Truth revealed: Ishrat Jahan proved innocent

By Pratiti Chakraborty

With the verdict on Ishrat Jahan out, the Ahmedabad police will have to find a strong statement to come out of it.

Once again Gujarat seems to be surrounded by a controversy. Ishrat Jahan, an alleged Islamic terrorist, was killed in Ahmedabad in 2004. There were several claims that her encounter may have been staged. These claims have now been accepted by the Special Investigation team.

Mourners carrying the body of Ishrat Jahan
Photo Credit: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

Ishrat Jahan was a teenager from Mumbra in her second year of college. Hailing from a lower middle class family, she had to work in order to support her education. One day she left her home as usual, never to return. Ishrat and three of her companions were gunned down by the Gujarat police. Police claimed that they were associated to the Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba and were in Gujrat to kill Narendra Modi.

A three member Special Investigation Team concluded that the murder of Ishrat Jahan and three others were victims of a fabricated case by the Ahmedabad police.

Senior IPS officer Satish Verma had expressed uncertainty about the circumstances of the encounter. This is not the first time that the Gujarat police has acted under the orders of senior politicians and staged a murder. Under the pretext of protecting the political leaders, there have been a few such instances in the past. Ishrat and her associates were, apparently, in Gujarat to avenge the happenings of the communal riots of 2002.

The police was not been able to provide sufficient proof in any of the cases of the victim’s involvement with the terrorist groups.  However, nothing seems to stop them from repeatedly being involved in such killings. Who should be blamed in such cases? It is not easy to take a stand and support either of the sides. 

The police are acting on the orders issued to them by the senior officials and politicians. At the same time if we are to believe that Ishrat’s motive was to assassinate Modi, can she be blamed. After the atrocities they faced, as a community, how does one seek solace? One can call it revenge, but is it not a form of justice where it has failed to be served.

Sources: Times of India, Hindustan Times, Rediff.com

Also read: 

The Ishrat Jahan case should disturb all right-thinking cops:

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-the-ishrat-jahan-case-should-disturb-all-right-thinking-cops/20111123.htm

Timeline: The Ishrat Jahan encounter case:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/timeline-the-ishrat-jahan-encounter-case/204423-3.html

Modi's cops implicates in fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan: http://currentnews.in/2011/11/21/modi%E2%80%99s-cops-implicated-in-fake-encounter-killing-of-ishrat-jahan/

Justice in Gujarat: Fake encounters must be punished:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/justice-in-gujarat-fake-encounters-must-be-punished/articleshow/10837239.cms

Investigating officer's role under scanner:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Ishrat-Jahan-case-Investigating-officers-role-under-scanner/articleshow/10837247.cms

My Angel

 

I hate the sun for it shines so bright

I hate the moon cuz it beams all night...

I despise the world cuz all are so glad

looking at them only makes me sad...

 

Something is missing where is my smile

I go out looking for it mile after mile...

Life is not as it used to be without my dad

He's not here now, I miss him n feel so very bad...

 

It has been a while now since he has left,

But every moment his absence I have felt...

A lot has changed in my life after that day

My days with him are all I always replay...

 

I have covered a long way in the past few years

Still, when I am alone my eyes are filled with tears...
But as they all told me time will go on

DAD has been my angel and helped me move on...

Giving way to justice

When a 14 year old girl is found brutally murdered in her own home, one expects the murderer to be tried immediately. However, it works differently in India where the duration of the trial has been two years and still counting. The Noida double murder case of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj has been on since May 2008.
Aarushi was found dead with her throat slit in her house, on 16th May 2008. The first suspect was the missing domestic servant, Hemraj. However, the next day his body was found on the terrace of Talwar’s residence. This turned the case around and was open to further investigations. Owing to the complexity of the case it was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Due to lack of evidence against the other servants, the next obvious suspect, Aarushi’s father, was taken into custody.
While the CBI was carrying out the polygraph test and Narco analysis tests, the media virtually took it up as their personal responsibility to see the end of the case. They called upon people from all fields to be on the panel to express their opinions on the manner in which the case was shaping up. The manner in which the case was covered received countrywide attention and was indicative of the media’s sensationalism. The media has been accused of holding trials and passing judgement even before the court made its decision. The continuous portrayal of Dr Talwar as the ‘murderer’ caused a lot of anger among the people across the country. Such incidents can sometimes go on to put pressure on the judicial system, even leading to certain wrong decisions and at times, delayed judgements.
The recent development in the case is that the judge took cognizance of the CBI closure report and summoned Dr Nupur and Dr Rajesh Talwar as accused in the murders. This will without a doubt attract similar media attention. However, it is vital that the media acts responsibly. Instead of pressurizing the court, they should let the law take its course and let justice be delivered. 

TERRORISM RESULTS IN TERRORISM

What can be said about terrorism that has not already been said? Everyone knows everything about it. So much has been written, talked about and shown that it has become a part of our lives. Is this the motive of the information provided to us? Is this the impact the government really wants to create about terrorism?

The growth of terrorism has been across the globe in many forms. How did terrorism start and spread so wide. To understand and answer this question it is necessary to begin by understanding the meaning and the implied meaning of terrorism. Terrorism is different to different people. Terrorism is the use of terror in the act of coercion. It can also be understood as the unlawful acts of violence. Oxford English Dictionary, 2002 has defined a terrorist as a person who uses violence and intimidation is pursuit of political aims. It has also defined a revolutionary as a person who revolts and advocated revolution. This factually leaves no difference between a terrorist and a revolutionary. Revolutionary was the word earlier used for terrorist. The understanding of the term can be achieved only by understanding all the aspects of the particular situation. It is said that what is one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

History of terrorism dates back to the Zealots who fought against the Roman occupation in the first century. In the earlier days revolutionaries fought against injustice. The course of following unlawful acts was never the first choice for the revolutionary. For example during the Indian Independence struggle all the steps that could be taken which related to non-violence and peace were taken. In spite of this when nothing seemed to be happening the acts of unlawful violence were used in order to get rid of the British Raj. Why was this step taken? The reason was that there was no choice left. The British had entered India in disguise. They came as traders and ended up ruling the entire nation for 150 long years. If they would not have tortured and harassed the people and left after trading then there would be no need of fighting them. 

Terrorism started way back in the 11^th century but today in the modern world terrorism is understood only as the acts of violence that are carried on under the pretext of “JIHAD”. This is the modern implied meaning of terrorism that is accepted by the people across the globe. The terrorist organisations that are known today are Al-Qaeda led by the most sought after terrorist Osama Bin Laden. The other terrorist organisation which is active in today’s day is Taliban. Initially when the civil war broke in Afghanistan the anti-government rebels known as the mujaheddin found support from countries including USA, Pakistan and other Muslim nations. US government provided the Taliban with funds that they are now using against them.

The terrorism attacks are just one side of the coin. The other side is the aftermath. The aftermath of these attacks is the phase which takes a long time to forget. After the 9/11 attacks the people suffered an awful lot. The people present during the collapsing of the twin towers who survived it suffered from mental and emotional disturbances some which have changed their lives forever. Some have inhaled the dust which had caused them to suffer and eventually most of them died. The attack did not only claim lives at that time. The attack ruined lives of many others who had nothing to do with it but were taken under custody and detained by the FBI under the Patriot Act. The suspects of terrorism were regular people on the streets. There were many instances in which they had to be left due to lack of evidence. The one’s taken into custody were mainly South Asian people. They most of the times did not have any information about why they were taken in. The detention centre was used to torture, humiliate and harass the suspects.

The stories of the people who have come out of the detention centre is terrifying. By the time they were left due to lack of proof most of them had suffered many injuries not only physical which can be treated but also mental which has no cure. The fear and the thoughts of the incidents that took place in the detention centre will probably haunt them for the rest of their lives. Other than the FBI doing its part in racial discrimination there were many cases that were reported where in people of South Asian origin were tortured, troubled and in many cases injured or killed. The people attacked were of Muslim origin and of Sikh origin. The Sikh’s were mistaken for the supporters of Osama Bin Laden who was responsible for the attack due to the beard and the turban.  Many people who were attacked or detained were residents of America as well. But nothing seemed to stop the US government from continuing this act.

Later under the Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation the US troops were sent to Afghanistan in order to destroy Al-Qaeda and Taliban which was helping them. The conclusion of this answer to Terrorism was Terrorism. This has done nothing other than expanding the scope of terrorism across the globe.

LIFE

Life is too short for us to waste it

Instead let us try and understand it

Every step we take in this world

There is always something to learn

Love and the knowledge of being

The two things in this life to earn

Moving ahead in our quest of perfection

We try so hard to forget our own past

But what we actually always disregard

Is that, only those memories will last

We run through life in such a hurry

More than often we skip some nuances

We should slow down for a while

And think did we ever miss any chances

When a dark road waits for us ahead

Very often we surrender to our fears

But if we look around us we will see

There is always someone to wipe our tears

Life is too short for us to waste it

Instead let us try and understand it.

                            

Peace...Our Only Hope

Reading the history of our country, the one thing I am not able to comprehend is the reason of the condition we are in today. Why after all the years of togetherness did we have to be separated? Why the partition? We look alike, we behave the same, our cultures are similar and we have so much history with each other. Does a line drawn on the ground really separate the two countries?

Whatever the reason for partition was, it definitely was not to reach the state we are in today. People say many things but it is up to us what to believe in. Why do we have to believe that the people across the LOC are any different from us and they are always thinking about destroying us? Just because someone has the power to tell us this does not make it true. All the problems we have faced in the past can now be left in the past. The time is to forget and forgive and move hand in hand into a bright future. What we come across here, they are also succumbing to the same.

Do the people who are responsible for bringing harmony in between these countries actually interested in doing that. The corruption and the lack of honesty and integrity in our government are so widespread that even if someone wants to solve this problem it really can’t be done.  The important question that we need to ask ourselves is that, does the act of one individual or a group of people define the entire nation or religion for that matter? Several statements that make the people in this country come to a conclusion are said with respect to a political agenda. We have to put our foot down and make our judgement on the situation.

This issue is very sensitive and it really should not be discussed out loud. But is this going to facilitate in overcoming the problems. I think NO. The only way, today, to actually get rid of the issue is to make an effort, to make sure that the line drawn remain on the ground and does not come on our hearts. The youth of both the countries have to realise that after all that we have been through and for all the problems that we have to face in the future, we cannot and should not let others decide for us. Let others not make decisions for us anymore. Let us stand united and fight for the truth that prevails in the hearts of the people on both sides of the border. Let all the differences end and a new era begin. Let us bring back the unity with which, we fought out the tyrants from once OUR country. It is time we tell ourselves if we want to survive the future the only hope we have lies in PEACE.

Child Trafficking and India

The very thought of it brings jitters to many, but child trafficking is rampantly carried out in India. It is the most odious act against humanity as a whole.

It begins from the family of the children, in many cases, where the parents are ready to “sell” their children for a few thousand rupees. It moves on to kidnapping, abduction and deceiving. Not only economic conditions, but also factors such as, bad company, addiction to drugs, ill treatment by parents, social acceptance, incest and rape end up in child prostitution. Children are lured into this heinous world with promises of better education, jobs, marriage and higher standards of living. Once taken to different parts of the country, these children are forced into prostitution and sex slavery. 

These rackets are very well thought out and structured. States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the 'sources' and Delhi, Mumbai and Goa are the main 'receivers'. The eastern parts of the country remain the major sources, also owing to the geographical conditions. We share a porous border with Nepal and Bangladesh, which allows international trafficking. 10% of the child prostitutes in the country belong to these areas. Goa on the other hand is the main receiver. The reason lies in the tourism rate and the severe lack of legal bindings. Goa is the new Thailand, as India takes over South Asia as the hub of child trafficking and prostitution.

We consider ourselves as developed and educated individuals. At the backdrop children, the future of our country, are facing nightmares every second. Indians epitomise hypocrisy. On one hand, they project traditional cultures and values and on the other they participate in activities like child flesh trade. India is a major part of this multi -million dollar industry. Everyone is a part of this widespread scandal. The chain starts at the grass root and goes right up to the “elite” classes, with political involvement and criminals. Everyone, from brothel owners, local leaders to corrupt officials, is a part of this ridiculously large and complex network.

How it is possible for a human to carry out such an unthinkable act will probably always remain unanswered. From economic conditions to social norms, does anything justify child prostitution? NO. We all know what is happening around us, the question here is why is it still happening? Finding ways to put a stop to this vicious structure and protecting these child victims is not rocket science. So isn’t it time for each one to save one?