Friday 28 December 2007

ELECTING A MURDURER AS THE HEAD OF THE STATE IN A DEMOCRACY

YES, GUJARAT ELECTED A MURDERER


In a meeting in his election campaign Gujarat Chief Minister Naredra Modi, after about fifteen minutes of Lalooeasque demagoguery began to command the crowd like a master puppeteer. The crowd in front of him was injected with a cocktail made of chauvinistic sense of Gujarati pride, urban selfishness and fascist reprehension towards “other communities”. The master puppeteer commanded the drunken puppets:

“They are calling me a murderer, tell me am I a murderer?” The earth and sky resonated with the mad cry of “NO!!”

“You elected me last time, tell me did you elect a murderer?” “NO!!”

Yes, Modi is a murderer. Gujarat elected a murderer. I dare say it. Because I don’t belong to the minority of Gujarat. And because I am not drunk with the cocktail too.

Leave aside the pre-planned and cold blooded genocide of the minorities of Gujarat in 2002 where Modi’s role as an instigator, conspirator, abettor and organizer was never hidden. You should not listen to me by birth and name I also appear to be a muslim. Don’t even listen to the liberals and secularists. Just listen to his own friends-in-arms and their families.

When the pota court pronounced its judgement in the Haren Pandya murder case, it had his father, Vitthalbhai Pandya, and widow Jagrutiben, crying foul and seeking re-trial. Both have long believed that Haren Pandya — a former Gujarat minister of state for home who was gunned down in central Ahmedabad in March 2003 — was the victim of a political murder. Vitthalbhai stated categorically in record that he believed it was Modi who was behind the killing of his son.

Now listen to Mdi himself and his crowd. He asked the crowd, “What to do with Sohrabuddin?” to which they answered “KILL!! KILL!!!” to which Modi responded “THEEK HAI”.

Sohrabuddin had been, in fact, killed in a fake encounter by Modi’s police. The accused have been arrested and the Supreme Court of India is monitoring the case. Mo was seeking endorsement from the public of an extra-legal killing, which matter was pending in the highest court of law of the land. So the Supreme Court issued a notice of contempt of court to Modi for interference in the delivery of justice. KTS Tulsi, the lawyer defending the Gujarat government quit his brief stating “If “KILL! KILL!!” is the law the chief minister of a state is propagating, then there is no need for the judiciary in this country.”

Democracy does not mean the rule of majority. Not, for that matter, a murderous mob. Can a democracy elect unanimously to eliminate another nation? Can a democracy decide to start men-eating? Can a democracy decide with absolute majority of 99% to eliminate the rest of 1%? These are not democracies. Without law, human rights and judiciary a democracy is nothing but a demon-crazy. Even sovereignty of nations has been curtailed to a great extent for humanitarian laws. There is the doctrine of humanitarian intervention which talks of military intervention by other nations if a country is found in a gross breach of International Human Rights Laws and treaties. The rule of law is the soul of democracy.

Modi killed this rule of law in his state. He killed human rights and justice. He assaults on Indian Civilization and on the core of our culture. He is armed with a Mdi-fied Gujarat and out to kill our constitution, our law, our culture, our civilization and our very humanity.







Wednesday 26 December 2007

The Ancient Indus Valley Civilization



The Ancient Indus Valley Civilization
The underlying efficiency of the ancient Indus Valley civilization is remarkable. The Harappan government was very complex, and yet very efficient. An efficient and technologically advanced urban culture is clearly evident in the Indus Valley civilization. Advanced Harappan art indicates that the people of the ancient Indus Valley had fine artistic sensibilities. Moreover, the underlying efficiency of this civilization is accurately reflected by the complex Harappan social structure, which integrated several different ethnic and religious groups and ensured enduring peace and prosperity. The ancient Indus Valley civilization was quite clearly advanced, to a great extent.

The quality of municipal town planning is an outstanding feature of the Harappan civilization. The uniform planning of towns and cities suggests the presence of efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene. The streets of Harappan cities such as Mohenjo-daro or Harappa were laid out in an efficient grid pattern, which ensured that houses were protected from noise, odors and thieves. In addition, houses were safeguarded against floods by platforms, and, as an additional measure of precaution against inundation, rectangular salients or bastions were added to the peripheral brick walls of the towns, Lothal for example, in order to divert the current. Baked bricks, which were rare at this time in the Near East, were used by the Harappans to construct wells, building platforms and drains that provided the cities of the Indus Empire with excellent drainage for rainwater and sewage.

Most Harappan towns had adopted the standard Indus gridiron planning, including smaller towns such as Rangpur and Surkotada. One exception is the town of Banawali, according to the excavator, who commented that "the general principles of Indus planning as observed elsewhere were followed here also, yet there were some significant departures from the established norms. It therefore belies the general conception of a chess-board or grid-iron pattern of planning ... Systematic drainage is the exception rather than the rule." Regardless, the uniformity of town planning throughout the Indus Empire indicates that a strong centralized government must have functioned to standardize urban planning.

An efficient Harappan administration had many functions in the ancient Indus Valley civilization. There is evidence that town administrators enlisted the cooperation of the people in order to efficiently execute public works. The Harappans were highly disciplined people who were very conscious of their civic duties. The citizens kept their cities clean, and also had various other responsibilities. For example, residents would ensure that the underground drains were not choked by the solid waste carried by private drains from the baths. Moreover, the Harappans cooperated wholeheartedly when planning the towns and rebuilding damaged public buildings such as the docks, warehouses, fortification walls and platforms. The Harappan administration also functioned to standardize industrial products such as metal tools and weapons, and even the units that were used to measure length.

According to S. R. Rao, the "smooth flowing of trade channels can be attributed to strict vigilance by guilds or state agencies." In fact, an efficient system of distribution of agricultural and industrial products, and raw materials, indigenous as well as imported, is the high watermark of Harappan administration. The Harappans could grow surplus food to feed the various specialized workers through an efficient distributory channel which presupposes an equally efficient administration of towns and cities and regulation of trade. The high degree of homogeneity in Harappan products, the uniform planning of Indus towns, the rigorous enforcement of trade and municipal regulations and the efficient Harappan distribution system all confirm that there was a highly effective and efficient administration in the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

The Harappans had analytical minds. The great accuracy that they achieved in measuring the physical units of length, mass and time indicates the advanced level of scientific and technological development reached by them. Harappan measurements were extremely precise. Their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale of Lothal, was approximately 1.704 millimetres, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights. Consequently, Harappan measurements are very precise. The remarkable symmetry in the disposition of Harappan buildings is shown by the remaining rows of baths, drains and remnants of walls. The designing of the Lothal dock and warehouse and the provision of manholes and sewers in cities are other examples of the Harappan scientific approach to human problems. The scientific approach of the people of the Indus Valley is indicative of their technologically advanced and efficient lifestyle.

A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley civilization. An amazing sewage and drainage system, uniform standard of weights and measures, and advanced buildings are evidence of this. The ancient Harappan systems of sewage and drainage that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Empire were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of modern India. The Harappans were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls. The massive citadels of Indus cities that protected the Harappans from floods and attackers were larger than most Mesopotamian ziggurats. Unique Harappan inventions include an instrument which was used to measure whole sections of the horizon and the tidal dock. In addition, the Harappans evolved new techniques in metallurgy, and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.

Clearly, the contributions of the Indus Valley civilization to the fields of science and technology are numerous. The Harappans were great lovers of the fine arts, and especially dancing, painting, and plastic arts. Various sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry, terracotta figures and other interesting works of art indicate that the Harappans had fine artistic sensibilities. The art of the Harappans is highly realistic.

The sheer anatomical details of much of Harappan art is unique, and terracotta art is also noted for its extremely careful modeling of animal figures. Sir John Marshall once reacted with surprise when he saw the famous Harappan bronze statuette of the slender-limbed "dancing girl" in Mohenjo-daro:

When I first saw them I found it difficult to believe that they were prehistoric; they seemed so completely to upset all established ideas about early art. Modeling such as this was unknown in the ancient world up to the Hellenistic age of Greece, and I thought, therefore, that some mistake must surely have been made; that these figures had found their way into levels some 3000 years older than those to which they properly belonged. ...

Now, in these statuettes, it is just this anatomical truth which is so startling; that makes us wonder whether, in this all-important matter, Greek artistry could possibly have been anticipated by the sculptors of a far-off age on the banks of the Indus.

Bronze, terracotta and stone sculptures in dancing poses also reveal much about the Harappan art of dancing. Similarly, a harp-like instrument depicted on an Indus seal and two shell objects from Lothal confirm that stringed musical instruments were in use in the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

Today, much of the Harappan art is considered advanced for their time period. The pictures that were carved into seals that were used for commercial purposes are regarded today as masterpieces in miniature art form. The fine brush work of the Harappans is attested to by various motifs drawn on the vessels of Micaceous Red Ware from Lothal. The finest examples of plastic art are the seals, known for their calligraphy and realistic rendering of animal figures.

In fact, the Harappans were responsible for developing a new style of painting animal figures in their natural environments. It is generally accepted that Harappan art is much more advanced than any other art from this time period. The crowning achievement of the Indus Empire was the cultural integration of different ethnic and religious groups, which ensured enduring peace and material prosperity. Although mythological scenes portrayed on seals suggest occasional skirmishes between the different socio-religious groups, the Protoaustioloids, Mediterraneans, Mongoloids and Alpines, many more seals suggest the integration of ideologically or socially different groups, which is symbolically shown by animals with several heads that represent a combination of different tribes or social groups.

This integration of heterogeneous clans or tribes in the Harappan socio-politico-economic structure was secured by the free trade of different goods and commodities between different peoples of the Indus Valley, which resulted in mutual benefits for all Harappans. The central government could regulate trade and ensure the efficient and equitable distribution of agricultural and industrial products throughout the vast Empire, and to all socio-religious groups, by establishing a network of market towns. Another approach of the Harappan peoples to the problem of religious differences was to form confederacies in order to convert other peoples to the Harappan ideology and way of life by offering the benefits of superior material culture and ensuring a more peaceful life.

In addition, inter-ethnic marriage was encouraged and was very common, as revealed by the examination of joint-burials of Lothal. This integration of different socioethnic groups in Harappan society closely resembles the integration of different cultures in the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great, who ruled over two thousand years after the prime years of the Indus Valley civilization.

Serious social inequalities existed in the Harappan civilization, most notably between the rulers and the ruled, and between men and women. The treatment of women by the Harappans indicates that this civilization, at least in some respects, was very primitive. The dichotomy of Harappan towns and cities into a citadel or Acropolis and a "Lower Town" was deliberately introduced in the Indus Valley in order to enhance the prestige of the ruler of the town, or rajah. These rulers and nobles lived on the Acropolis, which offered better protection from floods.

Although greater importance was clearly given to the rulers than the ruled, among the ruled the rich merchants and the poor craftsmen lived together in the "Lower Town," and, in contrast to ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian traditions, Harappan rulers were treated as common men after their deaths. Within the Harappan family, the father had absolute authority. He would make all of the decisions in the house, and the children and wives were often treated unfairly. Girls were unwanted, and boys were treated much better, and with more respect.

Undeniably, these social inequalities were a major problem for many of the peoples of the Indus Valley, and were likely among the many factors which led to the decline of Harappan civilization. The Harappan society was indeed a "Complex Society" in the sense in which Gordon Childe first used the term. According to him, the criteria for considering a society as complex are (1) cities (2) full-time craft and career specialists (3) taxation (4) monumental architecture (5) social stratification (6) exact and predictive sciences (7) writing (8) developed artistic styles (9) long distance trade in luxury items and (10) the state. Firstly, it is universally accepted that Indus cities such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal and Rehman Dheri were extremely well planned.

The knowledge that full-time specialists, such as bead-makers, ivory-carvers, metallurgists and seal-engravers, contributed to the efficiency of the Harappan economy satisfies the second criterion. Although there is no evidence of taxation, the third requirement, the maintenance of public works must have necessitated the collection of a minimal amount of taxes, since the wages of workers would have to be paid. Monumental architecture, the fourth requirement, is evident in the massive Harappan dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls which were utilitarian in character. The fifth requirement, social stratification, is obvious from the dichotomy of Harappan town planning which gave greater importance to the ruler than to the ruled.

The contributions of the Indus civilization to exact and predictive sciences, which criterion number six requires, such as mathematics, astronomy, engineering and chemistry are noteworthy: they introduced the decimal division in measuring length and mass, studied the stars and invented an instrument to measure whole sections of the horizon, built tidal docks after studying tides, waves and currents, perfected the system of sewerage and evolved new techniques in metallurgy. In addition, certain seal-inscriptions suggest great progress in conceptual thinking, especially in the field of cosmology.

Harappan writing, the seventh requirement, was extremely advanced. The Harappans were the first to simplify a primitive logographic-cum-syllabic writing into a phonetic script which was partially syllabic in the beginning, and then ultimately evolved into an alphabetic script. Indus script is currently being decoded, which is of crucial significance to ancient Indian history. Consequent of their fine artistic sensibilities, the Harappans did indeed have developed artistic styles, which satisfies the eighth requirement.

Long distance trade, the ninth requirement, with the other ancient civilizations of that time period, namely Egypt and Mesopotamia, was quite common, as indicated by the presence of foreign seals in the cities of these Empires. Finally, the uniformity of town planning in cities throughout the Indus Empire, from Surkotada to Mohenjo-daro, indicates the existence of a strong centralized government, and satisfies the final requirement of Gordon Childe, the State. Undeniably, the Harappan civilization was very sophisticated and complex. The Indus civilization has made several permanent contributions to the progress of humankind. Their simplified alphabetic system of writing which facilitated quick communication and recording of thought was the first of its kind.

Harappan metrology laid the foundation of science and technology. The engineering skill of the Harappans, especially in building docks after a careful study of tides, waves and currents, is remarkable for their age. They not only followed modern principles in their building techniques, but also achieved advanced standards of construction. The Indus decimal graduation of weights and length measures was the basis of later metrology. Another great achievement was the cultural integration of different religious and ethnic groups. As written by S.R. Rao, the eminent archaeologist and Indologist, "the Indus Valley civilization could not have survived for five centuries in its pristine form enforcing uniform laws and ensuring the proper distribution of goods over a vast territory of 1.5 million square kilometres had it not been a culturally and politically advanced society with a state that was effective, but not ruthless." Nevertheless, Harappan social inequalities indicate that the Indus Valley civilization was indeed a relatively primitive, ancient civilization.

Monday 24 December 2007

Cases of Gross Violation of Human Rights in Barak Valley of Assam

Cases of Gross Violation of Human Rights in Barak Valley of Assam

The Assam Police and CRPF personnel have been violating human rights systematically in Barak Valley killing serially innocent persons, denying justice, framing fake charges, arresting and detaining people in trumped-up cases, and raiding, harassing, abusing and humiliating in false charges.

There are four such cases of gross violation of human rights perpetrated recently in the valley:

1. On 19 April, 2007 one Pia Das alias Pria Das, aged 25, wife of Shnakr Das under Silchar Police Station in Cachar, died abnormally in Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar when she was admitted there in a very critical condition. According Kiran Sharma, and Rahul Das, the mother and minor son of the victim, Pia was badly beaten by Shnakar Das, her husband. They allege, he used to torture, abuse and beat her always during her conjugal life for dowry. That day he hit her on the head with a stool to which she succumbed. Afterwards Kiran Sharma went to Gunghoor Outpost to lodge FIR but Sub Inspector N R Das, in-charge of the Outpost denied to register the case and bullied and her demanded her five thousand rupees as the price of registering the FIR. She lodged complaint to the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police. But till the date no action has been taken regarding the investigation of her case and delinquent police officials.

2. One Hashmat Ali, aged about 40, of village Burunga, Bihara under Katigorah Police Station in Cachar was gunned down by a police team led by S I Sewa Singh, in-charge of Bihara Outpost in the intervening night between 30 April and 1 May of 2007 at his house. There was a quarrel between his father Imam Uddin and Uncle Kamal Uddin over the right to use of the ghat of their ancestral pond. In the morning of 30 April Kamal Uddin filed a complaint against Imam Uddin and his son Hashmat Ali, the victim alleging threat to his person and property from the accused. It should be noted that such cases come under section 107 of Criminal Procedure Code which are filed with executive magistrates. In the night at about 11pm Sewa Singh arrived at the house of Kamal Uddin with a police team. They attacked the house of Hashmat Ali at about 12 O' clock when inmates were sleeping. Police broke down the doors, entered the house and started breaking and destroying household things. Being terrified by this sudden heavy attack Hashmat jumped through a window and ran towards paddy field. Police opened fire and shot him dead. The district administration and police are trying to explain the case away terming it as an accidental death in stark contradiction with the facts known to all.

3. The police posted at Kailain Patrol Post under the Katigorah Police station in cachar killed one Motahir Ali Tapadar, aged 38, son of late Akaddas Ali Tapadar of village Bhatgram, Kalain under the same police station on 21 September, 2007. The victim was in their custody at the time of his death. He was arrested by the police on 20 September in connection with a complaint against him. This complaint was resulted from a quarrel of his family with a nieghbouring family over the toys of the kids of the two families. In the evening of the day of arrest Olimun Nesa visited the said PP with some respectable person from their village to see her husband. They saw that S I Narain Tamuli and other police personnel were beating, abusing and humiliating her husband. When she tried to dissuade the men in uniform they beat and kicked her too. In the morning next day, that is 21 Septebmer, Narain Tamuli brought Motahir out of PP house to take him to the court. Olimun Nesa came and beseeched Tamuli to release her husband. Tamuli demanded her ten thousand rupees and he threatened her that otherwise he would kill Motahir. In fact he again started to beat and kick him in full public view. When the condition of Motahir deteriorated beyond limits Narain took him to the Kalain Primary Health Centre. Here also he tortured, beaten and kicked Motahir. At about 1.30 Motahir breathed his last. After the death local people gathered in front of Kalain PP and shouted slogans demanding arrest of Narain Tamuli. Police started administering lathi-blows on the member of crowd at which people started to throw stones. Police opened fire and shot 80 rounds wounding a boy of 17 namely Saidur Rahman of Dhumkar who was wtching the incident from roof top of a nearby house. Being terrified people got dispersed. But then the police themselves set fire on the PP house Gaon Panchayat Office building and burnt them down. As per their plan police lodged an FIR charging falsely one Faruk Ahmed and other unidentified five hundred people under many non-bailable sections of the IPC including 309.In connection with this fake case police arrested Faruk Ahemd, Imamul Hoque, Ibajul Hoque and seriously wounded Saidur Rahman.


4. It was reported in the news papers on 23 October, 2007 that on 22 October at about 10am five Central Reserve Police Force personnel belonging to Gharmura Camp of E-147 Company shot dead one Jamir Uddin Laskar of about 35 years of village Boinchera (also known as Bhaichera) under the Katlichera Police Station in the district of Hailakandi in Barak Valley of Assam. Members of the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee talked with family members, relatives and nieghbours of the deceased, local journalists, CRPF personnel of the said camp and police personnel of Katlichera Police Station. According to the sources, other than the two mentioned last, the victim Jamir Uddin Laskar was a poor daily wage labourer. He is an innocent peace loving and law abiding citizen. There were no complaints whatsoever against him in police records. His nieghbour Moijun Nesa states that in the morning of the day of incident the victim was collecting grass to graze his cattle from a paddy field adjacent to her house. At about 10am she saw five CRPF men accompanied by one Rezwan Uddin, who is known to be a CRPF informer, going towards the paddy field where the deceased was working. She smelt something wrong and informed Sajna Begum and Anwara Begum, sister and wife of the victim respectively. When three of them went to the place of occurrence they saw Rezwan Uddin identifying the victim was asking the men in uniform to shot by pointing his fingers towards Jamir Uddin who was dumbfounded at the sight. At that moment Sajna and Anwara started to cry and beseech the men with arms to spare the life of Jamir Uddin at which they were beaten, kicked, abused and humiliated. As per the accounts of the eye-witnesses named above, at the instance of Rezwan Uddin a bullet was shot targeting Jamir Uddin which was missed, the second shot also missed but the third bullet hit on the back of the target, who had already started to run away, and piercing his chest exited. The critically injured victim was sent to the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar where he was declared dead at 6.30pm that day.

These horrendous incidents robbed the citizens of the valley of all senses of security. It seems, we are living at the mercy of those whose duty it is to protect us.

Sunday 23 December 2007

Threat to Repeat 9/11 in Guwahati: Politics of Terror

Threat to Repeat 9/11 in Guwahati: Politics of Terror


The president of Assam State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party Mr. Romen Deka revealed a horrifying news in a press meet at Jorhat, Assam on 20 December, 2007. He told media persons that International Terrorist Outfit Al Qaeda threatened to kill him and destroy the state headquarter of BJP in Guwahati like the twin towers of World Trade Centre in America. According to him, the threat was conveyed through a letter received in the State headquarter. The authors of the letter, as stated by Deka, also threatened to kill Mr.Somujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, the adviser of All Assam Students Union. Deka added that they got this threat due to the strong stand taken by their party against doubtful Bangladeshi citizen residing here. Even the writers of the letter did not feel it necessary to hide their identity. The letter was signed by Baharul Islam of Borni, Hajo; Kurban Ali, Irshadur Rahaman, Muhib Ali of Mohtoli, Kalatoti; Khalilur Rahman and Kachnur Ali of Shoniadi, Bihodia; Mirajul Hoque of Mandia, Barbata; and Tafazul Alom of Dhubri. All of the 8 signatories claimed that they are active associate workers of ISI and Al-Qaeda, as stated by Deka.

Recently a video lecture, allegedly of Osama bin Laden himself was aired by television channels where Laden declared his intention to establish an Islamic State in North East India. In view of this video, it seems to me, at the first sight, it is very intriguing that security agencies of the government have not taken the threat seriously and consequently, there is no alert or hype in security arrangements, at which Deka expressed his displeasure and rightly so.

Every human being, by the very virtue of his being a member of human family, is entitled to pursue his political aspiration lawfully and under the framework of democracy irrespective of his ideology, other affiliations and identity. No persons or group of persons are permitted to make any type of unlawful obstruction or threat of it, to his persuasion, leave alone the question of threat do destroy the headquarter of a popular political party and to kill its president. They must be dealt with stringently under the law of the land. The deadly silence of the government over such a serious matter is condemnable in the strongest words.

Al-Qaeda must not be viewed indifferently and taken lightly. It is the most dreaded terrorist organisation in the world today. Its god-father Osama Bin Laden had beaten badly a supper power of the stature of erstwhile United Socialist Soviet Republic, albeit with the back of United States of America in Afghanistan. The fact that he is a creation of the other super power of the cold War-I period which emerged as the victor makes Laden more deadly. He was created and used by America as a lethal weapon which can be used both ways. America used him horizontally against the USSR. America succeeded in two great battles of its war for global spectrum in Afghanistan and Iraq by destroying and occupying both of the countries by using the Laden trump card vertically. He is the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of the present day emperor.

That is why his image is larger than life. He lives a metaphysical existence. He has attained a mythical dimension. At least it has now got proven that the story of his involvement in 9/11 is a mythical one. After seven years of 9/11 the American investigative agency FBI could not find hard evidence to connect Bin Laden to 9/11. The web page of FBI titled “Most Wanted Terrorists” does not state that “Bin Laden is wanted for September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon”. The page rather states, “Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7th, 1998 bombing of United States Embassies in Dar-es Salam, Tanznia, and Nairobi, Kenia”. In an article published in the Milli Gazette Enver Masud writes, “When asked why there is not mention of 9/11 on the FBI’s webpage, Rox Tomb, the FBI’s Chief of Investigative Publicity, is reported to have said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”.

The story of Laden’s connection in 9/11 was manufactured and circulated to use it just as pretexts to invade and destroy Afghanistan as the story of weapons of mass destruction was used to carry out massive destruction of human masses in Iraq. At the time of invasion of Iraq Bush also harped for a while on the possibility of a connection between Saddam and Laden. Like Laden Saddam was also a long time friend in need of U.S.A. Saddam’s tyranny was supported logistically, diplomatically and morally by the States for a long time, especially in his war against Iran. The course did not run smoothly for ever due mainly to the fact that Saddam was established in helm of real power of a state unlike Laden whose very existence is not always tangible. Power is such a powerful phenomenon that in this case it created a deep rift between Bush and Saddam that drove the latter to gallows.

But Laden has kept serving his master in the White House without intervals. Robert Parry reported on July 4th, 2006, that CIA believed that “Osama helped Bush in ‘04 election.” Everybody knows that in 2004 presidential election in the US as per exit poll survey after the first phase Bush seemed to be getting out and exactly in this point of severe need Laden came to his rescue. A tape was aired containing a fiery speech, allegedly of Laden, threatening to repeat 9/11 in America. The politics of terror worked and Bush emerged with flying colours, albeit a little pale.

Such videos and images keep coming and fooling us. Some researchers take interests in analyzing them. Kim Zetter informed us on August, 2nd 2007 in wired.com regarding a video of Ayman Al Zawahiri, the person known as the right hand of Laden. Zetter writes, “Krawetz took an image from a 2006 Al Qaeda video of Ayman Al Zawahiri, a senior member of the terrorist organization. The image shows Al Zawahiri sitting in front of a desk and banner with writing on it. But after conducting his error analysis Krawetz was able to determine that Al Zawahiri’s image was superimposed in front of the background”. The latest Bin Laden video in which he threatened to transform North East India into an Islamic State was a forgery. The details of how it was made can be found in a post titled “Latest Bin Laden Video is a Forgery: All References to Current Events Are Made During Video Freeze. In mparent7777_2blogspot.com

I am not sure whether the letter received and shown by BJP threatening to kill Romen Deka, Dr. Somujjal Kumer Bhattacharya and to destroy the BJP headquarter was a forgery or not. But there is strong possibility of its being a forged letter. The truth about it can be ascertained by expert examination of the letter and severe interrogation of the persons who signed the letter. The detractors always talk of BJP as a fundamentalist and fascist party. And Al Qaeda is known also as a fundamentalist, fascist and terrorist organization. It is highly likely that the latter may come to rescue the former in the next Panchayat election which is hung like the sword of Damocles. With the help of the letter BJP can create an environment of terror and polarize the voters.

The matter is serious. People should create pressure on the government to unearth the truth behind the letter; otherwise the politics of terror wall create havoc in communal harmony, secularism and peace.

Interested Readers may go through:
1. FBI: Bin Laden Not Wanted for 9/11, Enver Masud, the Milli Gazette, 16-30 November, 2007.
2. Latest Bin Laden Video Is a Forgery: All References to Current Event Are Made During Video Freeze, mparent7777_2blogspot.com, September 9, 2007.
3. Alarming 9/11 Claim is Found Baseless, Los Angeles Times, December, 25, 2006.
4. C I A: Osama Helped Bush in ’04, consortiumnews.com, July 4, 2006.
5. What Really Happened to 7 World Trade Centre? Enver Masud, The Wisdom fund, April, 17, 2006.
6. Duke Professor Skeptical of Bin Laden Tape, Amber Rupinta, ABC News, January, 19, 2006.
7. American Secret War, George Friedman, The Wisdom Fund, October 11, 2005.
8. Why No Arab Names on Passenger List? Enver Masud, The Wisdom Fund, July 26, 2004.
9. Deadly Deception, Pretexts for War, Enver Masud, the Wisdom Fund , July 30, 2001.
And numerous writings of Naom Chomsky, Aizaz Ahmed, Tarique Ali, Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy and others.

Citizens of Twelve Hours

Citizens of Twelve Hours

They are Indian citizens. But their citizenship is limited to twelve hours only. They lose their citizenship for the twelve hours of the night. Thousands of Indian citizens living in Indian soil have been deprived of their citizenship for twelve hours daily for decades. The victims are residents of villages situated in the fringe area of about four thousand kilo metres long India-Bangladesh International Boundary Lines. There are more than 170 villages along the Indo- Bangla Boundary line right from Kolkata to Tripura. These villages could not be covered by the barbed-wire- fencing erected in the boundary line for technical reasons. The villages have been abandoned. So are the villagers. Everyday when clock strikes six the gates of the barbed wire fence got closed. The State of India abandons its own citizens living outside the fence for the rest of the time till the clock again strikes six in the morning. The gates of Indian State remain open for its citizens for just twelve hour of daytime.
After partition in 1947 there were unresolved boundary disputes between India and Pakistan. After the birth of Bangladesh in 1971 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India and President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh apparently resolved the disputes entering into a pact according to which there would remain one hundred metres of land between the border line of the two countries as 'No men's land' where no state would have any control. Following the pact no plan has been formulated or implemented for rehabilitation of the citizens who have been living in this abandoned NO MEN'S LAND. They too have been abandoned and ignored callously.
After the doors are closed at 6pm everyday darkness engulfs these villages as well as the minds of the villagers. They leave heir lives and property at the mercy of the thieves, dacoits, goons and other anti-social elements who regularly visit them, mostly from Bangladesh. No state provides them with any semblance of security of life and property. If anybody needs immediate medical attention in night there is no way other than to wait for the gates to open. If his condition does not permit to wait he has do succumb to death. For marriages and other social functions the villagers have to take prior permission from the concerned District Magistrate so the gates would open for the visitors to come back.
Veteran journalist Mrinal Talukdar of UNI made a short film of 20 minutes on the plight of such 'NO BODY'S MEN'. He shot this film at Lafsai and Jarapata, two such villages situated at Sutarkandi area of Indo-Bangla border in Karimganj district of Assam. He had to obtain clearance from Union Home Ministry for shooting there after an eight-and-half- month-long period. The film 'NO BODY'S MEN' has been included in the list of 13 movies selected for special viewing in he International Film Festival to be held from 4 to 9 February, 2008 in Mumbai. Mr. Talukdar has done a great job.
Barak Human Rights Protection Committee is contemplating to send a fact finding team to Sutarkandi. The Committee will act on the recommendations of the team to get full-time citizenship for the part time citizens.

A Heartrending Account of a Most Horrendous Massacre of Our Time




A Heartrending Account of a Most Horrendous Massacre of Our Time






Neelie, 1983: Asom Andolonor Borborotom Gonohatyar Postmortem Report
(Neelie, 1983: A Postmortem Report into the Most Barbaric Massacre of Assam Movement)
Author: Diganta Sharma
Publisher: Eklabya Prakashan
Akhra Ghar, Molouali, Jorhat-785001,
Published on 30 October, 2007
Price: Rs. 55.00, Pages: 94
Language: Assamese.



Reviewed by Waliullah Ahmed Laskar

'Rabia Begum was feeding breast to her 17 month daughter sitting in a stool in the veranda of her road side house. Her other children were playing in the small courtyard. Her husband Chandeh Ali was busy with some work in the back side of the house. They did not even guess what was to come to them after a few minutes.

Suddenly the playing children rushed towards their mother in panic and grasped her. Already there were hue and cry around their house. Hearing desperate cries of his children when Chandeh Ali just entered the courtyard he saw a group of people around with swords, daggers, knives, tridents and petrol. Attackers got divided into three groups. One group chased running Chandeh Ali. Another group went to set fire on the house. And the other group started striking their weapons on children in their mother's lap. In minutes they were transformed into a heap of human limbs. The house was rendered into an ash-heap. And Chandeh Ali? A trident struck him from behind.

This is not a scene of a horror movie. These are the words from a chapter in the history of the independent secular socialist democratic republic of India which was written in some unknown villages in Nellie in the then district of Nogaon in Assam on Friday, 18 February, 1983, by workers of All Assam Students Union and All Assam Gono Sangram Parishad, the chauvinist groups of Assamese people, with the blood of more than 3000 Bengali speaking Muslims. Diganta Sharma depicted this and many other horrific scenes in his 'Nellie, 1983: A Postmortem Report into the Most Barbaric Massacre of Assam Movement', the book under review".

"Read. And be afraid". I read it and got afraid. Speaking frankly, I would not sleep in three consecutive nights after going through the book. The scenes haunt me like my oewn ghost. I am afraid, it will keep haunt me till I breath my last. I am terrified. Shaken to the core. I got somewhat disenchanted about the greatest animal. About human civilization. Indian civilization. When we show our such face as shown in Nellie and if we call ourselves beasts, it will be an insult to the beasts. Civilization gets sometimes wilder than the wildest. This is one of the situation where human beings are at their worst. It reminds one of Auschwitz. Birkenau. And such other hells in the earth. Nellie 1983 is one of the most horrendous genocide in the earth.

This book which can strike vigorously to the core of your concept of humanity was a result of painstaking investigation and an example of meticulous objectivity and bold journalism. The author Diganta Sharma, a young journalist with Guwahati based Assamese weekly Sadin killed many a myths surrounding the massacre.

He stripped off those who have kept exerting all of their energies to prove that the carnage was a handiwork of tribal groups such as Tiwa and Lalung and the Assamese had nothing to do with it. It was a severe slap on the faces of those who have been trying to get political mileage over each other making Assam a killing ground. The government claimed AASU and its allies are responsible for the blood bath. The president of AASU Nurul Hussain, as he was then, declared soon after the massacre that the violence was created by government agent." Mr. Hiteshwar Saikia, then chief minister of Assam claimed that workers of AASU and Gono Sangaram Parishad were directly involved in violence occurred in the state. Sharma reproduced a news item published in 17 April 1983 issue of Janakranti, which reads 'detailed orders were given in papers bearing names of some regional branches of the students union to attack different minority inhabited areas, the Chief Minister stated in a press meet in last Sunday.'

On the other hand, Sharma has shown how police machinery was involved in facilitating the killers to carry out the program. He reproduced a message sent by Jahiruddin Ahmed, the officer-in charge of Nogaon Police Station to the Commandant of 5 th Assam Police Battalion in Morigaon, Officer-in charge of Jagi Road Police Station and Sub-Divisional Police Officer on 15 February, 1983 the contents of which are:

INFORMATION RECEIVED THAT L/NIGHT ABOUT ONE THOUSAND ASSAMESE OF SURROUNDING VILLAGES OF NELLIE WITH DEADLY WEAPONS ASSEMBLED AT NELLIE BY BEATING OF DRUMS (,) MINORITY PEOPLES ARE IN PANIC AND APPREHENDING ATTACK AT ANY MOMENT (,) SUBMISSION FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION TO MAINTAIN PEACE (,)

The police did nothing towards maintaining peace. Rather "the police acted in favour of facilitating the carnage and enjoyed it", Sharma adds. He quoted a few lines from the National Police Commission's Sixth Report Dealing With Recent Communal Riots and Role of the Police which reads "…….The National Police Commission has found that there is a tendency among the police officers to shun responsibility for dealing with communal situations.
"They either avoid to go to the troubled spot or when they happen to be present there, they try not to resort to the use of force when the situation so demands or better still slip away from the scene leaving the force leaderless…"

There is also a chapter in the book which investigates exclusively into the government created myth that no eye witness could identify the attackers. The book unearths the existence of a charge sheet which charges 13 attackers under sections 147, 146, 326, 379, 436, 302 and 307 of the Indian Panel Code. The charge sheet was prepared on the basis of an FIR bearing Jagi Road Police Station Case No. 86/83 filed by one Nur Jamal Bhuiyan. Sharma Claims "Bhuiyan could identify the faces of 13 people who live in the vicinity of his village. He had seen them either in the market or in the field. These 13 people were among those who burnt down Bhuiyan's house and killed 12 members of his family."
A total of 688 cases were filed in Jagi Road Police Station in connection with the Nellie massacre from which 318 cases were closed after a final report stating that there was no evidence against the accused and charge sheet were filed in remaining 310 cases. However, the fate of the cases in which charge sheets were filed is not better. All cases were dropped when the Asom Gana Parishad, the political wing of the AASU came to power swimming over the flood of the blood of more than 3000 people of 14 villages in Neelie including Alichinga, Kholapothar, Bosundhari, Dugduba Bil, Borjula, Butoni Indurmari, Mati Parvat, Muladhari, Shielbheta, Borburi etc., other hundreds in other places of the state and 500 of its own workers. Thus in the book of Diganta Sarma the people who played gory games with the lives and sentiments of the people by promoting a myth of Assamese nationalism and transforming it into a blood thirsty chauvinism by presenting a bogey of foreigners assaulting on the culture, identity and livelihood of Assamese got unmarked and naked.

This so called Assamese nationalist movement was in its peak in the last part of seventies when Member of Parliament from Mongaldoi constituency Hiralal Patowari died. The election commission started the renewal of electoral roll in order to hold fresh election in the constituency. The exercise went on to the month of May, 1979 when allegation was hurled that many names of the doubtful citizens were also being included in the electoral roll. After examination of the specific allegations the Election Commission found some of them are to be true. AASU started to propagate that Mangaldoi proved that millions of Bangladeshis had been included in the electoral rolls of all the constituencies of Assam. They started a movement demanding expulsion of the so-called Bangladeshi people which in reality targeted those who speak Bengali and practise Islam. On 27 August in 1979 they formed an outfit named All Assam Gono Sangram Parishad in order to expel those whom they think are Bangladeshis.

The Election Commission declared the general election to be held in two phases in Assam on 14 and 17 February, 1983. This decision was challenged in the Supreme Court of India by a petition which was dismissed on 1 February, 1983. ASSU and its allies called for boycott of the election. They threatened the people who would cast their votes with dire consequences and prepared detailed maps of the areas where people belonging to religious and linguistic minority communities live. On the other hand, workers of the Congress (I) conducted a campaign in minority areas saying that if they did not cast their votes they would be proved foreigners and would be expelled.

In these circumstances "the nationalist groups got information that on 14 February many Bangladeshi people had cast votes in Nogaon (now Morigaon) district. Instantly a plan of attack was made in the villages where Assamese people live surrounding Neelie by the initiative of agitating peoples. Strategies were formed as to how, when and where attacks would be made on the "illegal Bangladeshis". The date was fixed on 18 February. Agenda was genocide to save the existence of mother Assam. Place of carrying out the plan was Nellie".

The result was genocide of the worst kind in the history where more than 3000 people died and 14 villages were burnt and smashed into smithereens in a mere 6/7 hours span of time. After the massacre the victims who survived were so traumatized that they could not think of getting justice, rehabilitation and compensation. No ex-gratia was paid to any body in connection with the massacre. All cases of 688 were dropped. A commission of inquiry was formed known as TD Tiwari commission to enquire into the massacre, the report of which was never made public.

The victims of Neelie are getting awake and thinking to seek justice. They ask now "why the nationalists could not prove us Bangadeshi within the period of 25 years since the massacre which was carried out to free Assam from forigners. Even if they can now prove it we will leave this country on our own".

Diganta Sharma was able to make the genocide to haunt its perpetrators once again. Victims and some other groups are contemplating to go to the Supreme Court and use the book as a piece of evidence. Dr. Debabrata Sharma, on behalf of Ekalabya, the publisher of the book in the introduction compared the Assamese chauvinist mind-set with that of Lady Macbeth when she says "A little water clears us of this deed" before the publication of the book. Now, after the publication they wonder "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten these little hands" like Lady Macbeth.

'Neelie, 1983' cries for actions to wash the hands. It needs justice. Nothing short of justice would do. Read it. Be ashamed. Be afraid. It was one of our great shames which came first of many such. Delhi, 1984. Mumbai, Gujarat. What is in stock for the next days who knows? So read it. Be haunted. And take actions. Take actions to get justice for the victims.



Ethnophobia in Guwahati: Reflections on Twentyfourth November

Ethnophobia in Guwahati: Reflections on Twentyfourth November

A new metro dotted with a swanky skyline shows a potent underbelly for the crimes of passion on the street! An Adivasi women, Mandini, being outraged on its street in the presence of a cheering crew of camera wielding mob gives a mix of virile pleasure with an aesthetic of crime. On this obstreperous note, one sees the extent of criminal retaliation on emaciated menfolk of the Adivasis by the urban bred mob of post graduates, restaurant waiters and even young men from respectable middle class homes.

Adivasis came for justice and recognition on this ominous day of twentyfourth of November to this new metro. Being bruised, tortured and killed, they all were kept holding their ears by the police as a symbolic admission of their guilt. They are the marginalized and bone-turned-white arkati labourers who currently are the pluckers of leaf in the gardens of flamboyantly proud estate owners of Assam. It is a pride built on the shame of the dehumanized Adivasis, now re-enacted in the assaults on their men and women. Official statements indeed say it as 'retaliation after the Adivasis went berserk'! The wounded and the dead tell it all- who bore the reckless beating by these retaliators. The emaciated, malnourished and bucolic menfolk of the Adivasi protestors were surrounded, stoned, kicked and thrown into gutters by these retaliators. The Adivasi women rallyists were subjects of lewd comments from this set of tormentors. Still they are held guilty of their shame and harassment. The culpable homicide of Samson Naguri and the pronominal 'she' called Mandini instantiate a systematic collusion between the State and the retaliators. After the shrill mayhem, the State now atones by a series of commissioned inquiries, transfers and 'sack' of some bureaucrats and police officers.

In the domain of the civil society a there is an orchestrated attempt to portray the lack of shame on twentyfourth November as a legitimate expression of 'animosity' against the transgressors on the street, the Adivasis. One is appalled to hear a neo-Nietzschean vein of ressentiment from among the silent majority of Assam's intellectuals, elites and politicians about a historic sense of being the target of Adivasi anger. The projection of Adivasis being a mob of angry drunken lot is a schematic inversion of ethnic rage on any claim of recognition by anyone whom they consider 'other' within the layered and nuanced contours of Assam's language and culture.

The rage went in disciplining the Adivasi protestors as they could not take the abuses hurled at their womenfolk on their march to the State headquarters. What the great existentialist thinker Sartre called 'crime of passion', that is, a crime of lust, consternation and contempt that arises from a deeper sense of alienation found its expression. Politically speaking, constant harping on the theme of identity crisis among the ethnic elites of Assam from their non-ethnic others such as tribals, minorities-religious and linguistic, Adivasis and immigrants has already become a paranoia. The influence of ethno-nationalism cuts deep into the democratic sensibilities of self-righteous sections of Assam's civil society, who are yet to raise its voice against street hoodlums conducting mayhem on Adivasi rallyists. The result is that a vicious cycle of violence now touches Adivasi hamlets and they now too become revengeful on their counterpart. The human right groups, the conscience keeping intellectuals and the culture personalities suddenly fell silent when the instigators and the organizers of such dastardly outrage and killing are trying to speak in the name of Adivasi rage on the Assamese elites. Those who inquisitioned the Indian State for Kakopatahar, secret killings and monopoly of violence are now numbed by a passionate ethnophobia, the phobia of the other, even if the other is weak. Acts of retaliation, to say the least, is now condoned by these self-respecting individuals and groups. In effect, this pragmatically silent crew of opinion makers of Assam is now recovering from the shock of being caught in a narrow ethnic chauvinism as littérateurs are slowly penning down the 'swirls in the heart' generated by Mandini's rape. In this catharsis of victors, the Adivasis as transgressors within the civic space of Guwahati ( they were not given permission to hold the rally ) are continued to be paid back in a punishing coin. Home minister Shivraj Patil declared in the Lok Sabha that the Adivasis of Assam have lost their tribal characteristics and in effect, they are neither included in the list of tribes nor they become a part of the Assam's ethnic mosaic. They are just there in Assam as an exterior of both the State and the civil society. Guwahati, if described as the cosmopolis of the proud tea producers of Assam, cleans up the wound that it inflicted on the Adivasis by boasting its eligibility to host the first India international tea convention.

When the Price of an FIR is 5000 INR

When the Price of an FIR is 5000 INR
On 4 August, 2007 reports published in various newspapers that Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das, the in-charge of Ghungoor Out post under the jurisdiction of Silchar Sdar Police Station in Cachar, Assam, India demanded Rs. 5,000 ( five thousand) only from Kiran Sharma as the price for registering her complaint regarding the abnormal death of her daughter Pia Das alias Piu Das.

After getting the information a team of Barak Human Rights Protection Committee started collecting facts regarding the case. According to the facts gathered by the organization Pia Das alias Pai Das was married to Shankar Das in 2002 and they have a son now aged about 4 years. Pia used to suffer mental and physical torture administered by her husband for her inability to satisfy his demands of dowry. He used to abuse, humiliate and beat her now and then. Kiran Sharma, mother of Pia Das is one of the poorest of the poor and she could not and did not meet the demands of her son-in-law. So, the suffering of her daughter Pia Das intensified day by day.

Shankar Das informed Kiran Sharma on the day of 19th April, 2007 that Pia Das was admitted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Silchar for treatment of the injury sustained by her while she fell down in her room due to dizziness and weakness. At about 2.30 pm that day Pia Das breathed her last. As it is an abnormal death doctors at the SMCH conducted Post Mortem and somehow Kiran Sharma came to know about the fact that her daughter's death is not a normal death. Subsequently Rahul Das, aged about 4 years, son of Shankar Das and Pia Das told his grandmother Kiran Sharma that he had seen his father beating on the head of her mother with a seating stool till she felled and got unconscious.

After funeral and overcoming the intial grief Kiran Sharma went to the Police Outpost of Ghungoor under Silchar Sadar Police Station and met Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das, the in-charge of the Outpost to lodge her complaint on 22 April, 2007. The said officer demanded her Rs. 5000.00 (Five thousand only) as the required amount of registering an FIR and attempted to get this gratification forcibly by bullying and threatening her with consequences to be put behind bar and charged with grave offences in case of her denial.

Being rebuffed, bullied and threatened kiran Sharma lost every hope of getting justice for her daughter and got frustrated. Subsequently she was able to make up her mind to seek and fight for justice. This regained hope in her mind led her to the Deputy Commissioner, Cachar and she submitted an application on the day of 3 rd August, 2007 to him stating the circumstances in which her daughter died and how her complaint was not registered and she was demanded to pay the gratification. Kiran Sharma also filed a complaint in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Cachar regarding the matter which bears the case No. 1053/2007 on the day of 4 th August, 2007. The complaint was forwarded by the hounarable court to the Silchar Sadar Police Station for registering an FIR but till the date no such FIR was registered.

Barak Human Rights Protection Committee issued a press statement regarding the case which was published in various newspapers and other media on the days of 22 nd, 28th and 29th August, 2007. In the statement the committee demanded that:
(1) Rahul Das, the minor son of Pia Das, the deceased be paid Rs. 50000.00 (Fifty thousand) only from the Chief Minister Jivan Jyoti Achoni.
(2) An FIR be registered under section 302, 304B and 34 of the Indian Panel Code, 1860 against Shankar Das.

(3)An FIR be registered against Sub- Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das under Section 166 of the IPC for his offence of knowingly disobeying law stated in sections 174 and 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(4) Another FIR be registered against Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

(5) An investigation, if needed, into all the accusations be conducted by Criminal Investigation Department of Assam Police.

And Others.

But till the date n0othing has been done regarding the demands.


The facts stated above reveal the strong possibilities that:

(I) The death of Pia Das alias Piu Das occurred otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty by her husband in connection with his demand for dowry which offence comes well under section 304B of the Indian Panel Code, 1860.

(II) The case of the death of Pia Das alias Piu Das falls squirely under clause (ii) of sub-section 3 of section174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which mandates the officer in charge of a Police Station or such other officer to perform certain duties if he/she receives information that a person died such circumstances as stated above. In this case the Sub-Inspector did not perform these duties.

(III) Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das disobeyed law stated in sub section (1) of section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which mandates him to enter the substance of such information, as made by Kiran Sharma which reveal commission of a cognizable offence in a book to be kept by him, by refusing to do so in the instant case.

(IV) The acts of Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das sated in foregoing two sub-paras constitute the offence of disobeying law being a public servant knowing well that it is likely to cause injury to Kiran Sharma and her grandson Rahul Das by denying them an effective remedy of, and justice for the death of their daughter and mother respectively.

(V) The statement of Kiran Sharma reveals that Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das attempted to obtain a gratification from her for himself as a reward for doing his official act of registering her complaint which attempt constitute an offence under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

(VI) These offences on the part of Sub-Inspector Nihar Ranjan Das were committed with the intent to deprive Kiran Sharma and Rahul Das ehir right to justice and did deprive them. The right to justice is a universally regocnised human right which flows from Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and Articles 2 and 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.

Barak Human Rights Protection Committee has filed a case with the Assam Human Rights Commission for Justice for Pia Das and it is now under process.

Nandigram Is An Act of Treason

Nandigram Is An Act of Treason

Nandigram is an act of treason. The CPIM, led by Karat at the centre and by Buddhadeb at state level, unleashed a large group of mercinery killers to occupy an Indian territory known as Nandigram in West Bengal. It was a pre-planned operation. The operation hatched by high level leaders of the party. They named it 'Operation Nandigram'. They virtually waged, fought and won a war of occupation against India. In the process more than 34 persons were killed,4/5 women were gangraped, thousands were rendered homeless,hundreds of houses and shops were burnt down and lakhs of people lost their sense of security and worth of existence. And most part of the genocide and vandalism was carried out not by the police but by cadres and other mercinary goons of the CPIM.Chief minister of West Bengal still talking in terms of 'US' and 'THEY'. The people who did not and don't support him and his party are termed as 'OTHER'. Whoever those other may be they can be killed or can be muffled their voices. These OTHERs may include Star Ananda, Medha Patkar, Aparna Sen, Rituporno Ghose, Shankha Ghose and many such persons. It does not matter. Whoever dares to tell the truth and protest against horrendous genocide or barbarism he or she belongs to the OTHER and shall be shut up.CPIM leadership claimed that Bhumi Uchched Protirod Committee took help of the Moists. As to the claim we can say: 1. If a group of persons help some hapless and helpless people what is wrong in it? 2. The Operation Nandigram ended, CPIM hoisted their flag but why they could not find a single person belonging to Maoist group. 3. If with the help of Maoists or any other group some people of Nandigram tormenting some other people then where were the West Bengal Police? Why the government did not deal with them in accordance with the law? 4. For what reasons the perpetrators of 14 March massacre were not nabbed and brought to book? 5. Why CRPF were not deployed when the state police failed? For keeping constitution in work the civil administration could ask for the help of armed forces of the country. 6. Why Medha Patkar, Star Anand, and others were prevented from entering Nandigram and attacked by Cadres. If it was necessary for the administration to prevent them from entering Nandigram for the shake of law and order, was it not the duty of police? 7. Why media were muffled?These and many other unanswered questions indicate clearly the strategy of the CPIM to occupy the villages by their brute force and making this shows an example for other parts of the state. After the occupation of the entire region the people who earlier belonged to BUPC turned overnight the supporters of the CPIM. They let to die their true human existence in order to only keeping the body alive. The lands and the people were conquered. And now there is Peace and a new Dawn in Nandigram, according to the CPIM. Off course, there is peace but it is an erie peace and the dwan is the dawn of terror. They succeeded to secede the territory from India and to establish a reign of terror.When CRPF first came they could not entre Nandgram because till then the operation was incomplete and now CRPF entred there to maintain the status quo which means the erie peace of vanquished and riegn of terror of the occupiers.Mr. Buddhadeb, Mr. Biman Bose, Mr. Jyoti Bose, Mr. Karat and other comrades committed a grievous act of treason against the consitution of India.

A Fake Encounter in Barak Valley of Assam

A Fake Encounter in Barak Valley of Assam

It was reported in the news papers on 23 October, 2007 that on 22 October at about 10am five Central Reserve Police Force personnel belonging to Gharmura Camp of E-147 Company shot dead one Jamir Uddin Laskar of about 35 years of village Boinchera (also known as Bhaichera) under the Katlichera Police Station in the district of Hailakandi in Barak Valley of Assam. Members of the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee talked with family members, relatives and nieghbours of the deceased, local journalists, CRPF personnel of the said camp and police personnel of Katlichera Police Station. According to the sources, other than the two mentioned last, the victim Jamir Uddin Laskar was a poor daily wage labourer. He is an innocent peace loving and law abiding citizen. There were no complaints whatsoever against him in police records. His nieghbour Moijun Nesa states that in the morning of the day of incident the victim was collecting grass to graze his cattle from a paddy field adjacent to her house. At about 10am she saw five CRPF men accompanied by one Rezwan Uddin, who is known to be a CRPF informer, going towards the paddy field where the deceased was working. She smelt something wrong and informed Sajna Begum and Anwara Begum, sister and wife of the victim respectively. When three of them went to the place of occurrence they saw Rezwan Uddin identifying the victim was asking the men in uniform to shot by pointing his fingers towards Jamir Uddin who was dumbfounded at the sight. At that moment Sajna and Anwara started to cry and beseech the men with arms to spare the life of Jamir Uddin at which they were beaten, kicked, abused and humiliated. As per the accounts of the eye-witnesses named above, at the instance of Rezwan Uddin a bullet was shot targeting Jamir Uddin which was missed, the second shot also missed but the third bullet hit on the back of the target, who had already started to run away, and piercing his chest exited. The critically injured victim was sent to the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar where he was declared dead at 6.30pm that day.

The relatives of the victims believe that the CRPF men was induced and bribed by Rezwan Uddin who wanted to teach Jamir Uddin a lesson for his denial of marrying his brother Jakir Uddin Laskar with the daughter of Sams Uddin who is a relative of Rezwan Uddin. But some villagers believe that there is something deeper. Requesting anonymity they claim that many CRPF personnel of the Gharmura camp extorting people in collusion with an extremist outfit dominated by Riyang (a tribal community) named United Liberation Front of Barak Valley. They cited the act of fixing sign boards containing the words "Beware, you are under the watch of CRPF" in electric posts and other conspicuous public places in the entire Gharmura area as an example of tactics adopted by the force to create panic in the minds of the people. However, the sign boards were withdrawn at the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner. The villagers of Boinchera are convinced that Jamir Uddin might have come to know of some concrete evidence of such extortionist and terrorist activities of CRPF there, for which it was necessary for the force to shut his mouth for ever.

On the other hand, CRPF and police claim that Jamir Uddin was a terrorist and died in an encounter but they are unable to say to which outfit he belonged. When B Rajput, the commandant of the camp was contacted he asked us to contact Rabindra Sinha, in-charge of Katlichera Police Station for more information who just told us that an FIR against the deceased was registered lodged by CRPF commandant.

The people of the valley demand unanimously and unequivocally an impartial investigation of the incident.

Saturday 22 December 2007

Custodial Murder Of Mutahir Ali Tapader And Subsequent Police Atrocity In Barak Valley Of Assam

Custodial Murder Of Mutahir Ali Tapader And Subsequent Police Atrocity In Barak Valley Of Assam
By Wali Laskar
31 October, 2007Countercurrents.org

It was reported in local media that an innocent citizen was killed by police on 21st September, 2007 at Kalain in the district of Cachar, Assam. The police tortured the victim to death in full public view, allegedly for refusing by the victim and his relatives to pay a gratification of rupees ten thousand to sub-inspector Narain Tamuli, in-charge-officer of Kalain Police Patrol Post under Katigorah Police Station.

Next day, after getting the news, a team was formed by Barak Human Rights Protection Committee to visit the spot, and find the facts about the whole case and submit a preliminary report. According to the sources and witnesses talked with by the BHRPC fact finding team, Motahir Ali Tapadar, 38 was a resident of village Bhatghat in Kalain, a daily wage labourer and a father of 3 children of 9, 5 and 4 years of age. He was a law abiding and peace loving citizen. There were no complaints against him whatsoever other than one in connectionwith which he was taken into custody by the police.

Witnesses revealed that there was a petty quarrel at 11am on 20th September between him and his neighbours, namely, Ala Uddin and Sahab Uddin.The quarrel which led the parties to scuffling actually was originated from the quarrel of the kids of the two neighbouring houses over playthings or games. As a result Sahabuddin lodged a complaint against Motahir Ali which was registered under section 326 etc. of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. At about 12.30 pm Narain Tamuli, the in-charge-officer of Kalain PPP arrested Motahir Ali Tapadar. At 1.30pm both complainant and accused, namely Sahab Uddin and Motahir Ali, were medically examined by Dr Badal Das and only a minor bruise on the forehead of Mr. Tapadar was found which may be caused due to scuffling. There were no wounds whatsoever on the person of the complainant, leave alone such grievous hurt caused by dangerous weapons that can fall under section 326.

Some respectable persons from Bhatghat village and relatives of the detainees went to the PPP to bail them out and settle the dispute amicably. Thry saw, according to the statement of Alimun Nesa Tapadar, wife of the victim, who accompanied the group, that S I Narain Tamuli and other police personnel were beating, kicking, abusing and humiating the victim. Alimun Nesa also alleged that Narain Tamuli administered on her person severe lathi-blows and kicked her in the belly in her condition of pregnancy. Salman Uddin, a minor son of Motahir and Alimun Nesa, who accompanied his mother to see his father, was also beaten badly. When they prayed and beseeched the in-charge officer police got infuriated and denied to release him on bail. The whole night police tortured the detainee mercilessly.

Next day, that is 21st September, at 10.30am when Narain Tamuli brought Mutahir Ali Tapadar out of the station house to take him to court he started administering lathi-blows and kicking incessantly in full view of the people gathered at the adjacent office house of Kalain Gaon Panchayat where flood relief were being distributed. The crowd tried to stop Tamuli in vain. Namar Ali Tapadar and Alimun Nesa Tapadar, brother and wife respectively of the victim, who were also present in the crowd, beseeched Tamuli for mercy with no effect. At this time Tamuli demanded ten thousand rupees from Alimun Nesa but she expressed her inability to pay such a huge sum. Here also Tamuli beaten her and her brother in-law. Being frustrated they went to the Circle Office to file complaint and seek help from Debashis Baishya, circle officer and the nearest magistrate.

When the condition of the victim deteriorated beyond limits Tamuli took him to Kalain Primary Health Centre instead of court. In the PHC too Tamuli kept kicking and beating him. The crowd gathered at a free medical camp, which was then being held there, tried to dissuade him without result. Tamuli continued his ritual until there was no sign of life in the body and it got still. When at 1.30pm Dr Badal Das, in-charge officer of the health centre came and examined he did not declare Motahir Ali dead, though in fact he was, for fear of public fury. Instead, he referred him to the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar where Tapadar was declared dead.

After autopsy of the body of Tapadar at the Silchar Medical College Hospital it was returned to his family members at 1.30am in the night.

Before news came from the Medical College the people could guess the fact and got outraged. Hundreds of local people gathered at 2.00pm around the house of patrol post and started shouting slogans demanding arrest of Narain Tamuli. Police charge them with sticks and bayonet which further infuriated the crowd and they started throwing stones. Police then opened fire and kept firing till 80 rounds were shot. In the firing there was only one severe injury. Shahidur Rahman, 17, who was watching the incident from the roof top of a two storied house, was injured badly in his left leg. He was admitted to Silchar Medical College Hospital; Silchar. .Being terrified by such heavy firing the crowd got dispersed. Then the Police themselves set fire on the patrol post and burnt it down in order to distract the attention of people from the murder case and hush it up. The propaganda that after the death of Mutahir Ali the outraged local people burnt down the patrol post is false and intentional.

The terrified local people shut their mouth tight. At first nobody dared to speak anything about the incident. Subsequently a large number of local people requesting anonymity claimed that some men of police had burnt down the patrol post. They raise two arguments for the claim. Firstly, although there was only one hit and injury the police shot eighty rounds of fire to disperse the mob and no mob can withstand such a large quantity of fire. In fact, exactly this thing happened. The mob got dispersed and fled away after a few rounds of firing. Secondly, fire caught first in the hind part of the patrol post. If the mob had set fire they would have done so in the front part because they were there. Moreover, there is a marsh behind the patrol post house for which it is not possible for the mob to come along this side.

Police registered an FIR against one Faruk Ahmed and other five hundred unidentified persons in connection with the fabricated charges of attempt to murder, causing obstruction to police the performance of their lawful duty etc invoking section 307 etc. of IPC. Police, in connection with this false case, raided, beaten, abused and humiliated family members, relatives and fellow villagers of the victim. Even arrested they arrested three innocent persons, namely Faruk Ahmed, Ibajul Hoque and Imamul Hoque, who were subsequently released on bail by the Gauhati High Court.
When, Saidur Rahmen, the person injured in police firing recovered a little and released from the Medical College Hospital was also arrested by the police which act of the police was termed by the intellectuals of the valley as barbaric and brutal. With the intervention of Barak Human Rights Protection Committee the Superintendent of Jails sent him to the hospital then applied to the court for according permission. Barak Human Rights Protection Committee thinks that the weight of the arguments can not be denied. There are enough reasons to believe that the police might not have burnt the patrol post themselves but they did so through the agency of hired persons. In fact, the incident of burning down the patrol post is enigmatic and indicative of a deeper and larger conspiracy. The way in which police is desperately over-active in hounding the people in relation to the case of burning down the patrol post despite requests from various quarters not to harass and arrest the innocent people and to call an all-party-meeting to decide further action regarding the case, is indicative of such a conspiracy. The fact of non-registration of an FIR regarding the murder of Mutahir Ali and harassing and arresting innocent people arbitrarily tells of the desperate efforts on the part of the police to save their skin at any cost. The enigmatic web of the whole incident can only be unknotted by an impartial investigation. So the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee strongly demands a CBI probe of the whole incident.