I/II. [It is for the respective state governments to compensate the victims of wrongful framing and act against the errant police officers, law and order being a state subject. So while the spirit of the submission made is absolutely fine, the specific demand that the Union Home Minister should act against the errant police officers appears to be somewhat off the mark.]
http://www.firstpost.com/india/shinde-should-act-against-cops-framing-muslim-youth-activists-1145725.html Shinde should act against cops framing Muslim youth: Activists *by Pallavi Polanki *Oct 1, 2013 The initiation of criminal proceedings against police officers indicted by courts of wrongfully implicating Muslim youth will alone prove the government’s seriousness in bringing justice to the victims, say activists. “The Home Minister has not said anything new. The time has come for the government to act. The government has to show seriousness by prosecuting officers guilty of malicious prosecution. It is not as if police officers have not been indicted by the courts. But till date, no action has been taken against those officers,” Ahmed Sohaib of Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA), said. The organisation has been a vocal critic of how state machinery has been used to target innocent Muslim youths in the name of terror. The JTSA has recently compiled a report “Framed, Damned Acquitted – Dossiers of a ‘very’ Special Cell” documenting 16 terror cases between 1992 and 2012 in which those arrested , mainly by the Delhi Police Special Cell, were accused of being members of terrorist organisation but were subsequently acquitted of all charges by the courts. One such case, where a Delhi court came down heavily against the Delhi Police’s role and indicted officers involved, relates to an encounter orchestrated by Special Cell in 2005 where it claimed to have arrested four ‘terrorists’ after a gunfight on the Delhi –Gurgaon road. In a strong judgement delivered in 2011, not only did the judge acquit all the accused arrested in the case, but also ordered a criminal investigation into the role of police officers involved. In his judgement, the judge said, “These four police officers (referring to the team led by special cell officer Ravinder Tyagi) have brought utter shame and disrepute to the whole Delhi Police force. In my opinion, there cannot be any more serious or grave crime than a police officer framing an innocent citizen in a false criminal case. It is not only unethical but also illegal for an investigating agency to resort to concoction, padding, fabrication of evidence — all serious offences under the law even to bring a known criminal to justice.” “I, therefore, direct the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, to initiate appropriate enquiry against the four police officers S I RavinderTyagi, SI Nirakar, SI Charan Singh and SI Mahender Singh or the misuse and abuse of their powers as a police officer, as detailed herein-above,” the court said. With the case in appeal in the High Court, the officers in question have not only remained scot-free, but some have even been awarded medals by the government. Shinde, in his letter to chief ministers which has sparked off a controversy, wrote, “The Central government has received several representations alleging harassment of innocent Muslim youth by law enforcement agencies. Some of the minority youth have started feeling that they are deliberately targeted and deprived of their rights. The government has to ensure that no innocent person is subjected to undue harassment.” Directions by the Home Minister to the CMs in his letter include setting up of fast-track courts in consultation with the High Court to try terror-related cases, strict action against police officers in cases of mala fide arrests of Muslim youth and compensation to those acquitted in terror-related cases. According to PTI, Minorities Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan had written to Shinde informing him about “wrongful arrests” and concerns expressed by Muslim bodies about the misuse provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the Muslim community. Speaking in the context of the 2008 Batla House encounter, in the aftermath of which JTSA was formed, and the impact it had on university students and the community, Sohaib said, “There was and still is insecurity among students. Students from Azamgarh even now find it difficult to rent houses here. Initially, there was lot of fear and panic in the community. Students and youth were being picked up randomly.” The 2008 shoot-out between the Delhi Police Special Cell and alleged terrorists left two of them (from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh) and a police inspector dead. The lone accused in the case was held guilty of firing at police officials and was awarded life imprisonment by a Delhi court in July this year. The JTSA, however, maintains that the encounter was staged. On the government’s proposal to compensate victims of mala fide police arrests, the Jamia University teacher said, “It is for the government to decide how it wants to compensate someone who has been wrongly implicated and acquitted by the court seven, 10, 14 years later. For a life that has been shattered in this way, monetary compensation is only a token. But even that has not happened.” II. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nobody-can-bring-back-my-four-years-lost-in-prison/1176617/0 'Nobody can bring back my four years lost in prison' VijaitaSingh <http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/vijaitasingh/> : New Delhi, Tue Oct 01 2013, 02:23 hrs Ashiq Ali Bhatt, now 30 years old, cannot stop smiling as he sits in one of the courtrooms at Tis Hazari complex with his father whom he was meeting after 15 years. Bhatt was anxiously waiting for the legal formalities to get over so that he could walk free from Tihar Jail in the next few hours. Arrested and jailed for planning a 26/11-type attack in Delhi, Bhatt is content that he has finally been cleared of the terror charges — after four years. "If I had committed some wrong and then put behind bars, it would still have been acceptable. But I had to spend four years in prison for a crime I never committed. There is no point mentioning the torture I went through. Nobody can bring back those years," says Bhatt, dressed in a white kurta-pyjama as he waits for the judge to complete the legal formalities which would lead to his release. Bhatt, a resident of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, and Javed Ahmed Tantray (37) from Kupwara were acquitted by a sessions court last week with the judge saying it was a "clear-cut plant case" by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police. Police had claimed the duo were members of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen and were in Delhi to carry out suicide attacks ahead of Independence Day celebrations in the capital in 2009. Police also claimed to have recovered two AK-47 rifles, two pairs of loaded magazines and two hand grenades from their car. Belonging to poor background, their families had to borrow Rs 20,000 to submit as surety before the court. "They had picked me from Gorakhpur while I was boarding a train for Jammu. After keeping me in detention for four days in Delhi, they produced me before the court on charges of planning suicide attacks. It was the first time, that too in police custody, that I met Tantray — the other person who was arrested and said to have been planning the attacks with me. Police threatened and beat us up to accept the charges," says Bhatt. Bhatt's father Abdul Lateef, a daily-wage labourer, never came to Delhi all these years as it was too expensive. "As soon as I got the news that my son had been acquitted, we decided to reach Delhi. We stood all day and night in the general compartment of the train and finally reached here on Sunday. I could not have afforded any other thing, even on a very good day, I earn a mere Rs 100," says Lateef. "My son left home when he was very young — maybe 14 or 15 years old. We had no idea where he was until 2009 when we got a call from police that he has been arrested in Delhi. Even then we could not come as we had no money. I'm meeting him today." Bhatt says he went to Nepal in search of employment. He claims he was working there at a shop but is silent when asked about the exact nature of his job. In 2009, he came to Gorakhpur to return to Jammu but was picked up by policemen in plainclothes. "Nobody should go through what I have been through. It's like hell living in prison. Thankfully, I took to reading the Quran and could keep myself sane all these years," says Bhatt. Tantray used to work at a chemist's shop in Kupwara. "I was 33 years old when I was arrested. I had come to Delhi for some work. I swear I will not come back here again in my life. As soon as I reached Delhi, I was picked up by plainclothes policemen and put behind bars. I do not know what will I do once I return home, maybe I will smoke a hookah and live in my village all my life," says a bitter Tantrey. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
