Tag: Chidambaram

A Delhi Court has granted the plea of Dr.Subramanian Swamy to have P.Chidambaram as the co accused in 1987 Merrut Case where people were shot to death.

I came to know of this yesterday by watching a programme of Jaya Plus Tv , a Television Channel(Tamil) when Swamy talked about this and lamented the fact that the case is expected to come for hearing in the next week and that people should publicize the issue.

Now I am doing my bit.

Dr.Swamy called me as a ‘an arm chair Grandpa’ in a Tweet sent to me and my reply was ”Yes, my dear,stumbling grand child. Arm chair grand pas have also a place.’)

‘Hashimpura massacre took place on 22 May 1987, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh state, India, when 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) allegedly rounded up 42 Muslim youth from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them in truck to the outskirts, near Murad Nagar, in Ghaziabad district, where they were shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals. A few days later dead bodies were found floating in the canals. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered, and were later released on bail, while 3 were already dead. The trial of the case was transferred by the Supreme Court of India in 2002 from Ghaziabad to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari complex in Delhi,^[1][2] where it is the oldest pending case.^[3]

On 24 May 2007, twenty years after the incident, two survivors and members of 36 victim families visited Lucknow and filed 615 applications under The Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), at the office of Director General of Police seeking information about the case.^[4] The inquiry revealed in September that all accused remained in service, and none had any mention of the incident in their Annual Confidential Report (ACR)s.^[5] Five men who were shot and survived, later became witness for the prosecution case in 2007. These include Muzib-ur-Rehman, Mohamad Usman, Zulfiqar Nasir, and Naeem Arif.^[6]…

After communal riots had taken over Meerut in April 1987, in a communally-charged atmosphere after the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya was opened by the Central government for worship by Hindus after several decades; PAC was called in, but was withdrawn as the riots subsided. However violence erupted again around 19 May, when 10 people were killed as arson escalated, thus Army was called out to stage a flag march. Seven companies ofCRPF has reached the city during the day, while 30 companies of PAC were being rushed in and indefinite curfew was declared.^[8] In the following day, mobs burned down Gulmarg cinema hall, and as the death toll rose to 22 and 75 injured, shoot-at-sight orders were issued on 20 May 1987. Union Urban Development Minister, Mohsina Kidwai, and member of the Lok Sabha from Meerut constituency, after visiting the city stated, she had never seen “such a horrible face of arson before in my life“.^[9]

On the night of 22 May 1987, 19 PAC personnel, under platoon commander Surinder Pal Singh, rounded up Muslims in the Hashimpur mohalla in Meerut, the old and the children were later separated and let go. Then they allegedly took about 40–45 of them, mostly daily wage labourers and weavers, in a truck to the Upper Ganga canal in Murad Nagar, Ghaziabad district, instead of taking them to the police station. Here some of them were shot, one by one, and thrown into the canal. A bullet also injured one of the PAC constables. After some were killed, the headlights of passing vehicles made PAC personnel flee the spot with those alive. Four of those shot escaped, either by pretending dead and then swimming away, one of them filed a first information report (FIR) at the Murad Nagar Police Station.^[4][7][10]

The remaining men were next taken in the truck to the Hindon River Canal near Makanpur village in Ghaziabad, shot and their bodies thrown into the canal. Here again, two of the persons who were shot at, survived and lodged an FIR at the Link Road Police Station.^{[4][7][10][11].}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashimpura_massacre

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy finally received a brahmastra (according to Puranas, one of the most powerful weapon) against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. A Delhi court on Monday, Jul 9 empowered Swamy after allowing him to file a plea against Chidambaram over Meerut riots case in Uttar Pradesh. The court allowed the Janata Party chief to make the Home Minister a co-accused in the mass killing case. During verbal argument, Swamy urged the court to allow him to move the application adding some unnamed co-accused under Section 319 Code of Criminal Procedure. According to 319 Code of Criminal Procedure, one gets the power to proceed against other persons appearing to be guilty of an offence.

http://news.oneindia.in/2012/07/10/subramanian-swamy-gets-weapon-against-chidambaram-riot-1032579.html

P.Chidambaram was a Junior Minister then.

He is reported to have visited the site one day earlier and a day later to the site.

Hope Justice is done.

The trial of the accused personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) charged with the cold blooded murder of about forty Muslims of Hashimpura, Meerut on 22 May 1987 has taken more than 19 years to haltingly start in the Tees Hazari Court, Delhi on July 15 2006. It is not only a case of proverbial judicial delay, but crookedness of the course of law that deserves critical scrutiny to be able to understand how the system has given rise to a climate of impunity, especially in heinous hate crimes against vulnerable groups, which emboldens the criminals including those in official uniforms and causes frustration among victims, who lose hope in the system.

According to the order of 18 May 2006 by the Court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi, N P Kaushik it is the prosecution’s case based on the inquiry report of the Crime Branch of the CID (CBCID), that curfew was clamped in Mohalla Hashimpura of Meerut city in the name of search for illegal arms and 644 persons (all Muslims) were randomly picked up from their homes and were arrested. Of these 644, forty two (mostly younger ones) were directly taken in a PAC truck to Upper Ganga Canal, Murad Nagar, where some were shot at and the bodies were thrown into the canal and the remaining were taken to Hindon river, where similar operation was done. Though all were taken as dead, a few survived. FIR was lodged on the basis of their statements on 22/23 May 1987.A few days later dead bodies were found floating in the canals — sending shock waves worldwide.

The ghastly incident had stirred the conscience of the nation, as the outrage it caused in the average citizen was more than that felt against terrorist violence, as the killers in this case were those who were supposed to be protectors. Nikhil Chakravarty compared the event with “Nazi pogrom against the Jews, to strike terror and nothing but terror in the whole minority community”. Mr Subramaniam Swamy, who went on fast unto death over the incident, characterized it as a clear case of genocide. Mr Chandra Shekhar made the observation that “the Hashimpura (Meerut) tragedy was the most shocking incident in my political life…”

Nirmal Mukarji observed that “the truth is that Hashimpura and Malliana affected the Muslim psyche as nothing else had since independence, for the community began to see itself as under attack by the state itself. The least that should have been done was to have promptly disbanded this particular unit of the PAC and to have cashiered its officers. But no action was taken. The outcome was that, far from being on the side of the angels, the UP police emerged as the devil itself ”.

In a joint statement, eminent persons including I.K Gujral, Rajindar Sachar, Kuldip Nayar, Subhadra Joshi and Badr-Ud-Din Tyabji demanded that “the government must prosecute all those members of the PAC and police who have disgraced their uniforms. Their misdeeds must be treated at par with treason and tried by special courts”.

The letter that was sent by the team of inquiry led by Justice Rajindar Sachar to the Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, along with the report, was not even acknowledged. Even though the Prime Minister was convinced about the veracity of the case by the testimony of one of the survivors, Zulfiqar Nasir, who was produced before him, and wanted to initiate effective action, he was advised not to do any thing, which could undermine the morale of the armed police, which were, in their view, the main prop of the state’s authority.

When the pressure on the government increased, the Chief Minister B.B Singh instituted an inquiry into the incident by CBCID. By the time the inquiry report was submitted after seven long years in February 1994,the incident had become a forgotten massacre, like a bad dream, by not only the political class but also by all segments of the civil society. People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 1987 for investigation of the case and damages to the victims, which was routinely dealt with and disposed of on 12 September 1990,enhancing the rehabilitation – compensation from Rs 20,000/- fixed by UP Government to Rs 40,000/-, though with the provision that “ if any one has applied for claim for compensation for death or bodily injuries, our direction for payment of rehabilitation compensation does not intend to affect such claim and same would be available to be proceeded in accordance with law”

http://www.pucl.org/Topics/Human-rights/2006/hashimpura.html