Implement PCA To Stop Harassment Of Muslim Youth
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
17 January, 2011
Countercurrents.org
The security agencies of India blamed the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer and Samjhauta express blasts cases, on HUJI, Lashkar and SIMI. As a result, after each such blast a mass detention of innocent Muslim youth followed on suspicion of being a terrorist. Such youth were kept in detention for long for questioning, even though no charges could be framed against them.
The relatives and friends of some youth had to muster resources and time, and make daily rounds of courts to plead the case that those arrested are not terrorists. Even for genuine and legitimate work, at every stage they have pay the unofficial ‘service tax’ to get their work done.
The release of such youth did not take place in a day or two but took months and years, leaving them traumatized and agitated. The stigma of being a terrorists always follow them wherever they go and such persons are discriminated in getting their rightful place in the society.
Indian experience suggests that Muslims youth and bomb blasts have become natural corollaries. The investigation to the bomb blasts begins with blaming the HUJI, Lashkar or Jaish, the foreign terrorists’ organizations and the axe falls on helpless Muslim youth, being arrested on the suspicion of being adding and abetting the act of terrorism.
The other pattern is to blame the local outfits Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) or Indian Mujhadeen (IM) as the perpetrators of the blast and arrest large number of the innocent Muslim youth.
In fact this pattern has become so hackneyed that each time the crime is committed and the answers to who is it about, what happened (what's the story), why did it happen, how did it happen, are all well established.
In journalists parlance, out of five W and H, that is who, what, where, when, why and how, only where and when interests the readers of such news.
The security agencies have been wary of even exploring the Hindutva angle in blasts even in wake of hard evidence and find it more convenient to tread on the established path of their investigation that ‘All Terrorists are Muslims’.
Indeed, police theories were peddled as the truth, and detention and torture passed for investigation. In fact fabrication of testimonies and planting of evidence—even kilos of RDX—is routine business for many in the security agencies. The list of such shoddy investigation is quite long and the burnt is being borne by the innocent Muslim youth.
Of late, there are some startling revelations have come to limelight that has turned the tables against the security agencies and exposed them of their lethargic and partisan code of conduct.
The first instance of such expose came in 2007 when the Tamil Nadu Special Investigative Team (SIT) debunked the arrest of five members of Manitha Neethi Pasarai (MNP) on the charges of conspiring to bomb hospitals in Coimbatore. It revealed that the cases against such youth were completely false and were fabricated by the police.
Another case that was exposed in 2008 was the arrest of Tariq Ahmed Batloo who was actually picked up by the Delhi police at the Delhi airport but was claimed by it to have arrested him from his hideout in Kashmir.
Then there was the case of Mohmmad Qamar and Irshad Ali, who actually were police informers but were declared terrorists of Al-Badr group as their cooperation was no more wanted by the Delhi Police special cell.
The list of such makes believe cases are long and the targeting of innocent Muslim youth is a common pattern. This line was followed in the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer and Samjhauta blasts. During the whole process a large section of Muslim youth were tortured and many of them had to give up their education and professional carriers due to the line of investigation and the treatment from the police meted out to them.
Then comes the revelations that Hindutva terror groups too operate in our country and their complicity are being investigated for having been behind the Malegaon, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer and Samjhauta blasts.
The Malegoan case revealed the connection of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur (ex- ABVP activist), Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, and Ret. Major. Upadhyay (was chief of BJPs ex-serviceman’s cell In Mumbai), Swami Dayanand Pandey (RSS connection, mentor of Abhinav Bharat), Indresh Kumar (Member of RSS National executive) Sunil Joshi (RSS Prachark(later killed), Devender Gupta (RSS pracharak with Abhinav Bharat), Ramchndra Kalsangra and Sandeep Pandey and many others from the Hindutva combine, indulging in the act of terrorism.
Related is the confession of Swami Aseemanand of VHP, before the metropolitan magistrate on 18th December 2010L "We held a meeting at the Valsad residence of Bharat Bhai (Bharat Riteshwar) in June 2006. We planned to carry out blasts at places of worship for Muslims. Sandeep Dange, Bharat Bhai, Sadhvi Pragya, Sunil Joshi, Lokesh Sharma (arrested for Ajmer dargah blast), Ramji Kalsangra and one Amit attended the meeting. We decided to bomb Malegaon, Ajmer dargah, Mecca Masjid and the Samjhauta Express train. Joshi took the responsibility of doing a reconnaissance of these entire places.”
In fact what the Swami Aseemanand confessed is nothing new. For long, some social activists have drawn the attention of the police to take cognizance of the glaring fallacies in their line of investigation. However, the attitude of the police never changed. Even today many a Muslim youth even today are behind the bars for the acts of terrorism.
The misuse of power by Police can only be checked by implementing the Supreme Court directive on Police Complaints Authority (PAC). The states are in contempt of not implementing the six Supreme Court directives, PAC being the most important one.
Presently for any complaint against Police, one has to go either to their superiors who do not take it seriously or approach the Courts. Again the Court has to approach the Police to investigate the matter. Presently there is no method to investigate complaints against Police in an independent manner.
To overcome this problem, Supreme Court in its judgment on Police Reforms in the Prakash Singh case, has asked all the states to have a Police Complaints Authority (PCA). It is basically to curb the unbridled misuse of powers the Police enjoy. It is one of the most important recommendations of the Police Reforms. The states are in Contempt of SC for not implementing the same.
The SC has asked to set up independent Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to look into public complaints against police officers in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt or rape in police custody, extortion, land grabbing and serious abuse.
The people manning PCA will be drawn from retired judiciary. The state level authority is to be chaired by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court. The district level authority is to be chaired by a retired district judge. These authorities will take cognizance of serious misconduct by Police Personnel, conduct independent investigation and pass judgment which will be binding for the State.
Now the ball is in the court of the Civil Society i.e. the Non Governmental Organization (NGOs). It is high time that Muslim organizations along with friendly NGOs may take up the issue of implementing the Supreme Court directive of constituting the Police Complaints Authority (PAC) in each state of India. This task may have to be taken up with utmost urgency, only then the highhandedness and lethargic attitude of the police forces could be checked.
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at [email protected]
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