[The news story, at sl. no. II below, has, in a public display of some weird mindset, identified 'India's Daughter' as the trigger for the savage lynching in Dimapur of a youth, of Bangladeshi origin, *accused* of rape. No attempt, whatsoever, has been made to establish the cause-and-effect chain. In fact, the lynching took place in Thursday morning around the time the film was made available to the Indian viewers. It's not clear whether it was "before" or "after" the film became accessible from India. Even under the former scenario, there was hardly any time gap. And the report simply ignored the "race angle". And, there is no mention of: "Protests against the rape had begun on Wednesday and the agitators demanded that Khan be handed over to them. The protest snowballed into a violent agitation on Thursday which ultimately led to the lynching of Khan, say reports." (See the report at sl. no. I below.)] And, what is profoundly disturbing is that the Home Minister of India has apparently endorsed, if not actually initiated, this utterly bizarre and mischievous proposition (See the report at sl. no. II below). At sl. no. III, is an in-depth analysis of the film and what it means.]
I/III. Nagaland lynching: Assam CM Gogoi calls incident 'barbaric'; Rajnath Singh assures necessary action will be taken Friday, 6 March 2015 - 1:19pm IST Updated: Friday, 6 March 2015 - 6:50pm IST | Agency: dna webdesk dna Web Team Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked a full report from the Nagaland government after an angry student mob managed to break out alleged rapist Syed Farid Khan from Dimapur Central jail in Nagaland and lynched him to death, say reports. Representative Image Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday condemned the lynching of an Assamese youth in Nagaland for allegedly raping a girl and termed the incident as "barbaric, heinous and inhuman". "The manner, in which the youth was dragged out of custody and killed brutally by a mob on the streets, is highly condemnable," Gogoi said in a statement. Read more on this, here. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked a full report from the Nagaland government after an angry student mob managed to break out alleged rapist Syed Farid Khan from Dimapur Central jail in Nagaland and lynched him to death, say reports. "We have sought a report from the Nagaland government about the incident and how a mob entered a jail and pull out an inmate," a Home Ministry official said. The Centre has put high alert on Assam and additional forces from Assam have been sent to Dimapur in order quell any violence thay may arise again, the reports added. Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that necessary action would be taken against the lynch mob that swept into the Dimapur Central Jail. "Necessary action will be taken against the perpetrators of the incident. Instructions have been given to the concerned officials. We have also provided adequate security there," Rajnath Singh said. The incident has been condemned by political leaders, who have urged people not to take the law into their own hands and keep their trust in judicial proceedings. Read more Chief Minister TR Zeliang had earlier said to a news channel that a committee will probe if there was security lapse, says Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang. Brushing off certain media reports that said that Khan was handed over to the rampaging crowd by the security forces, Zeilang said that the mob managed to overpower the them. Dimapur Director General of Police has said to the channel that several arrests have been made based on the video footage. He added that the police is trying to identify attackers. He also said that the police did not use force as the mob consisted of students. Politicians react to the incident: Congress' Sandip Dikshit has said to ANI that he condemned what happened in Dimapur, this was not how justice should be delivered. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar on Friday termed as extremely unfortunate the incident in Nagaland and called for speedy justice in such cases. "Whatever took place is not correct. There is constitution and law in our country. The police and the administration is there to ensure that such incidents that violate the law do not take. If everybody takes the law into their hands then there will be no law and order situation in the country, there will be anarchy. So, this is not correct," Anwar said. Read more Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Barkha Shukla Singh has called for the setting up of fast-track courts to ensure speedy justice to rape victims. Here is what some of the activists have had to say about the incident Northeastern activist Binalakshmi Nepram has condemned the incident implying that justice should have been allowed to take its course. While others have blamed the incident on government inaction on rapes. The morning after the riotous incident How the situation unfolded on Thursday afternoon: A man, accused of raping a woman, was dragged out of central jail in Nagaland's Dimapur town and lynched by a mob on Thursday. A mass protest rally against the rape was held at Dimapur on Thursday morning after which students and angry people forced into the district jail and managed to pull out the accused. Syed Farid Khan, 35, had allegedly raped a Naga woman on February 23 and 24. He was arrested on February 25 and was sent to judicial custody by a lower court, say report. Protests against the rape had begun on Wednesday and the agitators demanded that Khan be handed over to them. The protest snowballed into a violent agitation on Thursday which ultimately led to the lynching of Khan, say reports. Conflicting reports have appeared on Khan's identity, some say he was a migrant from Assam who worked as a used car dealer, others have said that he was an undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant. The region has been witnessing some protest over the issue of illegal immigrants. On Thursday evening, a mob stormed into the central jail in Dimapur, dragged Khan and lynched him in public. From the Dimapur Municipal Council, the protestors stripped and pulled Khan while marching towards the jail. They had planned to take him to the Clock Tower where a public hanging had been planned. But Khan succumbed to the injuries on the way, even before being taken to the hospital. The mob tied his body to a vehicle and dragged it to the Clock Tower. According to an HT report, a 25 year-old protestor Initu died on Thursday night after succumbing to bullet injuries. Initu was shot twice in his chest. Four others are said to be seriously injured with one of them still in the ICU, the report added. The protestors mostly belonging organisations led by the Naga Students’ Federation also went upto the Dimapur Municipal Council office and demanded cancellation of trade licences to Bengali speaking Muslims. According to the HT report, some Muslim migrants' homes and shops were attacked. Indian Reserve Battalion and paramilitary personnel in Dimapur and adjoining areas were deployed by district authorities against possible backlash against the community. Administration's response after the incident: An emergency cabinet meeting was held at 7 pm at the residential office of chief minister to take stock of the law and other situation in Dimapur. The cabinet condemned the violent incident whereby the mob took the law into their hands, leading to the death of the accused, said a release issued by CMO Media Cell this evening. The cabinet also decided to institute a high-level committee to inquire into the incident and find out the circumstances leading to it. The committee would also inquire into the lapses or shortcomings on the part of any public servant in connection with the incident and the person or group of persons responsible for the violence leading to the death of the accused in the hands of the mob. The chief minister, being in New Delhi, the cabinet meeting was chaired by Minister for Social Security & Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiyanilie Peseyie, the CMO Media Cell added. Situation went out of hand when the mob vandalised shops belonging to non-locals. The police opened fire to disperse the mob and in that about 20 persons were injured. The mob pelted stones and torched police vehicles in retaliation. The police suspect that some prisoners might have escaped during the public raid in the central jail. Region tense since past two weeks over illegal immigrations: According to reports, the region has been tense over the issue of illegal immigration for the last two weeks. There are unconfirmed reports that the Muslim migrant families who were mostly employed as farm and construction labourers are heading to Assam fearing for safety. With agency inputs II/III. http://www.vocativ.com/world/india/rapist-lynched-bbc-documentary/ Rapist Lynched After BBC Rape Documentary Aired A day after the BBC showed a controversial documentary on the gang rape of a woman in Delhi, a convicted rapist has been pulled from his prison cell and beaten to death by an angry mob in India. The mob broke into the prison in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland Thursday, dragged him out and lynched, him while dozens of onlookers recorded it all on their cell phones. Reports say he was pulled out of the prison in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland on Thursday. Local media reports the crowd marched for miles toward the jail and tore down its gates. An angry mob of hundreds then stripped him, beat him and hung him, killing him in the process, Al Jazeera reports. They then reportedly dragged his body through the street using meat hooks. Indias Daughter Rapist In India Lynched BBC 003a Convicted rapist Mukesh Singh as interviewed in the Documentary "India's Daughter". BBC The Indian government had ordered the BBC on Wednesday not to air a documentary on the infamous gang rape. But the network published a letter later Wednesday declaring it intended to broadcast “India’s Daughter”, but not in Indian territories. The video has since become available on online video platforms, like YouTube and Vimeo. BBC Director of Television Danny Cohen responded to Indian government concerns, saying that the documentary would “raise awareness” about India’s rape crisis. “We feel ‘India’s Daughter’ has a strong public interest in raising awareness of a global problem and the BBC is satisfied with the editorial standards of the film,” the letter states. Indian home minister Rajnath Singh offered this on his Twitter account Wednesday: HMO India ✔ @HMOIndia I was deeply hurt by this when I came to know about it yesterday.I spoke to authorities &made sure all steps taken to stop the broadcast:HM 12:16 PM - 4 Mar 2015 Individuals from all levels of government have either pleaded or demanded to suppress the documentary. Some have claimed the film would compromise the dignity of India’s women and the Indian people as a whole, while others suggested that its airing would threaten civil safety. The film allowed the accused rapists to comment, with one of them saying “A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy.” III. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/03/censoring-india-daughter-unconscionable-150306071256219.html OPINION Censoring 'India's Daughter' is unconscionable The government's banning overdrive has caused India more embarrassment than the film. 06 Mar 2015 08:27 GMT | Politics, Human Rights, Media, Asia, India Activists hold placards during a protest demanding the death penalty for convicted gang-rapist, in Calcutta, India [EPA] Activists hold placards during a protest demanding the death penalty for convicted gang-rapist, in Calcutta, India [EPA] ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saurav Datta Saurav Datta teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai and Pune. @SauravDatta29 When a bedazzling array of arguments are trotted out with remarkable speed, and everyone vents outrage against some perceived injustice, wrong or misrepresentation, logic and rules are bound to become the first casualties. The case of Leslee Udwin's "India's Daughter", a BBC documentary centred on the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape incident, is no exception, with the Indian government, desperate to protect and preserve the country's honour in the eyes of the world, hurling the full weight of its censorious powers against it. Not content with prohibiting all Indian television channels from screening the documentary, the government has gone ahead with getting YouTube to pull down the video because it is "sensitive". It is now mulling legal action and other diplomatic measures against the BBC for defying its diktat. Meanwhile, the Delhi police, while pursuing a criminal investigation into Udwin and her crew's actions, have managed to get a magistrate's injunction against any form of dissemination of the film. India bans film in which rapist blames victim It is imperative to examine both the desirability and legality of the ban, because at stake here is not just the freedom of expression of a documentary film-maker on a journalistic and campaigning mission, but issues inextricably linked to how the criminal justice system as well as society deals with gruesome violence against women. Simplistic picture To be clear, the film is mediocre, and on multiple occasions, badly slips on context, thereby ending up painting a simplistic picture. But, contrary to the vehement claims of many activists, journalists and legislators, it doesn't provide any glorified platform to Mukesh Singh, one of the convicted rapists, who is shown as emphatically stating that Jyoti Singh, the victim, had only herself to blame for her plight and that she needed to be taught a lesson for transgressing social norms. And even though there seems to be a tidal wave of shock, anger and undoubtedly feigned surprise, Singh has just blurted out what happens to be deeply entrenched in the minds of many Indian males. His remarks, instead of taking people by surprise, hold up a much-needed mirror to many Indian men. More important, it gives a clear view of the mentality of the accused, which must be taken into account if one is to properly consider why crimes are committed and take concrete measures to pre-empt and prevent them. Furthermore, it raises a profound question for the criminal justice system - just because Singh is remorseless, should that be the sole ground for consigning him to the gallows? It is both wishful and unjust to expect contrition from every convict, and deeply reflective of the law's failure if all it has to offer is retributive justice delivered under immense pressure from the public's bloodlust. The Delhi Police's charges - that those remarks have created a fear psychosis among society's women and can well result in a total breakdown of law - do not hold any water, and in fact, are nothing but desperate attempts at finding a fig-leaf, because as Udwin has proved through documentary evidence, she went strictly by the rule-book, and at every stage, the guardians of the law had given their informed consent to her endeavours. It is both wishful and unjust to expect contrition from every convict, and deeply reflective of the law's failure if all it has to offer is retributive justice delivered under immense pressure from the public's bloodlust. Imperious injunction As for the legality of the government and magistrate's actions, every attempt at blocking the film breaches legal provisions and binding rulings of India's Supreme Court. The imperious injunction, devoid of any judicial reasoning, is so sweeping in its scope - prohibiting the publication, transmission, telecast, even uploading on the internet, surely hasn't reckoned with the fact that the internet recognises no territorial boundaries and that a court in Delhi has no jurisdiction over a foreign channel or website with servers located outside India. Agreed, that the violence perpetrated on the victim was almost fiendish in nature, and its depiction in the film - there are a handful of gory visuals - can indeed cause terrible distress. However, that alone doesn't justify censorship. In 1996, the Supreme Court had to decide whether a biopic which showed a woman being stripped and paraded naked (the scene had full frontal nudity) before 100 villagers and subsequently being violently raped, should be censored. The judges unanimously ruled that even if those scenes were revolting, they must be shown. Otherwise, how could one convey the full impact and import of a social evil? "India's Daughter", despite its rough edges, attempts to show the naked patriarchy in Indian society, and its most violent manifestations. The truth is neither pleasant nor does it bring fulsome praise in its wake. By asserting that the film is gratuitously scurrilous and resorting to extremely ham-fisted means of censorship, it is the Indian government which has brought shame upon itself. Udwin wanted Indian society to introspect and take steady steps towards eradicating its biases. But it is evident that the government, determined to make its prejudices its principles, is more in need of soul-searching. Saurav Datta teaches media law and jurisprudence in Mumbai and Pune. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy. Source: Al Jazeera -- 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/d/optout.
