hindu women, alleging a trafficking racket, but had to withdraw this probe in the face of protest.

The Kerala State DGP has submitted a report to the Kerala HC declaring that there is no evidence of any ‘Love Jehad’ movement anywhere in the country. Karnataka’s Dakshina Kanada district police has also busted the myth of ‘Love Jehad.’ Recently when Anitha (22) went missing in June this year, Sangh Parivar organisations claimed that she was forcibly converted to Islam by a Pakistan-backed, professional ‘jehadist lover’. The police, however, established that Anitha was poisoned to death by Mohan Kumar, a serial killer arrested on October 21, who allegedly confessed to having murdered her and robbed 17 other women by luring them with offers of marriage. A top police official told an English daily: “By cracking the Anitha case, we hoped to put an end to this ‘Love Jehad’ controversy once and for all….certain fundamentalist groups that have been carrying out vigilante attacks against inter-community couples for several years have now started using the ‘Love Jehad’ theory to justify their attacks.”

Let us recall that in innumerable cases of inter caste/inter religious marriages, where the girl has voluntarily married, her parents have falsely accused her of being an “abducted”, “brainwashed” minor, and have pressurized her into denying the relationship. Nari Niketans in every city are full of adult women imprisoned for months because their parents have accused them of being minors; the Nari Niketans separate the women from their husbands but freely allow their own parents to meet and coerce them. In the Nitish Katara case and Rizwanur Rehman case, the girls (Bharati Yadav and Priyanka Todi) eventually refused to complain against their fathers and brothers, even after overwhelming evidence that their lovers had been killed or forced to commit suicide in cold-blood. The Kerala and Karnataka HCs has absolutely no right to order adult women to stay with their parents; statements taken by such women in forced parental custody are certain to be taken under coercion, and the Courts are highly irresponsible to make such statements the basis for sweeping orders that perpetuate communal myths without a shred of evidence. Such “enquiries” into every marriage of a Hindu man with a Muslim woman – be it by Courts or the Maharashtra Government –violate the Constitutional right to privacy and choice in matters of marriage, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, and upheld by numerous Supreme Court verdicts.

Let us also remember that the Sangh Parivar leader Babu Bajrangi of Gujarat boasts of having ‘rescued’ thousands of women who have married outside the caste or community, and forced them to give up their husbands. Sadhvi Pragya’s organization too used to indulge in the same activity. And the Sri Ram Sene in the Dakshin Kanada district has indulged in innumerable attacks on Muslim and Hindu women who befriend each other – one young 15-year old schoolgirl even committed suicide after public humiliation by the Sene. The Courts’ observations provide a shot in the arm for the Sri Ram Senes and Babu Bajrangis – they can now claim their attacks on women are acts of ‘nationalism.’ We wonder why neither the Courts never pass orders to ban Khaap panchayats and the Sri Ram Sene; why Courts never order enquiries into suspected cases of honour killing, but the same Courts are so eager to fan up communal and anti-women flames by making irresponsible comments about ‘Love Jehad’?

‘Love Jehad’ is a communal fantasy – a new pretext to attack the freedom of women to love and marry by choice, and to witch-hunt Muslim men. In the name of ‘Love Jehad,’ every Rizwan-ur-rehman can be branded a terrorist; every Priyanka’s right to choose can be denied on the grounds that she is ‘brain-washed’ by jehadis; every police officer as well as every Pramod Muthalik justified in harassing the Rizwans and Priyankas in the name of ‘national security.’(Writer-South Asia)

I have no faith in Indian court, says Amir Kasab

Mumbai (India) October 12: Facing trial in the Mumbai attack case for nearly six months, the lone surviving Pakistani national Ajmal Kasab on Monday said he had 'no faith' in Indian court and made a dramatic plea for transfer of the case to an international court. But Judge M L Tahaliyani rejected 22-year-old Kasab's plea saying, "It is misconceived."

"I have no faith in Indian court and this case may be transferred to an International court," Kasab said in an application to the court. He had moved the application written in his own hand in Urdu. The application was filed through jail authorities who translated it into Marathi and produced before the court.

The judge asked Kasab whether he had written the application and he replied "Ji huzoor" (Yes, Sir). The trial of Kasab, whom police formally charged in February with several offences including 'waging war' against India, began on March 23 via a video link with his Arthur Road prison in Mumbai.

Kasab and other suspected Laskhar-e-Taiba operatives killed 166 people most of them muslims in a three-day rampage in the city on November 26 last.

In another development, the judge also rejected the plea of co-accused Fahim Ansari to stay the proceedings on the ground that he had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of the 26/11 case to some other court alleging that the recording of evidence was incorrect.

"This is yet another attempt by the accused to delay the trial," noted judge Tahaliyani while rejecting Fahim's plea to stay the proceedings.

While stating that he had no trust in the trial court, Fahim had alleged that he was not being allowed to meet his wife and proceedings of the case were not being correctly recorded.

The judge, rejecting his plea to stay the trial, observed, "The accused is employing delay tactics. His wife has been issued a permanent pass to attend the proceedings. Fahim is also allowed to meet his wife every day and the meeting time also has been increased from time to time."

"Despite getting all such facilities, Fahim has been misusing them. Also, whenever he is asked queries, he does not cooperate and gives evasive answers," the court observed.

On the allegation that proceedings were not being correctly recorded, the judge said it was 'misconceived' and added that there was no provision in law to have an audio-visual recording of the trial.

"Fahim is perhaps being instigated by outsiders," the court noted. Fahim is facing the charge of conspiring with other accused in the so-called terror attacks.

Police say they recovered maps of 26/11 terror locations which he allegedly handed over to LeT conspirators in Pakistan. The court has also issued contempt notice to Fahim asking him why contempt action should not be taken against him for making allegations against it in the application. (rediffmail.com)