The nuclear deal has become a catch22 situation for the UPA government. Left front, though hesitant for an election, they cannot eat their pride on this issue. The challenge offered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to withdraw support on this issue was too great for them to swallow. Though Manmohan singh swallowed his pride and sticking to the chair.
The intrinsic “American phobia” of the left front and the restoration work going on around the world for uplifting the shape of the busted communist dream, is compelling the Communist parties and its allies to draw a line against the nuclear deal and in real to show their abomination towards the so called American Imperialism and so and so….
Yes of course as the cliché, “two sides of the coin” (unless the coin is from the film Sholay) here in this deal also – the two sides are debated strongly and concluded vehemently according to the stands already taken by the parties.
Communists and its branches are trying to prove that they can bite as dangerously as their barking is and Congress trying to buy time so that they can allow the lefties to pull the string at a time that suits them, (may be after seeing the results in Gujarath) and BJP –still waiting under the tree hoping the crow will sing and it will get the fruit. But their present “inner party Democracy” – will make the fruit sour for them.
Nuclear deal – is it going to be an election issue in India? At any time India went for an election with any issue that concerned the whole country? Yes once we went to polls with a single aim – to oust Indira Gandhi other than that – it was always local issues and mandir masjid issue. People who don’t have enough to eat – dress and take shelter – what they will say about the nuclear deals? Are we Indians, with the exception of the so called urban aristocrats and rural technocrats, are well aware to put forward opinions about the nuclear issue?
Congress is well conscious of the above fact – “THE SHINING INDIA” slogan didn’t saved the last BJP government, because the “Shining” was limited to the IT zone and to the share market area, the rural India was in the grip of farmer suicide and poverty. Likewise “Nuclear Deal” is not going to make any effect on the rural population of India, how much the lefties try. Of course they can make confusion in the Muslim vote bank – but the chance to convert that confusion into confrontation with Congress is minimal. The lefty’s success lies in their “SUCCESS” to find route in to the rural India, but that route is congested with all A- B and C parties with their chunk of communal and feudalist vote banks.
The changes that taking place in the Chinese Communist party and the “capitalist” factor in the Bengal Communist party – can it bring any transform to the “thinking cells” of the Indian Politburo and compel them to take practical steps breaking their ideological fence, in which they made themselves captives of the changing world?
By January we can get a clear picture, whether Indian government is still controlled by the American interest or by the Communist threat.
Nuclear Deal
MODIFICATION
It was our evening out; I went to my friend’s house with our plans for the evening. When I reached his house, he told me to watch the breaking news in the channel. After waiting to finish the 5 minutes long break on the channel, finally they started to show the “Exclusive”.
The “revealing” of the members of the “parivar”. I was not surprised or shocked hearing the gruesome revelations. Every thing they said were already known to the world, anyone disbelieved the reality of Gujarat of that time, than one should have got amazed, hearing the revelation.
My skeptic mind started to look for the hidden motive behind this disclosure. Why suddenly someone start to talk to others about the heinous acts of life they have carried out with such a glee. My friend was firm that the revelations are not cooked; people sometimes start to spill the beans once they feel the listener is admiring his activities and when the criminal thinks that the heinous act he done was heroism!
I just noticed the facial expressions of the culprits – with what enjoyment in their eyes they narrate their mayhem? One when narrating how he split open the stomach of a pregnant woman I found pleasure on his eyes! Which is that faith on this earth that brings pleasure on ones eyes when narrating the cruelty one has done? Which is that religion that makes one feel delighted when declaring that he cut the limbs and the penis before throwing one innocent, helpless, unarmed man into the fire?
Only a mind that was calloused by hatred can do those things, and for such- there is no religion, only animal instinct remains in them and they should not be considered as human beings. Moreover, animals they do not have any religion they are just animals.
When I read the Ashish Khetan’s “Voyager between Two Worlds”, I really got shocked and amazed! How one can risk his own life and that of his family to bring out the truth? Will this going to make an iota of difference in our society other than mudslinging? Is his “findings” more valuable than his life?
BJP already out calling the revelation as a tactics of Congress and Tehalka , Congress and allies calling for the “heads”. Was there anything new in the revelations that the voters who are going to vote not knowing? Will these revelations going to influence any way the voters? I think, Gujarat got a leader like Modi because they want a leader like him. Their mind was ready to accept and garland Modi, will these revelations bring any change to that mind setting? I think NO, the revelations may have an impact on some, but the majority will still look at Modi and his “modification” with admiration. Hitler was also adored and admired by Germans.
The sufferers remained in the camps for years licking their wounds and they will remain in the camps sulking about their fate. The criminals will win the election and use and misuse the power – Ashish Ketan will look for another investigate journalism or sting operation. Life will move on...; they never spared Gandhi, are those innocents better than Gandhi in the scavenger’s eye?
A cover-up of Gujarat genocide
IN THE FIVE months of TEHELKA’S investigation into the Gujarat genocide, many rioters and conspirators spoke of their role at length. But there was one place that had not been covered — Gulbarg. The housing society, situated in the eastern part of Ahmedabad, was once home to former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. Despite the presence of a police contingent, a Hindu mob had laid siege to the society on the morning of February 28. For over five hours, Jafri kept making desperate phone calls to the police commissioner, to the chief minister’s office, to Congress leaders in Delhi and to his friends, pleading for help.
For over five hours, about 30 Muslim families in the society prayed and hoped that they would be rescued. Along with them were many Muslims from the adjoining slums who had taken shelter in Gulbarg, thinking that a society housing a Congress leader would be an unassailable refuge. Finally, at around 2:30pm, the mob stormed into the society and killed whoever they could lay their hands on. The official death toll was 39. But the survivors claimed that a far greater number were killed. Jafri himself was burnt alive. The remains of his body were never found. Those killed at Gulbarg and Naroda were given a mass burial in freshly dug graves in a Muslim graveyard at Ahmedabad on March 6, 2002.
During TEHELKA’S last meeting with Babu Bajrangi on September 1, 2007, Bajrangi mentioned that he knew many VHP activists who were accused in the Gulbarg massacre. He said the VHP was not taking good care of them and that he could arrange a meeting if required. On September 8, I flew to Ahmedabad to meet the Gulbarg accused. One of Bajrangi’s office assistants took me to Meghaninagar, the area where Gulbarg society was situated. We decided to meet on the road opposite Gulbarg society. The desolation of the society (it’s abandoned now), located in the middle of a bustling, colourful neighbourhood, was eerie. The iron gate at the front, the walls within, the windows, the doors, the roof, they were all of the same colour — charcoal black.
Shopkeepers, hawkers, neighbours, passers-by, all went about their business without sparing a glance for this piece of land. We waited there for almost 20 minutes before two senior local VHP leaders arrived. One of them, Mahesh Patel, owned a shop close by. These two VHP men do not themselves figure in the police charge sheet but they were to introduce me to those named in the list of accused. Mahesh Patel took me to his house and sent word to the accused to gather at his place. Patel gave me a run-down of the things the VHP had done for the accused — from providing food in jail, to sending money to their families, to arranging legal aid (For Patel, I was an RSS man who had come down from Delhi to assess how the Hindu riots accused were keeping).
About 40 minutes later, three accused — Prahlad Raju, Mangilal Jain and Madan Chawal arrived (39 Hindus were chargesheeted but at that time only these three were available). To begin with, they demolished the grand claims made by Patel that the VHP took good care of them. Their list of complaints was long and bitter. I took their phone numbers and left after promising that I would ensure their complaints were properly addressed and that they received more help from the VHP and RSS in future. On my way back, I called up Mangilal Jain on his cellphone and told him to see me at my hotel near Ahmedabad airport. I told him to bring along the other two as well.
At Naroda Patiya, Ninety-seven bodies had inquest panchnamas filed, a legal procedure under which the police, in the presence of two socalled “independent” witnesses, or panchas, physically verify the place from which the bodies were recovered and the nature of injuries on them and record their findings in writing. Thus, by their own records, the police recovered at least 97 bodies from Naroda Patiya. But, shockingly post-mortems were performed on only 58. Of the bodies recovered from Naroda Gaon, autopsies were not carried out on two. Apart from providing irrefutable evidence of the scale of the barbarity perpetrated that day, the autopsies, if done honestly, could have established the time of death, which would have given a fair indication of the total duration of the slaughter. These reports could have been a strong piece of evidence in court. But this is exactly what the police did not want.
Crucial evidence destroyed: The scene of a crime gives an investigating agency its most critical pieces of evidence. In Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon, the accused had left behind a trail that the police set out to systematically obliterate. The pit in which a large number of people were burnt alive was not even examined — no samples were taken of the soil, of the traces of human tissue or of the remains of burnt fuel. On the contrary, the pit does not even figure in the police version of the massacre. The dying declarations of as many as seven victims were not recorded; two of them died on March 11 after prolonged treatment, but no explanation is forthcoming in the chargesheet of why their statements were not recorded.
BJP MLA exonerated: Naroda massacre survivors had named local BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani as having incited the murderous mob. However, at the time of filing the chargesheet for the carnage, the police dropped her name from the list of the accused, claiming that they had failed to find any evidence against her. But Richard had much to say about the role she had played. Richard and his co-accused Prakash Rathod said that Mayaben patrolled the streets of Naroda Patiya throughout the day, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims.
Destruction of Noorani Masjid not investigated: In its records of what it found at the scene of the offence, the police mention the presence of an oil tanker, manufactured by Ashok Leyland, near the Noorani Masjid, with its rear in contact with the wall of the mosque. Its front number plate was intact and read GT-1T 7384. But the tanker was not seized. The Road TransportOffice was not contacted to determine its ownership. No samples of its contents were taken for forensic examination. In fact, it is still a mystery as to how a tanker of this size managed to “sneak in” so close to the Noorani Masjid, a place where there were over 12 police personnel on “constant vigil”.
No proceedings against absconding prime accused: Many main accused went absconding after the police was forced to register an FIR against them. Babu Bajrangi, Kishan Korani, Prakash Rathod and Suresh Richard, for instance, were arrested three months after the FIR was issued. Bipin Panchal was arrested after a year and a half. But the police did not follow any of the usual procedures used when an accused absconds, such as pasting notices outside the accused’s house declaring him an absconder, confiscating his properties, etc.
Not one confession recorded: Those arrested for the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres were taken in on remand — a period the court grants to the police to take an accused into custody for interrogation. But the remand and interrogation were a farce. Not one confession has been annexed to the chargesheets filed in either of the Naroda massacres.
Just one weapon recovered: Barring one sword recovered from Bipin Panchal in 2004, the police have not recovered any other weapon either from the scene of the crime or from any other accused. The survivors, however, had testified that their attackers, including the accused, were heavily armed with an assortment of weapons — knives, swords, trishuls, gas cylinders and firearms. In an instance where as many as 105 people, according to the police’s own admission, were butchered, the failure to recover any
weapon used in the massacre speaks volumes for the quality of the investigation carried outIn fact, the owner of a gas agency had given a written statement that 20-odd persons with a Maruti van had landed up at his godown on the day of the carnage and had looted a large number of gas cylinders. The agency owner said his watchman had been present when the incident took place. But neither was the statement of the watchman recorded, nor was any attempt made to identify those involved in the looting or to track down the vehicle used in the crime.
Not one accused sent for scientific examination: Since not a single statement of any of the accused was recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it would indicate that the police failed to elicit any information by conventional interrogation methods. The next step would have been to subject the accused to scientific examinations like a polygraph test or narcoanalysis or brain mapping. The police, however, initiated no efforts in this direction.
No mention made of rapes: Three chargesheets apiece were filed in the Naroda Gaon and Naroda Patiya massacres. However, despite the testimonies of dozens of survivors who had reported that women were raped, not a single instance of rape was recorded. At least one post-mortem indicated a possible case of sexual assault, yet no investigations in this direction were carried out. (It should be noted that since autopsies on 41 bodies were not carried out, there is no ascertaining how many of them were women’s and whether they bore marks of sexual assault.)
Mobile phone recovered from the spot not examined: On the day of the massacre, a survivor named Mirja Hussain Biwi Moherble recovered a mobile phone near her residence in Naroda Patiya. It had been inadvertently dropped by one of the accused, and was handed over to the police. On enquiry, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, AK Surolia found that it belonged to one Ashok Sindhi, an accused in the massacre. Surolia launched a massive investigation and started collecting the call records of Babu Bajrangi and other accused, including Sindhi (Letters from Surolia addressed to telecom companies asking for phone records are with TEHELKA.
We also have handwritten notes by him in which he observed that he believed Bajrangi “to be behind all this”.) But before the investigation could go any further, Surolia was transferred.. Once he was gone, the police stopped looking into Sindhi’s phone records. In the three chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya massacre, no mention has been made of any cellphone belonging to an accused being recovered from the scene of the crime.
Mobile phone records of the accused not made part of the chargesheet: After the case was transferred to the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad Police, the then DCP Rahul Sharma proceeded to collect the mobile phone call records of all the accused. But, a few weeks into the probe, he was unceremoniously taken off it and the case was handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Police DG Vanzara. Sharma, however, managed to make a copy of all the call records and produced it before the Nanavati-Shah Commission. These call records are a piece of strong corroborative evidence establishing not only how all the accused were making frantic calls to each other while the Naroda massacre was in progress, but also that they were present at the spot. Call records have not been included as evidence in the chargesheets.
No mention made of use of firearms: In the chargesheets, the police have only said that the mob was carrying sharp-edged weapons (of which only one has been recovered so far). The police have ruled out the use of any kind of firearm by the mob. The injury certificates of most of the survivors who were treated for gunshot wounds were not made part of the chargesheets; all the same, clear mentions of gunshot wounds did find their way into four injury certificates annexed with the chargesheets. One postmortem report also attributes the death to a firearm injury. The dimensions of the entry and exit wounds in all five cases show that the wounds were inflicted by small firearms and not by police rifles. In any case, though the police have claimed to have fired 91 rounds to disperse the mob, it is not their case that anyone was injured in police firing. As to how these five people sustained bullet injuries, the entire investigation is silent.
No identification parades carried out: In the case of both the Naroda massacres, dozens of witnesses have stated that were the accused to be shown to them, they would identify their attackers. Yet, except for Ashok Sindhi, the police did not conduct any identification parades of the accused. The identification parade is of immense importance
in cases of mob violence.
THE INVISIBLE HAND
In the course of their conversations with TEHELKA, numerous accused spoke appreciatively of the role of the police, and named senior Sangh Parivar functionaries, for their role in the carnage, including MoS for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, whom Bajrangi spoke to after the massacre. When so many arms of the government were involved at so many levels, was the man who headed the state also involved?
TEHELKA asked Bajrangi this question. In reply, the Naroda massacres prime accused said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had visited Naroda twice after the massacre — first, in the evening of the day of the massacre, when he came to the locality but was unable to enter it, and second, on the next day, when he went inside Naroda Patiya. On both visits, Modi had encouraged the murderers, Bajrangi said, and told them that whatever they had done was good and that they should do even more.
Suresh Richard corroborated this account and said that Modi had also visited Chharanagar on the evening of the massacre and garlanded the rioters. Bajrangi said that if Modi had not told the police to stand back, the massacre would never have been possible. But Modi’s support to the rioters did not stop at the facilitation of the killings. Bajrangi said after the Naroda killings, Modi kept him in hiding for more than four months and then stage-managed his arrest. If that was not enough he also brought in a favourable judge to hear Bajrangi’s bail petition and got him out of jail.
THE SIEGE OF GULBARG
Prahlad Raju said the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists passed through Meghaninagar in large numbers early that day. They were out to enforce the bandh called by the VHP. He said he joined the groups at about 8:30am.
He said many activists were carrying tridents in their belts. Mangilal Jain added that many in the mob also had sticks and carted litres of petrol in their cars. According to Madan Chawal, some in the mob were also carrying firearms. Chawal said that soon after the VHP activists arrived, someone set a shop owned by a Muslim on fire. At this point, Chawal, who ran a grocery here, also joined the mob.
WHO LED THE MOB?
Chawal, Jain and Raju said that two VHP leaders — Atul Vaid and Bharat Teli — and a local Congress leader Megh Singh were leading the mob.
HOW EHSAN JAFRI WAS KILLED
Soon, the mob gheraoed Gulbarg society. While there were 30 to 35 Muslim families residing in the society, poor Muslims from adjoining slums had also taken shelter within the compound. Since the gates of the society were closed and the boundary walls enclosing the society were high, a few in the mob blasted the wall from the front and the rear.
Chawal said, “The mob took cylinders from other houses. The cylinders were placed along the wall and set afire… resulting in an explosion that damaged the almost two-feet thick wall.” He said some from the mob scaled the almost 20-foot wall by rope. Alarmed at the mob ambushing the complex, Jafri began to make frantic calls to police officers and political leaders. When nothing seemed to work, the accused told TEHELKA, Jafri opened fire on the mob and injured a few people. Then he offered the mob money pleading for them to spare him and the other Muslims in Gulbarg. At this, the mob told him to come down to them with the money.
Jain said that as soon as he stepped out, Jafri dropped the money on the ground and tried to rush back. But the mob pounced on him. Chawal recalled the killing: “Paanch-chheh jan pakad liye the, phir usko jaise pakad ke khada rakha phir logon mein se kisi ne talwar maari… haath kaate… haath kaat ke phir pair kaate… phir na sab kaat dala… phir tukde kar ke phir lakda jo lagaye thhe, lakde uspe rakh ke phir jala daala… zinda jala daala… (Five or six people held him, then someone struck him with a sword… chopped off his hand, then his legs… then everything else… after cutting him to pieces, they put him on the wood they’d piled and set it on fire… burnt him alive…)”
After killing Jafri, the mob dragged out other Muslims and slaughtered them and set them on fire. At around 4.30 in the evening, the police finally dispersed the mob and the survivors were rescued.
THE COMPLICIT POLICE
According to the three accused, the police not only gave them a free hand, but also exhorted the rioters to kill Muslims. Mangilal Jain said that the police inspector in-charge of Meghaninagar police station, KG Erda told the rioters that they had three to four hours to carry out killings. TEHELKA found that the police inspector had given this time since extra forces were expected to be in Ahmedabad that evening.
Jain said some in the police kept away, indicating to the rioters that they were to do whatever they wished in those few hours. This further fuelled the mob’s frenzy all over Ahmedabad and led to the deaths of many more Muslims.
Raju also told TEHELKA that police personnel deployed in the area not only stood back but signalled to the rioters to go for the kill. Erda arrived to “rescue” the survivors after the massacre was almost over. At this point, relates Chawal, the rioters approached Erda and told him he was not doing the right thing as the survivors could testify against them. So Erda came up with a heinous plan — as the van carrying the survivors drew away from Gulbarg, the rioters were to pelt stones at it so the constable on the vehicle could claim to have been scared off. He would flee and the mob could then torch it. But the plan could not be executed because of the timely intervention of a Muslim inspector called Pathan, Chawal said.
The three accused TEHELKA spoke to said the actual toll was much higher than the official figure but the police had told the mob to dispose of the bodies to reduce the magnitude of the crime. The cover-up continued even after the investigation was initiated. All three spoke to TEHELKA of the royal treatment they received at the hands of the Crime Branch officials investigating the case. They all said that they were extended the best hospitality when they were in police custody and were not interrogated at all. Being in police custody itself, the three said, was a farce, a formality the cops needed to comply with. Chawal said DG Vanzara, who was then posted as DCP (Crime) and was the investigating officer of the Gulbarg massacre, never asked him to reveal anything about the massacre. The three said they lied in their police statements and the police didn’t pressurise them to tell the truth.
Dozens of survivors wrote to the Ahmedabad police commissioner saying that their statements had been recorded incorrectly by the police. One survivor, Mohammad Raffik Pathan, made a sworn affidavit to the police commissioner stating that four assailants whom he had identified and named before the police were not included in his final statement. Another, Mohammad Sayeed, stated that nine of the assailants he had named were omitted from his statement while four persons whom he had named were included. Despite dozens of such representations, the police refused to correct the glaring discrepancies.
Many victims had told the police that they had seen VHP leaders Bharat Teli and Atul Vaid in the mob. As is recorded on the TEHELKA spycam, the three Gulbarg accused have corroborated the presence in the mob of the two VHP leaders. But the police is yet to include their names in the chargesheet.
BABU BAJRANGI
Just under 5’3”, Babu Bajrangi—whose family name is Patel — is a towering figure in Naroda. Twenty-two years of association with the VHP and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, has firmly established him as the most dreaded local thug. Today, Bajrangi lords it over Naroda, and over Chharanagar in particular, where he commands a substantial following. Many Chharas appear to hold him in great reverence; he, in turn, is all praise for the criminal abilities he claims they possess, they are his “weapons”, he says, “just kill, nothing else”.
Bajrangi holds court at his office on the second floor of the Ajanta Ellora Shopping Complex, just off the highway that skirts Naroda. Though he claims to be a big builder with a steady monthly income of over a lakh and a half, his main vocation is beating up Muslims and Christians. “I just hate Muslims and Christians,” he says. And the cause dearest to his heart is to “rescue” Hindu girls who have married or eloped with Muslim boys. A majority of those who visit him each day are the parents of such girls. “When they go to the police, the cops don’t lodge a complaint, they send them to me,” Bajrangi claims. “Nine hundred and fifty-seven — that’s how many Hindu girls I have saved. On average, one girl married to a Muslim produces five children. So, in effect, I have killed 5,000 Muslims before they were born.”
Bajrangi has other claims to fame too. It was he who, virtually single-handedly, stalled the release of the film Parzania in Ahmedabad. While he openly threatened cinema hall owners to keep them from screening the film, the administration remained mute. “The film was anti-Hindu,” is all the justification he needed. Bajrangi’s love for Hindus is defined by his hate for Muslims and everything about them. “I would not mind if I were condemned to death, but if they ask me my last wish, I would want to drop bombs in Muslim localities and kill ten to fifteen thousand Muslims before I die.”
Apart from personal action, he has several suggestions for a “solution” to the “problem” of Muslim presence. “Delhi should issue orders to kill — higher caste people and the rich won’t do it but slum dwellers and the poor will and they should be ordered to. They should be told that they can take whatever they want of the Muslims — land, wealth, houses, everything — but they should do it in three days.” This will ensure that Muslims are wiped out across India. Bajrangi’s second suggestion is to have Muslims allowed only one marriage and one child by law. Additionally, it would also be a good idea to deny them the right to vote.
PREPARATIONS FOR GENOCIDE
Bajrangi went to Godhra on February 27, the day of the Sabarmati fire. He told TEHELKA that after he saw the Sabarmati victims’ bodies, he took a vow to avenge Godhra on the Muslims of Naroda Patiya the very next day. “Humne unko wahi challenge kar diya tha ki isse chaar guna laash hum Patiya mein gira daalenge (I challenged the Muslims — I would see four times the number of dead in Godhra felled in Patiya),” Bajrangi told TEHELKA at the very first meeting. He returned to Ahmedabad and began preparations for the massacre that very night. Twenty-three small firearms were rounded up from such Hindus as owned them; those who were unwilling to part with their weapons were told they’d be killed the next day, even if they were Hindus. Large quantities of inflammable material were also acquired — Bajrangi told TEHELKA that one petrol pump owner gave him petrol for free, this he later used to burn Muslims alive.
THE EXECUTION
The VHP and Bajrang Dal men arrived at Naroda Patiya at around 10 the next morning. They led the first attack but were forced to retreat as the Muslims put up a strong resistance, said Suresh Richard, one of the key accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre. At this point, a large band of Bajrangi’s Chhara followers joined ranks with the saffron mob and mounted a fresh attack. By around 10.30am, they had managed to destroy the minaret of Naroda Patiya’s Noorani Masjid. Subsequently, as Richard told TEHELKA, a full fuel tanker was rammed into the building, it burst and was then set on fire. The fuel from the tanker was also used to burn Muslims and their homes.
After the first round of assault, the Muslims barricaded themselves into their homes and remained there till around 3pm when the attack intensified. Between 5 and 6 that evening, the mob reached the height of its frenzy; many women and girls were first raped and then doused in kerosene and petrol and burnt. A few dozen Muslims were able to make it to a State Reserve Police Force camp nearby. Bajrangi told TEHELKA that but for the Muslim commandant of the camp, who sheltered some Muslims, the death toll would have been much higher.
Some of the men in the Naroda attack were wearing khaki shorts and had saffron bands around their foreheads. According to witnesses, many were carrying jerrycans filled with kerosene, diesel and oil from the State Transport workshop. These they would empty on whoever came in range before setting them on fire; lit balls of fuel-soaked cloth were also thrown at those out of immediate reach. In Naroda is an open area with a large pit that is actually a cul de sac — a slope leads into it from one side but the other side is a sheer rise that cannot be scaled. Several Muslims had sheltered there; the mob surrounded the pit, poured fuel into it and set fire to it as well.
Ninety-seven people are officially said to have died that day in Naroda Patiya, but the actual death toll was much higher, as can be gleaned from the detailed lists survivors have made of missing persons and of their kith and kin whom they saw dying. Most of the dead were charred or mutilated beyond recognition. “We hacked, we burnt, did a lot of that,” said Bajrangi. “We believe in setting them on fire because these bastards say they don’t want to be cremated, they’re afraid of it, they say this and that will happen to them.” An overwhelming majority of the survivors were never able to claim the bodies. Dozens of eyewitnesses who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission recounted scenes of children being burnt alive and women being raped. “We didn’t spare any of them,” Bajrangi said. “They shouldn’t be allowed to breed. Whoever they are, even if they’re women or children, there’s nothing to be done with them; cut them down. Thrash them, slash them, burn the bastards.”
Kauser Bano, was nine months pregnant that day. Her belly was torn open and her foetus wrenched out, held aloft on the tip of a sword, then dashed to the ground and flung into a fire. Bajrangi recounts how he ripped apart “ek woh pregnant… b*******d sala”; how he showed Muslims the meaning of wrath—“If you harm us, we can respond — we’re no khichdi-kadhi lot”.
The scale and ferocity of the attack forced all surviving residents of the settlement to run away. Every house was looted, some were burnt. Many survivors had to be hospitalised; many were separated from their families and were not re-united with them for a week to 10 days, some for much longer. Several women were left with nothing to cover themselves with and were escorted to the relief camp completely naked. Suresh Richard told TEHELKA that there were many instances of rape and he himself was involved in one of them.
Their Eyes And Mouths Were Shut’
Transcript: BABU BAJRANGI says:
SEPTEMBER 1, 2007
Nobody can do what Narendrabhai has done in Gujarat. If I didn’t have Narendrabhai’s support, we would not have been able to avenge Godhra... because the police was standing right in front of us, seeing all that was happening, but they had shut their eyes and mouths... At that time, had the police wanted, they would never have let us in... There was just one entry, like a housing society has, and then Patiya begins... If they wanted to stop us, there were 50 of them there, they could have stopped us... We had good support from the police... because of Narendrabhai... and that is because whatever happened in Gujarat, happened for the best. We got some relief from these people [the Muslims]... they had got so high and daring...
• • •
The Muslims kept making calls to the police, kept running to the police… They had one man called Salem… supposed to be a sort of Naroda Patiya dada… he got into a police jeep… got right inside... I myself caught him and dragged him out… The cops said kill him, if he’s left alive, he’ll testify against us… He was taken a little way away and finished off right there… If the bastard had lived, he would have said he’d climbed into a police jeep and was thrown out, things like that…
• • •
[By the end, there were about 700- 800 bodies.] They were all removed… The Commissioner came that night and said that if there were so many dead at one place, it would create trouble for him… So he had the corpses picked up and dumped all over Ahmedabad… When they were brought to the Civil Hospital for the post-mortem, they were said to be from this place or that…
• • •
AUGUST 10, 2007
At 2.30 that night, I called the police inspector [Mysorewala]... He said don’t come here [to the station]... There were dekho to [shoot at sight] orders against me... Wherever Babu Bajrangi was found, he was to be shot... He told me to run away... our Mysorewala... He said he couldn’t do a thing for me... I wasn’t even to tell anyone he’d called… But even so, he sent a rider to my house... you can imagine how my children felt at that time...
• • •
[Four months later] Narendrabhai told me... there was a lot of pressure on him... The media, TV, so much coverage... Babu Bajrangi is a goonda... Laloo complained in Parliament about my not being caught... So Narendrabhai asked me to surrender... I said, alright saheb, if you tell me to, I will give myself up... I surrendered near Gandhinagar... it was all a big drama... all a drama... the police, the Crime Branch, had been told I would be passing through that area... PP Pandey saheb, who was [joint] commissioner in the Crime Branch then, he was there too and some 12 or 13 cars came... These people waited on the road from Biloda to Gandhinagar... they checked a few cars... I had to land up... it was part of the act... If I’d gone straight to the Crime Branch, the media and the NGOs would have ripped me apart... It was all a drama... they caught me, tied me up with rope... all drama... They told me they were tying me up just for show...
Dance of Hate - By Ashish Khetan (Tehelka Report)
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Just under 5'3", Babu Bajrangi—whose family name is Patel — is a towering figure in Naroda. Twenty-two years of association with the VHP and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, has firmly established him as the most dreaded local thug. Today, Bajrangi lords it over Naroda, and over Chharanagar in particular, where he commands a substantial following. Many Chharas appear to hold him in great reverence; he, in turn, is all praise for the criminal abilities he claims they possess, they are his "weapons", he says, "just kill, nothing else".
Bajrangi holds court at his office on the second floor of the Ajanta Ellora Shopping Complex, just off the highway that skirts Naroda. Though he claims to be a big builder with a steady monthly income of over a lakh and a half, his main vocation is beating up Muslims and Christians. "I just hate Muslims and Christians," he says. And the cause dearest to his heart is to "rescue" Hindu girls who have married or eloped with Muslim boys. A majority of those who visit him each day are the parents of such girls. "When they go to the police, the cops don't lodge a complaint, they send them to me," Bajrangi claims. "Nine hundred and fifty-seven — that's how many Hindu girls I have saved. On average, one girl married to a Muslim produces five children. So, in effect, I have killed 5,000 Muslims before they were born."
Bajrangi has other claims to fame too. It was he who, virtually single-handedly, stalled the release of the film Parzania in Ahmedabad. While he openly threatened cinema hall owners to keep them from screening the film, the administration remained mute. "The film was anti-Hindu," is all the justification he needed. Bajrangi's love for Hindus is defined by his hate for Muslims and everything about them. "I would not mind if I were condemned to death, but if they ask me my last wish, I would want to drop bombs in Muslim localities and kill ten to fifteen thousand Muslims before I die."
Apart from personal action, he has several suggestions for a "solution" to the "problem" of Muslim presence. "Delhi should issue orders to kill — higher caste people and the rich won't do it but slum dwellers and the poor will and they should be ordered to. They should be told that they can take whatever they want of the Muslims — land, wealth, houses, everything — but they should do it in three days." This will ensure that Muslims are wiped out across India. Bajrangi's second suggestion is to have Muslims allowed only one marriage and one child by law. Additionally, it would also be a good idea to deny them the right to vote.
PREPARATIONS FOR GENOCIDE
Bajrangi went to Godhra on February 27, the day of the Sabarmati fire. He told TEHELKA that after he saw the Sabarmati victims' bodies, he took a vow to avenge Godhra on the Muslims of Naroda Patiya the very next day. " Humne unko wahi challenge kar diya tha ki isse chaar guna laash hum Patiya mein gira daalenge (I challenged the Muslims — I would see four times the number of dead in Godhra felled in Patiya)," Bajrangi told TEHELKA at the very first meeting. He returned to Ahmedabad and began preparations for the massacre that very night. Twenty-three small firearms were rounded up from such Hindus as owned them; those who were unwilling to part with their weapons were told they'd be killed the next day, even if they were Hindus. Large quantities of inflammable material were also acquired — Bajrangi told TEHELKA that one petrol pump owner gave him petrol for free, this he later used to burn Muslims alive.
THE EXECUTION
The VHP and Bajrang Dal men arrived at Naroda Patiya at around 10 the next morning. They led the first attack but were forced to retreat as the Muslims put up a strong resistance, said Suresh Richard, one of the key accused in the Naroda Patiya massacre. At this point, a large band of Bajrangi's Chhara followers joined ranks with the saffron mob and mounted a fresh attack. By around 10.30am, they had managed to destroy the minaret of Naroda Patiya's Noorani Masjid. Subsequently, as Richard told TEHELKA, a full fuel tanker was rammed into the building, it burst and was then set on fire. The fuel from the tanker was also used to burn Muslims and their homes.
After the first round of assault, the Muslims barricaded themselves into their homes and remained there till around 3pm when the attack intensified. Between 5 and 6 that evening, the mob reached the height of its frenzy; many women and girls were first raped and then doused in kerosene and petrol and burnt. A few dozen Muslims were able to make it to a State Reserve Police Force camp nearby. Bajrangi told TEHELKA that but for the Muslim commandant of the camp, who sheltered some Muslims, the death toll would have been much higher.
Some of the men in the Naroda attack were wearing khaki shorts and had saffron bands around their foreheads. According to witnesses, many were carrying jerrycans filled with kerosene, diesel and oil from the State Transport workshop. These they would empty on whoever came in range before setting them on fire; lit balls of fuel-soaked cloth were also thrown at those out of immediate reach. In Naroda is an open area with a large pit that is actually a cul de sac — a slope leads into it from one side but the other side is a sheer rise that cannot be scaled. Several Muslims had sheltered there; the mob surrounded the pit, poured fuel into it and set fire to it as well.
Ninety-seven people are officially said to have died that day in Naroda Patiya, but the actual death toll was much higher, as can be gleaned from the detailed lists survivors have made of missing persons and of their kith and kin whom they saw dying. Most of the dead were charred or mutilated beyond recognition. "We hacked, we burnt, did a lot of that," said Bajrangi. "We believe in setting them on fire because these bastards say they don't want to be cremated, they're afraid of it, they say this and that will happen to them." An overwhelming majority of the survivors were never able to claim the bodies. Dozens of eyewitnesses who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission recounted scenes of children being burnt alive and women being raped. "We didn't spare any of them," Bajrangi said. "They shouldn't be allowed to breed. Whoever they are, even if they're women or children, there's nothing to be done with them; cut them down. Thrash them, slash them, burn the bastards."
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| Photo: Paras Shah |
Kauser Bano, was nine months pregnant that day. Her belly was torn open and her foetus wrenched out, held aloft on the tip of a sword, then dashed to the ground and flung into a fire. Bajrangi recounts how he ripped apart " ek woh pregnant… b*******d sala"; how he showed Muslims the meaning of wrath—"If you harm us, we can respond — we're no khichdi-kadhi lot".
The scale and ferocity of the attack forced all surviving residents of the settlement to run away. Every house was looted, some were burnt. Many survivors had to be hospitalised; many were separated from their families and were not re-united with them for a week to 10 days, some for much longer. Several women were left with nothing to cover themselves with and were escorted to the relief camp completely naked. Suresh Richard told TEHELKA that there were many instances of rape and he himself was involved in one of them.
TEHELKA: It is being said the Chharas also committed rapes…
Richard: Now look, one thing is true… bhookhe ghuse to koi na koi to phal khayega, na [when thousands of hungry men go in, they will eat some fruit or the other, no]… Aise bhi, phal ko kuchal ke phek denge [in any case, the fruit is going to be crushed and thrown away]… Look, I'm not telling lies… Mata is before me [gesturing to an image of a deity]… Many Muslim girls were being killed and burnt to death, some men must have helped themselves to the fruit…
TEHELKA:Must have been a couple of rapes…
Richard: Might even have been more… then there were the rest of our brothers, our Hindu brothers, VHP people and RSS people… Anyone could have helped themselves… who wouldn't, when there's fruit?… The more you harm them, the less it is… I really hate them… don't want to spare them… Look, my wife is sitting here but let me say… the fruit was there so it had to be eaten… I ate too… I ate once.
TEHELKA: Just once?
Richard: Just once… then I had to go killing again… [turns to relative Prakash Rathod and talks about the girl he had raped and killed ]… the scrap dealer's daughter Naseemo... Naseemo that juicy plump one… I got on top…
TEHELKA: You got on top of her…
Richard: Yes, properly…
TEHELKA: She didn't survive, did she?
Richard: No, then I pulped her… Made her into a pickle…
Another victim, 22-year-old Sufiya Bano, was raped and burnt in front of her father. The Civil Hospital, where she was admitted and later died, confirmed the attack on her. When her father, Abdul Majid, a witness who deposed before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, tried to save his daughter, he was brutally seized and held and his beard cut off. Apart from Sufiya Bano, six other members of this family were killed: three boys — Mehmood, Ayub and Hussain; two other girls — Afrin Bano and Shahin Bano; and their mother, Lalibibi. At 22, Sufiya was the eldest of her siblings; seven-year-old Hussain and four-year old Shahin Bano were the youngest.
Police Commissioner PC Pandey came to Naroda Patiya only later that night, at around one. As he surveyed the devastation, he said the place looked worse than even the battlefields of Haldighati. So Bajrangi said.
On the day of the massacre, Richard told TEHELKA, BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani drove around Naroda, exhorting the rioters to kill as many as they could. Worse yet, Bajrangi revealed that he had been giving VHP general secretary Jaideep Patel a blow-by-blow account of the massacre on his mobile phone. He said he made 11 calls to Patel, providing him the latest death toll each time, until his phone went dead. That evening, Bajrangi says, he also called up then Minister of State for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, and told him how many he had killed and said that it was now up to Zadaphia to keep him out of trouble with the law. He went to bed that night feeling like Maharana Pratap, he says. He didn't manage to meet Narendra Modi when the Gujarat CM visited the locality that evening. Modi never made it into the interior of Naroda Patiya, says Bajrangi. "Not even God had the power to enter Naroda Patiya that day."
THE ROLE OF THE POLICE
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| 'They shouldn't be allowed to breed. I say this even today, even if they are women or children'-Babu Bajrangi |
Bajrangi was emphatic in his claim that the killings would never have been possible had the police not looked the other way. There was only one entrance to Naroda Patiya, he said, "like a housing society", and there were some 50 policemen posted there. "They could have ripped us apart," he said. "But, though they saw everything, they kept their eyes and mouths shut." Richard said that the police fired at Muslims who were under attack. He also said that late that night, after the rioting had died down, some policemen specially told the Chharas to kill Muslims hiding in a ditch.
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| 'Many Muslim girls were being killed. Some men must have helped themselves to the fruit'-Suresh Richard |
THE COVER-UP
TEHELKA in collaboration with advocate Somnath Vatsa of NGO Action Aid — whose Ahmedabad chapter has been fighting for justice for the victims of the 2002 massacre — carried out a threadbare analysis of the police investigation and the chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres. We found that far from punishing the guilty, the police were involved in a massive cover-up.
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| 'Mayaben(a local MLA) patrolled the streets, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims'-Prakash Rathod |
Bodies disposed of to diminish magnitude of crime: Once the massacre was over, the first task before the police was to whittle down the death toll. The larger the number of deaths, the more vociferous the outcry from civil society. As Bajrangi details, the police had the bodies from Naroda Patiya rounded up and dumped at various places across the city. According to Bajrangi, over 200 people had died that day; late that night, then Ahmedabad Police Comissioner PC Pandey came to Naroda and ordered the police to have the bodies removed.
"They were piled up in trucks, it took so many vehicles, some were even stuffed into jeeps." When the bodies were collected the second time and brought to the Civil Hospital for the post-mortem, they were recorded as being from the area where they were found. In this manner, the police managed to keep the death count down to 105, 97 from Naroda Patiya and eight from Naroda Gaon. The post-mortem records show that even these 105 bodies from Naroda were brought to the hospital piecemeal, with the last few bodies being brought in a full four days after the massacre.
No autopsies on 41 bodies:With one piece of evidence destroyed, the police moved on to the next stage. The bodies — charred, hacked at, bearing shot wounds, stab marks and marks of rape — could have been strong evidence of a brutal massacre and of the administration' s complicity. They might have served as a potent indication of the fact that this was no spontaneous act of rioting but a systematic pogrom. But the police did not carry out post-mortems on as many as 41 bodies recovered from Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon. No explanation has been offered for this act of grave negligence and omission.
Ninety-seven bodies had inquest panchnamas filed, a legal procedure under which the police, in the presence of two socalled "independent" witnesses, or panchas, physically verify the place from which the bodies were recovered and the nature of injuries on them and record their findings in writing. Thus, by their own records, the police recovered at least 97 bodies from Naroda Patiya. But, shockingly post-mortems were performed on only 58. Of the bodies recovered from Naroda Gaon, autopsies were not carried out on two. Apart from providing irrefutable evidence of the scale of the barbarity perpetrated that day, the autopsies, if done honestly, could have established the time of death, which would have given a fair indication of the total duration of the slaughter. These reports could have been a strong piece of evidence in court. But this is exactly what the police did not want.
Crucial evidence destroyed: The scene of a crime gives an investigating agency its most critical pieces of evidence. In Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon, the accused had left behind a trail that the police set out to systematically obliterate. The pit in which a large number of people were burnt alive was not even examined — no samples were taken of the soil, of the traces of human tissue or of the remains of burnt fuel. On the contrary, the pit does not even figure in the police version of the massacre. The dying declarations of as many as seven victims were not recorded; two of them died on March 11 after prolonged treatment, but no explanation is forthcoming in the chargesheet of why their statements were not recorded.
BJP MLA exonerated: Naroda massacre survivors had named local BJP MLA Mayaben Kodnani as having incited the murderous mob. However, at the time of filing the chargesheet for the carnage, the police dropped her name from the list of the accused, claiming that they had failed to find any evidence against her. But Richard had much to say about the role she had played. Richard and his co-accused Prakash Rathod said that Mayaben patrolled the streets of Naroda Patiya throughout the day, urging the rioters to kill more Muslims.
Destruction of Noorani Masjid not investigated: In its records of what it found at the scene of the offence, the police mention the presence of an oil tanker, manufactured by Ashok Leyland, near the Noorani Masjid, with its rear in contact with the wall of the mosque. Its front number plate was intact and read GT-1T 7384. But the tanker was not seized. The Road Transport Office was not contacted to determine its ownership. No samples of its contents were taken for forensic examination. In fact, it is still a mystery as to how a tanker of this size managed to "sneak in" so close to the Noorani Masjid, a place where there were over 12 police personnel on "constant vigil".
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| Photo: Cherian Thomas |
No proceedings against absconding prime accused: Many main accused went absconding after the police was forced to register an FIR against them. Babu Bajrangi, Kishan Korani, Prakash Rathod and Suresh Richard, for instance, were arrested three months after the FIR was issued. Bipin Panchal was arrested after a year and a half. But the police did not follow any of the usual procedures used when an accused absconds, such as pasting notices outside the accused's house declaring him an absconder, confiscating his properties, etc.
Not one confession recorded: Those arrested for the Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gaon massacres were taken in on remand — a period the court grants to the police to take an accused into custody for interrogation. But the remand and interrogation were a farce. Not one confession has been annexed to the chargesheets filed in either of the Naroda massacres.
Just one weapon recovered: Barring one sword recovered from Bipin Panchal in 2004, the police have not recovered any other weapon either from the scene of the crime or from any other accused. The survivors, however, had testified that their attackers, including the accused, were heavily armed with an assortment of weapons — knives, swords, trishuls, gas cylinders and firearms. In an instance where as many as 105 people, according to the police's own admission, were butchered, the failure to recover any
weapon used in the massacre speaks volumes for the quality of the investigation carried out. In fact, the owner of a gas agency had given a written statement that 20-odd persons with a Maruti van had landed up at his godown on the day of the carnage and had looted a large number of gas cylinders. The agency owner said his watchman had been present when the incident took place. But neither was the statement of the watchman recorded, nor was any attempt made to identify those involved in the looting or to track down the vehicle used in the crime.
Not one accused sent for scientific examination: Since not a single statement of any of the accused was recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it would indicate that the police failed to elicit any information by conventional interrogation methods. The next step would have been to subject the accused to scientific examinations like a polygraph test or narcoanalysis or brain mapping. The police, however, initiated no efforts in this direction.
No mention made of rapes: Three chargesheets apiece were filed in the Naroda Gaon and Naroda Patiya massacres. However, despite the testimonies of dozens of survivors who had reported that women were raped, not a single instance of rape was recorded. At least one post-mortem indicated a possible case of sexual assault, yet no investigations in this direction were carried out. (It should be noted that since autopsies on 41 bodies were not carried out, there is no ascertaining how many of them were women's and whether they bore marks of sexual assault.)
Mobile phone recovered from the spot not examined: On the day of the massacre, a survivor named Mirja Hussain Biwi Moherble recovered a mobile phone near her residence in Naroda Patiya. It had been inadvertently dropped by one of the accused, and was handed over to the police. On enquiry, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, AK Surolia found that it belonged to one Ashok Sindhi, an accused in the massacre. Surolia launched a massive investigation and started collecting the call records of Babu Bajrangi and other accused, including Sindhi (Letters from Surolia addressed to telecom companies asking for phone records are with TEHELKA.
We also have handwritten notes by him in which he observed that he believed Bajrangi "to be behind all this".) But before the investigation could go any further, Surolia was transferred. Once he was gone, the police stopped looking into Sindhi's phone records. In the three chargesheets filed in the Naroda Patiya massacre, no mention has been made of any cellphone belonging to an accused being recovered from the scene of the crime.
Mobile phone records of the accused not made part of the chargesheet: After the case was transferred to the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad Police, the then DCP Rahul Sharma proceeded to collect the mobile phone call records of all the accused. But, a few weeks into the probe, he was unceremoniously taken off it and the case was handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Police DG Vanzara. Sharma, however, managed to make a copy of all the call records and produced it before the Nanavati-Shah Commission. These call records are a piece of strong corroborative evidence establishing not only how all the accused were making frantic calls to each other while the Naroda massacre was in progress, but also that they were present at the spot. Call records have not been included as evidence in the chargesheets.
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| Photo: Cherian Thomas |
No mention made of use of firearms: In the chargesheets, the police have only said that the mob was carrying sharp-edged weapons (of which only one has been recovered so far). The police have ruled out the use of any kind of firearm by the mob. The injury certificates of most of the survivors who were treated for gunshot wounds were not made part of the chargesheets; all the same, clear mentions of gunshot wounds did find their way into four injury certificates annexed with the chargesheets. One postmortem report also attributes the death to a firearm injury. The dimensions of the entry and exit wounds in all five cases show that the wounds were inflicted by small firearms and not by police rifles. In any case, though the police have claimed to have fired 91 rounds to disperse the mob, it is not their case that anyone was injured in police firing. As to how these five people sustained bullet injuries, the entire investigation is silent.
No identification parades carried out: In the case of both the Naroda massacres, dozens of witnesses have stated that were the accused to be shown to them, they would identify their attackers. Yet, except for Ashok Sindhi, the police did not conduct any identification parades of the accused. The identification parade is of immense importance
in cases of mob violence.
THE INVISIBLE HAND
In the course of their conversations with TEHELKA, numerous accused spoke appreciatively of the role of the police, and named senior Sangh Parivar functionaries, for their role in the carnage, including MoS for Home Gordhan Zadaphia, whom Bajrangi spoke to after the massacre. When so many arms of the government were involved at so many levels, was the man who headed the state also involved?
TEHELKA asked Bajrangi this question. In reply, the Naroda massacres prime accused said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had visited Naroda twice after the massacre — first, in the evening of the day of the massacre, when he came to the locality but was unable to enter it, and second, on the next day, when he went inside Naroda Patiya. On both visits, Modi had encouraged the murderers, Bajrangi said, and told them that whatever they had done was good and that they should do even more.
Suresh Richard corroborated this account and said that Modi had also visited Chharanagar on the evening of the massacre and garlanded the rioters. Bajrangi said that if Modi had not told the police to stand back, the massacre would never have been possible. But Modi's support to the rioters did not stop at the facilitation of the killings. Bajrangi said after the Naroda killings, Modi kept him in hiding for more than four months and then stage-managed his arrest. If that was not enough he also brought in a favourable judge to hear Bajrangi's bail petition and got him out of jail.
Celebrity persecution is latest pastime for judiciary
Don't get worked up guys. Such few cases are done to just fool
people that judiciary works. Same way police catches a few kg of
narcotics to show people that law exists while merrily truck loads
are sold every year in india. Facts are menacing and disgusting.
We can call Indian judiciary law of bails, affidavits and
deferements. Shamelesslessly they do on various excuses created by
themselves.
Bogus and non functioning judiciary taking years and years
deferring dates only. Dragging cases on mere technicalities( even
in this Sanju case),dillydallying and making mockery of
constitution. Corrupt and greedy lawyers make hay. These are hard
facts which I can recount based on my own fight in courts for
justice. All criminals are out and enjoying and doing more crimes.
Court's decrees are not respected by crminals and citizens. These
are obtained after years of fighting but courts take no
responsibility to see that these are enforced and tough action is
taken against errant. So these decrees are useless unless against
govt departments.
In fact criminals file damages suits against victim after the
corrupt police-lawyer-judicial nexus acquits them in self created
mess and improper prosecution, rubbing salt in woulds. Can one
imagine a small and simple damages suit being dragged by courts
for 8 years?despite changes in CPS? not to allow more than 3
deferments?Judiciary behaving as if they are reporting to Queen of
England and are answerable to no one. Can it be more shameful
act?Indian judicial system is total fraud and the isolated
incidents like sanjay dutt and salman khan and protima bedi are
done to persecute have sadistic pleasure and make allround money
and publicity. Every one benefits. These are to fool people for
sure.
High courts are more inefficient and arrogant than lower courts
and so on with more cases pending and more time taken than trial
courts which is funny and absurd and shameful.
If you are a criminal and with some hot money in your pockets to
spend. Go ahead and do crime. First of all you will never be
finally and really punished. And even if it is done, it will take
20-25 years. By that time effect of crime will be over and the
victim will either die or will burn himself or herself to
indigation and in justice. It is time judiciary in India feels
ashamed and accountable and starts behaving and change fraudulent
procedures and high handed attitude of judges. Who they are trying
to fool?When people protest like Arundhati when they protest. They
brandish contempt Act but cant use it against erring and corrupt
IAS and IPS officers.
Simply disgusting. Kis kiska contempt karoge bhaia?every second
citizens condemn judicial inefficiency and injustice done by them
in one way or other. Lawyers are loose looting and harassing
citizens.
It is time judiciary changes itself and changes foolish and stupid
rules and court procedures which have made justice its captive.
We will challenge supreme court of india,law commission and Home
minsiter to commission a nationla protal based citizens
satisfactiona nd opinion survey through a US based acclaimed R& D
organisation,and do it every 2 years.ready?
Indian judciary sure owes lot of soul searching and explanation to
people,who pay their hefty pay packages and call them
honourable.
Celebrity persecution is latest pastime for judiciary
Don't get worked up guys. Such few cases are done to just fool
people that judiciary works. Same way police catches a few kg of
narcotics to show people that law exists while merrily truck loads
are sold every year in india. Facts are menacing and disgusting.
We can call Indian judiciary law of bails, affidavits and
deferements. Shamelesslessly they do on various excuses created by
themselves.
Bogus and non functioning judiciary taking years and years
deferring dates only. Dragging cases on mere technicalities( even
in this Sanju case),dillydallying and making mockery of
constitution. Corrupt and greedy lawyers make hay. These are hard
facts which I can recount based on my own fight in courts for
justice. All criminals are out and enjoying and doing more crimes.
Court's decrees are not respected by crminals and citizens. These
are obtained after years of fighting but courts take no
responsibility to see that these are enforced and tough action is
taken against errant. So these decrees are useless unless against
govt departments.
In fact criminals file damages suits against victim after the
corrupt police-lawyer-judicial nexus acquits them in self created
mess and improper prosecution, rubbing salt in woulds. Can one
imagine a small and simple damages suit being dragged by courts
for 8 years?despite changes in CPS? not to allow more than 3
deferments?Judiciary behaving as if they are reporting to Queen of
England and are answerable to no one. Can it be more shameful
act?Indian judicial system is total fraud and the isolated
incidents like sanjay dutt and salman khan and protima bedi are
done to persecute have sadistic pleasure and make allround money
and publicity. Every one benefits. These are to fool people for
sure.
High courts are more inefficient and arrogant than lower courts
and so on with more cases pending and more time taken than trial
courts which is funny and absurd and shameful.
If you are a criminal and with some hot money in your pockets to
spend. Go ahead and do crime. First of all you will never be
finally and really punished. And even if it is done, it will take
20-25 years. By that time effect of crime will be over and the
victim will either die or will burn himself or herself to
indigation and in justice. It is time judiciary in India feels
ashamed and accountable and starts behaving and change fraudulent
procedures and high handed attitude of judges. Who they are trying
to fool?When people protest like Arundhati when they protest. They
brandish contempt Act but cant use it against erring and corrupt
IAS and IPS officers.
Simply disgusting. Kis kiska contempt karoge bhaia?every second
citizens condemn judicial inefficiency and injustice done by them
in one way or other. Lawyers are loose looting and harassing
citizens.
It is time judiciary changes itself and changes foolish and stupid
rules and court procedures which have made justice its captive.
We will challenge supreme court of india,law commission and Home
minsiter to commission a nationla protal based citizens
satisfactiona nd opinion survey through a US based acclaimed R& D
organisation,and do it every 2 years.ready?
Indian judciary sure owes lot of soul searching and explanation to
people,who pay their hefty pay packages and call them
honourable.
Modi, Development And The Weaker Sections
With the impending elections for the State Assembly, the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is busy re-packaging himself as the Vikas Purush (to borrow the term from Venkaiah Naidu, ex-BJP President). After Modi took over the reins of power in Gujarat in the year 2001, he essentially packaged himself as Loha Purush, a term Venkaiah Naidu might have borrowed from the description used for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. All the might of this Loha Purush was exercised not on any powerful sections of the society but on the vulnerable and hapless minorities. Fake encounters targeting Muslims, misusing POTA on Muslim youths, Government's failure to provide an environment in which theatre owners could screen films like Parzania and Fanaa, BJP members vilifying and castigating B.B. Lyngdoh, the then Chief Election Commissioner, and Sonia Gandhi for being Christians who meet in church and conspire for BJP's defeat in Gujarat are some of the instances of the Loha Purush avatar of Narendra Modi.
After fighting his 2002 elections against Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf's "Mian Musharraf mentality", whatever that meant, Modi is now projecting his image that he is entirely for developmental agenda and inclusive growth for Gujarat Assembly Elections this year. Modi spoke on these lines while in Delhi on October 12, 2007 and even invoked Mahatma Gandhi's concept of Ram Rajya. The publicity film prepared by the Govt. of Gujarat – "India Tommorrw – The Gujarat Miracle " projects Modi as the sole person who fought the menace of terrorism in Gujarat. The Film then focuses on development of Gujarat under Modi. Govt. of Gujarat hired a channel to project achievement of Modi, but unfortunately for them, the Election Commission directed the channel to be taken off the air as it would mean unfair advantage to BJP. Modi is therefore seeking mandate on the issues of development.
Take one of the Tribal districts in South Gujarat - Dang. Having 311 villages and a population of more than 1.5 lakhs, about 93% of the population of the district is that of the Scheduled Tribes. Hardly one percent of the population might be holding land more than 10 hectares, and more than 80% of the population is either small cultivator cultivating on rough hilly terrain, or is marginal cultivator or even worst- landless. More than half the population of Dangs migrates outside the district from October to June every year as contract workers in sugarcane plantations, or for chickoo plucking or as migrant agricultural workers in Surat Dist., Valsad Dist. or Navsari Dist. or even in Maharashtra. As contract workers, the men, women and children of the family work upto 16 hours a day just to keep the body and soul together. They migrate outside Dang as they have no employment in Dangs. As migrant labourers, they neither have access to schools, or drinking water or health facilities or other basic human needs. They literally live animal existence that too at the mercy of the landlord who may permit them to pitch temporary shelters created out of cane leaves. After working of 16 hours daily without any leave or holiday or festival for about 8 months, they return home empty handed to their villages to cultivate their marginal holdings that might not be sufficient to provide them food for the four months they survive in their village. 1/3 rd villages in Dangs do not have potable drinking water after the month of October when the rivers dry up. Some of these villages are supplied water with tankers. For the entire District there is only one degree college and about 3-4 high schools run by missionaries. There are only two Govt. High Schools. The condition of the schools in villages is pathetic as is usually the case in Scheduled Tribe areas. Temporary shed which goes for school building, no blackboard or benches with teacher coming for not more than 10-15 days during the entire year. The fifty percent population that is left behind and does not migrate consists of old people not fit to work for 16 hours a day or some who work for harvesting bamboos for pulp mills or for gathering forest produce like honey, tendu leaves, or wild roots for their survival. The district administration generates very little and negligible work on road repairs, as there are few roads, electrification etc. as very little is invested by the Govt. in building infrastructure. There is no work irrigation worth the name except a few check dams here and there. Modi's Govt. did not do any better, perhaps did worst than Congress Govt. so far as Dangs is concerned. There is no development worth the name in Dangs.
However, Modi made a showcase of Dangs for outsiders. In order to facilitate the Sangh Parivar in organizing Shabri Kumbh, wherein they were expecting 5 lakh outsiders (mostly non-adivasis) to descent in a small village of Dangs District, Govt. of Gujarat under Modi's stewardship diverted all the grants received from Govt. of India to build approach road to this village (otherwise not of much use after the Shabri Kumbh event), spent crores of rupees to acquire land for building road, refusing to compensate Christians whose land was acquired for construction of the road. About 75 acres of forest was cleared to build approach road to and for construction of Shabri Mata temple, a diety not known to dangis 3-4 years ago. Approach roads if take you to market or town centres lead to development. But approach roads to temples of deities which are not part of your culture make you subservient to others. How all the Govt. schemes will be implemented and funds spent in Dangs is not decided by Collector of Dangs or the District Development officer of Dangs, though they may rubber stamp it, but by Swami Aseemandji, the points person of Sangh Parivar in Dangs. Swamin Aseemanand's decisions are in turn not based on the needs of the people of Dangs but to promote non-adivasi upper caste cultural and religious identity based on Lord Ram, Hanuman and Shabri. Drinking water, school, primary health centres can wait. The Central Govt. Funds and Schemes diverted in construction of approach road and check dams on Purna River to ensure enough water collects in a tank for 5 lakh outsiders to have a dip in the tank on an appointed day, where people have no drinking water is not only cruel joke but will ensure that for the next about a decade no substantial funds are available for welfare schemes like drinking water, health care, education and employment schemes. Showcasing of one village of Dangs as model village is the kind of development Modi Govt. is harping on. Essentially re-packaging and sticking new labels without any substance.
Dang is not the only backward district. There have been 403 farmers who committed suicides in the last four years in Gujarat from Junagadh, Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Mehsana. Though farmer's suicide is known in Maharashtra, Gujarat managed to put wraps on the fact of farmer's suicide in Gujarat till the same was unearth by Anhad through applications under RTI Act. Officials admitted that there were other 6055 deaths which were registered as accidental death but may be actually instances of farmers who committed suicide.
The meaning of development has been very limited for Modi and his ilk. Development is equated with more investments and building infrastructure for the Industrialists to facilitate them to make quicker and higher profits. All the investment has been mostly concentrated in the already developed golden corridor from Surat to Ahmedabad. Rest of Gujarat, accept the golden corridor and the charotar region where rich farmers hold the sway, there is very little development to show.
Modi has neither been Loha Purush nor Vikas Purush he is being made out to be. But he is good in spending in publicity and re-packaging himself.
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Indian politicians extraordinary: Yale
Indian politicians extraordinary: Yale
Having taught a group of 10 Indian parliamentarians, renowned faculty
members of the prestigious Yale University have found that Indian
politicians are ''extraordinarily intelligent.''
They are also quick learners of things than their counterparts in
other countries including the US and China.
''The students (Indian Parliamentarians) were exceptional,'' Linda
Koch Lorimer, Vice-President of the Yale University told NDTV.Com
after the conclusion of the first-ever ''Leadership Program for India
Parliamentarians'' held at the New Haven campus of the Yale
University.
Highly impressed with the level of active participation from these
Indian politicians during the five-days of intensive classes.
''Indian politicians are extraordinarily intelligent, extraordinarily
passionate about India's advancement and extraordinarily committed to
helping the nation and its people,'' Lorimer said.
Impressive traits
Jefferey Sonnenfeld, Chief Executive Leadership Institute of Yale
School of Management, who has also taught politicians from China and
the US, said he was ''amazed'' by quick grasping power of Indian
politicians. ''We wish, we had them for one more week,'' he said.
After instructing these Indian politicians, Sonnenfeld said the most
striking part of these MPs were their tolerance level, intellectual
tenacity and their commitment.
Having the experience of teaching American lawmakers, he said, he
really has tough time in keeping the US legislators in the classroom
for long.
''They (the US lawmakers) would constantly come and go. Nobody here
left. Not a single person, during the four days even for a minute
picked up a black berry or a cell phone. This is never the case with
US legislators and politicians that are always doing some hit and run
engagement they really do not see,'' Sonnenfeld said.
He added, ''This is an exceptional group of individuals. They are
alert, engaged, smart, and passionate. My one surprise was how
connected they were to business and management. Some run newspapers,
some run hotels. So they understand not just the political
environment but also some of the management challenges as well.''
Another faculty member, Barry Nalebuff, Milton Steinbach Professor of
Management, who gave practical lessons in negotiations said: ''They
are alert, engaged, smart and passionate.''
The programme was organized by the Yale Parliamentary Leadership
Program in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry and the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians.
The first batch of the Indian parliamentarians' team was led by the B
J Panda, Janata Dal MP from Rajya Sabha. Other members of the group
were Deepender Singh Hooda (Lok sabha), Robert Kharshiing, (Rajya
Sabha); Chandan Mitra (Rajya Sabha); Dharmendra Pradhan (Lok Sabha);
R.C.S. Reddy (Rajya Sabha); Shahid Siddiqui (Rajya Sabha); and
Dushyant Singh (Lok Sabha.)
Objectives
The program was developed in consultation with the parliamentarians
and the India-US Forum of Parliamentarians and reflects the belief
that exposure to new fields and ideas can offer insight, perspective,
and new ways of thinking for one's own work.
The topics covered program include economic and social development in
India, democracy and the secular state, India - China economic
relations, affirmative action, Climate Change and Sustainable
Development, Foreign Direct Investment in India, Strategy,
Negotiation and Game Theory for the Politician, Strategic Thinking
for the Politician, and Energy Security.
''The effort has turned out to be far better than we had expected,''
Panda told NDTV.Com after the four-day course was over. Though no
exams were held at the end, they were given a certificate from the
University at a small graduation ceremony held Saturday evening.
When these MPs went to collect their certificate from Lorimore, the
rest from the group cheered just like a graduate student. The MPs
celebrated their graduation by having their dinner at a Ethiopian
restaurant in New Heaven.
''There was a degree of apprehension that we were going to get a
program where four days would seem like 40,'' Panda said about what
he and his colleagues thought the day he arrived in New Heaven.
''But I must tell you, it was exactly the opposite that has happened
starting from the very first session. Throughout these four days, we
have been exposed to some of the best minds in academia, we have been
exposed to new data, new perspectives, provocative thoughts on new
issues as well as on issues which we thought we knew and
understood,'' he said.
Panda said the special leadership course developed for the Indian
Parliamentarians by Yale University got them to think again on many
subjects: what is the impact of globalization on India's poor, what
is impact of economic growth on cast relations?
The MPs are so impressed by this leadership program that they have
already started talking about its expansion. ''I have suggested to
Yale that if they could bring this faculty to India and do a program
there we can cover much larger number of MPs,'' he said.
''The whole exposure to creative thinking, maximizing positions in
negotiating strategies is something that we have learnt from the best
management professors,'' Panda said.
The parliamentarians now move to Washington next week where they
would be meeting a host of government officials from the State
Department, Treasury, Pentagon and also Congressmen and leaders of
the America's corporate world.
Know about India
1. India never invaded any country in her last 1000 years of history.
2. India invented the Number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
3. The world's first University was established in Takshila in 700BC.
More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60
subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4 th century BC was
one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of
education.
4. According to the Forbes magazine, Sanskrit is the most suitable
language for computer software.
5. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
6. Although western media portray modern images of India as poverty
striken and underdeveloped through political corruption, India was
once the richest empire on earth.
7. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5000 years ago.
The very word "Navigation" is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH.
8. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained
the concept of what is now k! nown as the Pythagorean Theorem. British
scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's
works dates to the 6 th Century which is long before the European
mathematicians.
9. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India . Quadratic
equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11 th Century; the largest
numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Indians used
numbers as big as 10 53.
10. According to the Gemmological Institute of America, up until 1896,
India was the only source of diamonds to the world.
11. USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion
amongst academics that the pioneer of wireless communication was
Professor Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.
12. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in
Saurashtra.
13. Chess was invented in India .
14. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health
scientists of his time conducted surgeries like cesareans, cataract,
fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anaesthesia was well known in
ancient India .
15. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers
over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu
Valley ( Indus Valley Civilisation).
16. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India
in 100 BC.
Indians develop new iron using ancient technology
By K.S . Jayaraman. Karnataka, India, 11:02 AM IST
http://www.indiaenews.com/technology/20071013/75049.htm
Indian metallurgists have developed a type of corrosion-resistant iron that construction engineers would love. And vital clues for it came for Delhi's famous Iron Pillar that has been standing tall for over 1,600 years.
Developed by Ramamurthy Balasubramaniam and his former student Gadadhar Sahoo of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur, the iron contains phosphorus and shows remarkable resistance to corrosion, especially in concrete.
'This is a significant first step in the possible commercial (large-scale) use of these irons,' Balasubramaniam, better known as Bala, told IANS.
Most steels today contain small amounts of carbon and manganese. Modern steel makers avoid phosphorus because its segregation to grain boundaries makes the steel brittle.
But the IIT team successfully produced ductile phosphoric irons by driving the phosphorus away from grain boundaries through clever alloy design and novel heat treatment.
Ironically, Bala's material is not new. It was being made by Indian ironsmiths centuries ago.
Bala says he got the clue for developing this material from the six-tonne seven-metre tall Delhi Iron Pillar - a major tourist attraction in the Qutb Minar complex -- that has been standing for centuries in the harsh weather of the capital without any corrosion.
'As a metallurgist, I was intrigued,' Bala told IANS. And his passionate quest to unravel the mystery that began in 1990s has now culminated in phosphoric irons.
The test samples developed by the IIT team remained fresh after three months of being immersed in solution, simulating the corrosive concrete environment, whereas the best commercially available steels got rusted. In another experiment, they embedded the samples in concrete to simulate actual conditions and obtained similar results.
'The work is especially important in regard to the widespread use of steels in civil structures,' said Gerhard E. Welsch, professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio).
'The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis has added new urgency,' Welsch said in a congratulatory message to Bala. Seven people died when the bridge across the Mississippi river collapsed Aug 2, 2007.
Current philosophies to tackle corrosion in concrete include the addition of inhibitors to the cement mix, use of rebars that are galvanised, epoxy coated, or micro-alloyed by the addition of small amounts of chromium, copper and nickel -- elements that are known to induce passivity in iron.
Their high cost is a disadvantage, says Bala. 'Besides, we have experimentally shown our phosphoric irons perform better.'
Bala's real break came when he found that the iron used in the Delhi pillar contained elevated amounts of phosphorus -- as much as 0.25 percent against less than 0.05 percent in today's iron. He found this was a result of the ancient process where iron ore is reduced in a single step by mixing it with charcoal, without any limestone addition.
Modern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone yielding molten slag and pig iron (high in carbon) that is later converted into steel. Most phosphorus is carried away by the basic slag.
Further studies and analysing rust from the pillar showed that phosphorus catalysed the formation of a protective passive film on the surface of the pillar that acted as a barrier between the metal and rust.
Tanjore Anantharaman, author of the book 'Delhi Iron Pillar - the Rustless Wonder' and Bala's former teacher at the Benaras Hindu University, says phosphorus was long suspected to be behind the pillar's corrosion resistance. 'It was Bala who proved it.'
That was in 2000. Actual material development and corrosion tests were initiated in 2003 when Sahoo joined Bala for his PhD that he completed in 2006.
'Our papers based on the thesis are coming out now,' Bala said. All the work, he said, was done with institute funds without any external support.
'Certainly, we are not claiming that this is the end of our studies,' admits Bala. 'We have shown the usefulness of phosphoric irons for concrete reinforcement applications. Now it has to be taken up by more researchers for greater understanding.'
Bala thanks his forefathers for the success. 'I am of the firm belief that ancient Indian metallurgists had the empirical knowledge that high phosphorus content ores resulted in corrosion-resistant iron. They did not create this material by accident.'
