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.

CLARY SAGE-Salvia sclarea seeds for sale

CLARY SAGE-Salvia sclarea
Family : Lamiaceae

Details : The Romans called it sclarea, from claurus, or “clear,” because they used it as an eyewash. The practice of German merchants of adding clary and elder flowers to Rhine wine to make it imitate a good Muscatel was so common that Germans still call the herb Muskateller Salbei and the English know it as Muscatel Sage. Clary sometimes replaced hops in beer to produce an enhanced state of intoxication and exhilaration, although this reportedly was often followed by a severe headache. It was considered a 12 th-century aphrodisiac.

Part used : herb/flowering tops and foliage

Constituents : linalyl acetate, linalol, pinene, myrcene, saponine and phellandrene.

Actions : anticonvulsive, antidepressant, antiphlogistic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, bactericidal.

Medicinal Uses : Like its relative sage, clary tea, the leaf juice in ale or beer, was recommended for many types of women’s problems, including delayed or painful menstruation. It was once used to stop night sweating in tuberculosis patients. An astringent is gargled, douched and poured over skin wounds. It is combined with other herbs for kidney problems. The clary seeds form a thick mucilage when soaked for a few minutes and placed in the eye, helps to removed, small irritating particles. A tea of the leaves is also used as an eyewash. Clary is also used to reduce muscle spasms. It is used today mainly to treat digestive problems such as gas and indigestion. It is also regarded as a tonic, calming herb that helps relieve premenstrual problems. Because of its estrogen-stimulating action, clary sage is most effective when levels of this hormone are low. The plant can therefore be a valuable remedy for complaints associated with menopause, particularly hot flashes.

Cultivation details : Requires a very well-drained light sandy soil in a sunny position. Thrives on any ground that is not too wet. Plants can be killed by excessive winter wet. Hardy to about -20°c. A biennial or short-lived perennial. The flowers can be air-dried and used as everlasting flowers. A very ornamental plant, it is strongly aromatic and is sometimes cultivated for its essential oil, there are some named varieties. When bruised, the leaves release a deliciously pungent and refreshing smell of fresh grapefruit. The flowers are very attractive to bees. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation: Seed - can be sown in situ during spring. Alternatively seed can be sown in August/September to overwinter, it will then produce larger plants Thinnings can be transplanted. The seed remains viable for 5 years.

Clary-Salvia sclarea cashmiriana seedsAvailable :In stock
Qty: Number of Seeds Per Pack: 50
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Crackdown on Kashmir MEDIA

Srinagar, Sep 20: The participants of the high profile all party delegation will arrive to a ‘no-newspaper state’ when they land in Srinagar Monday morning.

Their arrival and the subsequent engagements, however significant, would will go unnoticed in the Valley as the newspapers here are facing a virtual ban because the stringently imposed curfew, beating and harassment of newspaper staff and repeated cancellation of curfew passes has made their operations impossible. Besides this indirect gag on vernacular press, local TV networks as also a foreign news channel have been banned by an official embargo. To continue with the ban on Kashmir media is ostensibly to keep the members of All Party Delegation in dark. Newspapers would obviously publish the miseries of the people and the un-ending curfew in which millions of people have been caged for last three months particularly after Eid.

Press Guild of Kashmir (PGK) Sunday strongly condemned the ban imposed by the government on the publication of Kashmir-based newspapers and other media institutions.

JK Police/STF/CRPF later the evening ransacked the house of Writer-South Asia, editor Sheikh Gulzaar's residence on the Pampore by the CRPF/Police. The family accused the police of ransacked the our property and Van worth Rs. 5 lac, from the house besides thrashing them and Sheikh Gulzaar seriously injured by troops.

Editor's Conference  strongly condemn the targeting of the journalists in Kashmir and said that while the state government is brining ‘embedded journalists’ from New Delhi to report what the government wants them to report, the local journalists who portray the actual picture of the current situation in Kashmir are being deliberately targeted.

The Kashmir writers/editors Conference strongly condemns the attack on the Pampore residence of the South Asia Stragic Affairs editor of  “Writer-South Asia” .

The Kashmir writers/editors Conference while condemning the attack has termed it as attack on the freedom of the press in the Kashmir which has been under attack from the armed forces since the present turmoil erupted in the Kashmir valley.

At an emergency meeting held here under the chairmanship of PGK president Bashir Ahmad Bashir the meeting deplored the government action to create a situation under which the newspaper publication had been put to halt from September 13 to 18, 2010. A statement issued here by the PGK said even as some of the media houses tried to resume the publication on Saturday but a reign of terror was let loose on them making the distribution of newspapers impossible. “Several journalists and workers of Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Uzma and Buland Kashmir were ruthlessly beaten by the police and some of them were taken to hospital,” the statement said.

It further said that several thousand newspapers are lying in the respective offices as the police chased the distributors and hawkers in their offices during wee hours in the morning. “This has made the intentions of government clear that it does not want that the newspapers are published from Kashmir,” the statement said, adding, “This has not only resulted in huge losses to this industry but also deprived the masses of necessary information during this situation of crisis.”

The meeting, statement said, also condemned the recent attacks on the journalists and ban of local TV news networks. “The meeting was attended by the representatives of Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir, Kashmir Uzma, Srinagar Times, Aftab, Uqab, Nida-e-Mashriq, Chattan, Kashmir Images, Kashmir Monitor, Buland Kashmir and Kashmir Life,” the statement said.

Responding sharply to the undeclared ban on local media in Kashmir, Srinagar-based newspapers today expressed inability to publish the newspapers. Online editions of only a few newspapers are being updated but they hardly reach to the majority of population. Hence the people have no choice but to be contended with the “filtered” flow of information from Delhi based channels and newspapers. Press Guild of Kashmir, a noted representative body comprising prominent Srinagar newspapers held a crucial meeting of the editors here on Sunday. “It’s an undeclared ban. The government issues passes, which the police and other forces do not honor. Several newspaper journalists and other staffers have been beaten. The administration has broken its own promise which it had made in July when we suspended publications in protest,” said a PGK functionary adding that it was impossible to publish newspapers. The Journalists are aghast at the indifference exhibited by the government, which is supposed to be a “popularly elected one”. Even as the State Information department does not lose any moment to mount pressure on media to accommodate the press releases of Chief Minister and Ministers but it does not have courtesy to ask about the welfare of the staff of newspaper offices who are facing the wrath of government forces. On Sunday also the department had cheeks to call the newspaper offices to cover the press conference of Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar showing disrespect to the institution of Journalism, which is facing worst ever onslaught of government in past 20 years.“This is worse than what we saw in early 90’s when then Governor Jagmohan took on us” said a senior journalist. Kashmir Press Association too has expressed anguish over what it described an “unwritten ban” on local media outlets. “It is ironical to note that the government has adopted a discriminatory attitude and not only facilitated entry of Delhi based journalists but has put all help, assistance and full government hospitality at their disposal so as to ensure the coverage of the events, as it deems suitable. And on contrary scores of local journalists have been thrashed while discharging their professional duties,” said a KPA functionary. The recurrent ban on Kashmir press and discriminatory treatment meted out to the local journalists is being widely condemned by the Kashmir-based media bodies. Five representative bodies of media fraternity of Kashmir viz Kashmir Press Association, Press Guild of Kashmir, Kashmir Writers/editors Conference, Kashmir Journalists Corps, Kashmir Press Photographers Association and Kashmir Video Journalists Association had in July unanimously decided to suspend publications as long as the government continues with its restrictive attitude toward Kashmir press. This is for the third time in last three months that newspapers could not be published due to restrictions imposed by the government. The industry is facing huge losses and many publications had to lay off the staff. “We are at the brink of closure as the strikes called by separatists are continuing coupled with this war on Kashmir media by the government” said an editor of a local daily (Writer-South Asia)

Kashmir Centre EU erects military tent in Geneva

Geneva, September 16: The International Council for Human Rights (ICHR) and International Human Rights Association of American Minorities (IHRAAM) organize parallel events within and outside the Palai des Nations, Geneva by erecting the military tent under the theme ‘Kashmir UN Week – Killing Fields of Indian Held Kashmir’ and by holding the conference on ‘International Human Rights Norms and the Crowd Control’, reports KMS from Geneva.

The International Council for Human Rights (ICHR) Kashmir Centre European Union once again embarked on an unprecedented activity here at Geneva by installing a military tent outside the Palais des Nations near the famous three legged chair. The tent, once again, signifies the continued occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India and its military and paramilitary forces.

The theme of the tent ‘Killing Fields of Indian Held Kashmir’ directly relates to the current state terrorism perpetrated by the Indian forces in the occupied territory. Whereas inner part of the tent represents the scene of martyrdom, however, its outer part registers the names of all those who have been martyred between 11th June to 6th September 2010 identifying the date of killing of each martyr. Hundreds have visited the tent over the last two days including journalists, diplomats, NGOs and tourists. Analysts see it as a major source of exposing the real face democratic India and representing a total reality on ground in occupied Kashmir.

Inside the Palais des Nations, IHRAAM conducted a conference on “International Human Rights Norms and the Crowd Control” chaired by the Chairman of ICHR Kashmir Centre Brussels, Barrister Abdul Majeed Tramboo. The panelists included analysts, human rights experts and journalists.

In his opening remarks Barrister Tramboo said, one of the fundamental human rights is that of freedom of expression that in many instances comes in the form of a protest or demonstration. “Indeed, in such situations the good or bad practices of the police force become an issue particularly where violence is used to quell a legitimate protest,” he said. He pointed out that the current spree of unmitigated use of live ammunition and teargas by the Indian military and paramilitary forces in occupied Kashmir was in direct response of widespread peaceful assemblies across the territory dissenting the suppression of 64 years demand for the right of self-determination. “The forces have brutalized each peaceful assembly without provocation with the knowledge and tacit sanction of the government of India thereby effecting gross human rights violations to maintain militarized occupation and governance,” he added.

The Executive Director of Kashmir Centre London, Professor Nazir Ahmed Shawl, in his address expressed concern over the actions of Indian police in the territory. “They are beating our people with their plastic sticks. They are killing us. They are violating all norms of civilized behavior and showing no respect to the international law. There is a real crisis situation. Armed Forces Special Powers Act and other draconian laws are used as licence to kill,” he said. Professor Shawl appealed to the international community to save the suffering Kashmiris and facilitate a result-oriented dialogue between the people of Kashmir, India and Pakistan to bring peace to region and to resolve the dispute.

Kashmir was presented as a human tragedy in a direct testimony by an Italian journalist Ms Francesca Marino, who had just returned from Srinagar. She described in detail the repression that is being perpetrated by Indian police in particular against students and innocent people, like very young children, who take part in peaceful manifestations to roar their own message of freedom.

“Is it too late to do something?” asked PJ Mir, a political analyst and the Head of ARY News. “Peace is never too late”, he declared. But at the same time he lamented that there is calculated genocide taking place in occupied Kashmir and Kashmiris were being hunted like animals by Indian forces. He asked Indian leadership to demonstrate political will and redeem the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. PJ Mir emphasised that the role of Kashmir Centres in highlighting the Kashmiris’ tragedies was more crucial now.

Alfred de Zayas of Public and International Law Geneva School of Diplomacy & International Relations, focused on the contradictions of India. He pointed out that on one hand India was a democracy, but on the other, it was inflicting excesses on the people of Kashmir. Referring to the international law, he said, every restriction must be justified otherwise it does not fall within the ambit of humanitarian law and it could be in direct contravention of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. He insisted that the UN norms through special rapporteurs, working groups and committees must be invoked in order to engage the mandates and the countries involved.

Roland Barnes of International Peoples and Nations Coalition considered the parallelism between his own people and Kashmiris. But recognised that there was no violence against the indigenous people of Alaska. “It is important that meetings like these take place in the UN to continue to raise the issue and to keep it in the limelight.

The conference concluded by adopting a statement that the international human rights norms demand that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms and that the right of peaceful assembly must be recognised with no restrictions placed on the exercise of this right and that the people of Jammu and Kashmir under the occupation of India are no exception to this.