Talking Tall on Human Rights

#12

``God save the common man who happens to even innocently land on the wrong side of the law, he gets looted by the police,``
He does not have been on the othr side of the law either
Its not that there is no atroceties on the other side of the borders there are many human rights vilation in Pakistan too.
Buti India B/c of non resolved issue of Kashmir AndN.E. region coupled with CAsteism ,very large polpulation and area
cetainly the numbe of incidents greater.......
There are geater premptive brutality against innocent people of minority sect in the form of( pota tada and right of army to shoot forst anyone then ask question )
and high handed ness,i
ts not wrong to llook into once own home before attacking your neighbour

India`s spokesmen do very well in these world fora waxing eloquent on human rights, but closer home the common cotizen is far from really enjoying these rights.
Police brutality, corrupt judiciary, goonda politicians. that`s the face of human rights for you in India.
God save the common man who happens to even innocently land on the wrong side of the law, he gets looted by the police, the judge wont spare him the pound of flesh and the goonda politician is always there to threaten him with the muscle power.
A country whose politicians grow fat on stolen public money and political parties which select criminals as representatives in the highest law making bodies better stop riding the high horse in the international arena and pay more attention closer home so that the population may live with some dignity

Advani still to be indicted for demolishing babri masjid ...that is not all

INDIA: Lower judiciary of West Bengal run by police constables

Serious irregularities in judicial proceedings at the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Barrackpore, West Bengal speak to how India`s lower judiciary is being run by police.

According to Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (Masum), a human rights group based in greater Kolkata, Vijay Kumar Jaiswal was violently and illegally arrested in the middle of the night on 14 December 2005. The police apparently detained Vijay to put pressure on his family to produce his brother, the suspect in a theft case. However, the family has maintained that they have not known the whereabouts of the brother for some years. The police also looted the house of electrical items reportedly left by other persons for Vijay to repair. When Vijay was brought to the police cells he found a co-accused in the case, 15-year-old Md. Siraj. He heard from Siraj that he had been kept in the cells for nine days, during which time he was not fed. They were kept in custody for a further four days before being brought to court.

It appears that the judicial orders in Vijay`s case were drafted by the police constables who are stationed at the General Records Office. This is an undesirable posting that is frequently given to constables who have been disciplined. For instance, in a recent case where a human rights defender was bullied at a local police station, the inspector concerned was transferred to a court records office as punishment. Yet officers such as this, who have little schooling and no legal role to play in writing documents for the judge to sign, are preparing orders that are issued by the magistrate with a wave of his pen. At the same time, the magistrate fails to look through the other documents that have been prepared in advance at the police station, with intent to conceal and obscure failures in correct procedure and criminal acts committed by the police.

The consequence is a farce of recordkeeping. In Vijay`s case, the documents show two different dates of arrest, do not record the period of illegal detention or full details of arrest, fail to show seized items, and indicate that the court order was drafted by a police officer and issued before the accused was actually brought to the court. There is a four-day discrepancy in dates of arrest between the arrest memo and the forwarding letter. The documents thereby keep the court ignorant of the fact that the two detainees were held illegally in custody for more than 24 hours before they were brought before it. The First Information Report is likewise silent about the place and time of arrest: mandatory and absolute minimum requirements in recordkeeping. Above all else, the order was drafted and issued before the detainees were ever in the court, evidently by a police constable in the records office, not the magistrate.

This is indicative of how far India`s judiciary has fallen: that police are writing `judicial` orders, which heedless judges sign without a glance or thought. In few other countries where the judiciary faces severe criticism over its performance has the situation become as bad as this.

As early as 1996 the Supreme Court of India laid down a procedure for arrest and detention of a suspect. Law enforcement agencies are obliged to follow this procedure, which has since been incorporated into the Criminal Procedure Code through a 2005 amendment. That procedure requires magistrates be satisfied that police have followed the procedure fully and documented all steps in the arrest and detention of a suspect. These requirements include informing a detainee and a person of his choice in writing as to why the person is arrested, where the person will be held, and when the person will be produced in court. It also requires that the detained person be brought before the magistrate to verify that the procedure has been followed and that the arrestee does not have any complaints. If the detainee has complaints, the judge must record them. Yet these procedures are being made a mockery through the management of lower judicial records by the police and the careless attitude of the court to its responsibilities.

The Asian Human Rights Commission is aware that such administrative mismanagement and blatant denial of arrestees` rights is going on not only in the Barrackpore Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court but in many other magistrate courts in West Bengal. Among the most commonly reported breaches of procedure that amounts to a grave violation of human rights is that magistrates are extending periods of detention and signing papers willy-nilly without actually seeing the detainees.

Why haven`t lawyers and senior judges in West Bengal raised a furore about these malpractices? In the past the higher judiciary provided a compassionate hearing and reacted somewhat justly and promptly on such cases, especially where there were serious complaints affecting the dispensation of justice. Yet those days seem far gone from West Bengal, where there is now virtually no avenue left for a person to complain about the wrongdoing of a judicial officer. If this situation is allowed to continue, it will bring shame not only to the judiciary of that state, but to the whole of India. Worse still, it will precipitate a complete collapse in the rule of law there.

The conduct of India`s lower judiciary, and particularly in West Bengal, must be brought under far closer scrutiny than what exists at present. The Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon concerned lawyers and senior judicial officers to take the lead in directly and fearlessly recognising the gravity of the current situation and take concerted and determined steps to demand that the rights of ordinary detainees like Vijay and Siraj no longer be trampled upon by errant police constables and indifferent judges. Above all else, the practice of police writing `judicial` orders must be ended without delay. On this the higher judiciary is above all others beholden to act, and shore up ordinary Indian`s faltering confidence in their country`s justice system.

# # #

About AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984

Re: #8:

You must appreciate that India has a strong judiciary which made the Gujarat Govt accept the fake encounters & a strong network of NGO`s & human rights activists. Both these bodies have become extra vigilante which is the way they should be. Despite this, there are incidents which are more an exception than the rule.

POTA has been removed by the present Govt 2 years ago....

India Human Rights Press Backgrounder
Anti-Terrorism Legislation
November 20, 2001

The Indian parliament is currently debating the enactment of legislation that would reinstate a modified version of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 1985 (amended 1987). TADA led to tens of thousands of politically motivated detentions, torture, and other human rights violations. In the face of mounting opposition to the act, India’s government acknowledged these abuses and consequently let TADA lapse in 1995. But in response to national security concerns, and as relations with Pakistan deteriorate and violence in Kashmir and elsewhere escalates, the Indian government has introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO). On October 24, by means of an emergency constitutional provision, President K.R. Narayanan signed the ordinance into law. To remain in effect it needs to be approved during the current session of parliament where it will likely face considerable resistance by opposition parties. The session began on November 19.

The Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance sets forth a broad definition of terrorism that includes acts of violence or disruption of essential services carried out with ``intent to threaten the unity and integrity of India or to strike terror in any part of the people.`` It also extends existing law by making it a crime not to provide authorities with ``information relating to any terrorist activity.``

The government used TADA as a tool to fight trade unions and to detain Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, and political opponents. Over 76,000 people were arrested while TADA was in force from 1987 to 1995. The conviction rate for these arrests was less than one percent. If enacted, the POTO threatens to be put to similar misuse. On its face, POTO violates a multitude of due process rights guaranteed both by the Indian Constitution and international human rights treaties—most prominently, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). India ratified the ICCPR in 1979. Moreover, contrary to government rhetoric suggesting that POTO contains safeguards to prevent the abuses enabled by TADA, POTO will likewise facilitate illegal detentions.

Safeguards added to POTO but not included in TADA include immediate notification of family members following arrest and restrictions on the use of confessions extracted by torture, but it is more stringent than a criminal law bill that had been in the works to replace TADA. In putting forward the new proposal, the Indian cabinet rejected the pending criminal law bill, deeming it ``too weak to provide a legal framework for combating terrorism.`` What follows is an overview of some of the problematic provisions of POTO and the rights that are likely to be violated under the legal regime it helps to establish. It is by no means an exhaustive list.


Section 4 of POTO mimics Section 5 of TADA in setting out a legal presumption that if a person is found in unauthorized possession of arms in a “notified area,” he or she is automatically linked with terrorist activity. This and other provisions undermine one’s right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.


Section 3 (3) makes punishable the act of abetting a terrorist but does not spell out the requisite intent.


Certain provisions of POTO are even more draconian than those operational under TADA, particularly those seeking to curb the right to information and freedom of expression. Section 3 (8) of POTO, for example, punishes those in possession of information of material assistance in preventing a “terrorist act.” Failure to provide such information is punishable by up to three years imprisonment. Section 14 empowers investigating officers to extract information from individuals whom they suspect of having such information. Journalists and media organizations throughout the country have criticized these provisions arguing that it places upon them a burden to disclose any information gathered in the course of their investigations.


TADA allowed for people to be detained in police custody for up to six months without charge or trial. While POTO limits this period to three months, the potential for abuse and arbitrary detention is just as high. POTO also lacks any provision to challenge the sufficiency of evidence cited by the prosecution for trial. As with TADA, detainees are therefore likely to languish in prison without any evidence or formal charges being brought against them. In fact, detention of persons under TADA continues to this day for offenses allegedly committed before the law lapsed—a practice that authorities reportedly abuse through the spurious backdating of violations. Those newly detained join thousands of others who continue to be held under a provision authorizing their continued detention, even though the law itself is no longer in force.

POTO has been strongly criticized by leading civil rights groups—including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties—academics, lawyers, opposition parties, media organizations, and both religious and secular institutions.

Finally, the National Human Rights Commission, which opposed the now defunct Criminal Law Amendment Bill, has yet to see a copy of the Ordinance. The Commission also maintains that existing laws are sufficient to fight the threat of terrorism.

In light of the problems outlined above we recommend that you:


Urge the government of India to repeal this ill-considered legislation.

Any government’s fight against terrorism must be accompanied by checks on law enforcement agencies in order to guarantee basic rights to life, personal liberty, and due process. To that end we recommend that you urge the Indian government to:

Establish a civilian review board or civilian ombudsman committee comprising judges and lawyers to monitor police stations and ensure that 1996 Supreme Court guidelines on treatment of persons in custody, as established in D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, are strictly enforced. NGO input should also be solicited. The review board should ensure that complaints against law enforcement personnel are promptly and thoroughly investigated by adequately trained investigatory staff. The agency should have the power to subpoena documents, summon witnesses, and enter the premises of police stations, lock-ups, and detention centers to conduct thorough investigations.
Implement the recommendations made by the National Police Commission in 1980, specifically those that call for a mandatory judicial inquiry in cases of alleged rape, death, or grievous injury of people in police custody and for the establishment of investigative bodies whose members should include civilians as well as police and judicial authorities.
Another bill up for consideration during the parliament’s winter session seeks to empower the government to suspend the passport or travel documents of any citizen suspected to be a terrorist. The ordinance, signed by President K. R. Narayanan, came into force on October 23 and amends the Indian Passport Act of 1967. The legislation empowers both central and state governments to suspend the passport and travel documents of any suspected terrorist, subversive, militant or anti-national element or any person suspected of having links with such organizations.

Many human rights activists, including Dalit activists who recently participated in the World Conference Against Racism, have been labeled as “anti-national elements” for publicizing internationally issues that the government would rather keep hidden.

We are concerned that this legislation would be used to restrict the travel of these and other activists and urge you to recommend its repeal.



Threats to Freedom of Expression
Since the beginning of U.S.-led air strikes in Afghanistan on October 7, the Indian government has clamped down on peaceful demonstrators protesting the strikes, labeling them “anti-national elements” as well. On October 7, for example, six Delhi University students were arrested for distributing pamphlets while protesting against the U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan. Organizations protesting India’s backing of the U.S.-led campaign have also faced increasing harassment from the police. We ask that you:

Urge the Indian government to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and assembly are respected at all times.


Police Violence
On October 28 seven anti-U.S. protestors were killed when police opened fire on a demonstration against U.S. air strikes. In the town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra local police tried to prevent a small group of Muslims from distributing leaflets calling on people to boycott U.S.-made goods and to oppose air strikes in Afghanistan. According to officials, the protestors began throwing stones at the police who then baton-charged the crowds. Feeling outnumbered, the police then began shooting. Three more people were killed the following night when protestors tried to block the main road connecting Malegaon to the capital Delhi. Police say they used baton charges and tear gas to disperse the crowd but when that failed, they fired at the protestors. We urge you to:

Call on the Indian government to investigate the circumstances of these killings and, if appropriate, to pursue prosecution of police officers and others who violated the law.


Hindu Nationalism and Religious Intolerance
The assertion of Hindu nationalism has posed new challenges to India’s constitutional commitment to secular democracy. The policies espoused by India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its sister organizations, collectively known as the sangh parivar, have already resulted in much violence against the country’s minority populations. We urge you ask Indian government to take immediate steps to reverse this dangerous trend.

The past three years have witnessed an alarming rise in attacks against Christians across the country, including the killing of priests, raping of nuns, and the destruction of Christian institutions, schools, churches, colleges, and cemeteries. In addition, right-wing Hindu organizations have also engaged in violence against India’s Muslim and non‑Christian Dalit communities. In most cases, those responsible for the attacks have yet to be prosecuted.

In Gujarat, Delhi, and Orissa, district administrations continue to conduct surveys to assess the activities and whereabouts of minority community members and leaders. The BJP and its allies continue to implement their agenda for the ``Hinduization`` of education with the mandating of Hindu prayers in state-sponsored schools and the revision of history books to include what amounts to hate propaganda against Islamic and Christian communities. Throughout the country, over 300,000 training camps, known as shakhas, are dedicated to recruiting young boys and men and providing them with extensive physical and ideological training for the purpose of creating a group of volunteers full of ``Hindu fervor`` with military-like discipline.

In the hopes of achieving a comeback victory in elections in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh scheduled for early next year, the BJP and its allies have amplified calls to build a temple to the Hindu god Ram at the site of the Babri Masjid, a mosque in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), along with the other organizations with strong links to the BJP, claimed that the site of the mosque was actually the birthplace of Ram and that a temple at that site had been destroyed in order to build the mosque. On December 6, 1992, the mosque was demolished by members of the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh-trained cadres. The police did not intervene. The incident sparked violence around the country in which thousands were killed, most notably Muslims in the city of Bombay. In an atmosphere of heightened communal tensions, many fear that the Ram temple campaign could lead to more violence and bloodshed between the state’s Hindu and Muslim communities.

These are but a few examples of the growing and extremely harmful influence of Hindu extremism on India civil society. Domestically, many have joined in protesting such trends, but in the absence of international attention, India`s celebrated traditions as a pluralistic and secular democracy will continue to suffer.

We recommend that you urge the Indian government to:


Provide adequate police protection to minority communities in violence‑affected areas, including, where necessary, an increase in the number of police stations and outposts in each district.


Require that police register all cases of communal attacks, regardless of the religious background of the complainant.


End impunity for past campaigns of violence against minorities. Prosecute and punish all those found responsible for murder, rape, assault, and destruction of property during the post-Ayodhya violence of December 1992 and January 1993.


Launch a nationwide public awareness campaign regarding the dangers of communal violence and refrain from exploiting communal tensions for political ends.



Kashmir
Human rights and international humanitarian law violations by all parties in Kashmir have been a critical factor behind the escalation of fighting there. The situation will continue to deteriorate unless India ends widespread human rights violations by its security forces in Kashmir, and Pakistan ends its support for abusive militant groups. We urge you to:


Encourage the Indian government to ensure that all reports of extrajudicial executions, ``disappearances,`` deaths in custody, torture, and rape by security forces and unofficial paramilitary forces in Kashmir are promptly investigated and prosecuted.


Urge the government of Pakistan to end all support for abusive militant organizations in Kashmir and cease providing indiscriminate weapons, such as landmines, to such groups.



Caste Discrimination
Dalits throughout India, some 160 million people, are denied their basic civil rights because of their ranks as ``untouchables`` at the bottom of India`s caste system. Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused at the hands of the police and of higher-caste groups that enjoy the state`s protection. In what has been called India`s ``hidden apartheid,`` entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste.

In its annual Human Rights Report the European Parliament called upon the E.U. to investigate the extent to which its policies “contribute to the abolition of caste discrimination and the practice of untouchability in India” and “to formulate strategies to counter the widespread practice [of caste discrimination].” It also called upon the E.U. and its member states to ensure that caste discrimination was included in the final declaration of the World Conference Against Racism. A subsequent parliamentary resolution expressed regret that the final declaration failed to highlight caste discrimination. This despite the fact that a parallel meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Durban included reference to discrimination on the basis of work and descent, or caste, in its final declaration.

We ask that you urge the Indian government to seek international cooperation and assistance in tackling the very immense and important task of combating caste-based violence and discrimination. In particular, we hope that you will urge that government to take the following steps:


Implement measures designed to ensure that states abolish the practice of “untouchability,” in compliance with Article 17 of India’s constitution.


Ensure strict implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, including the establishment of special courts and special prosecutors in each revenue district.

#7
I never subscribed to Pakistan and is NOT a Pakistani ...

but still there are many non dramatic police atroceties brhind the scene like
pota
AFDM laws that
lets army shoot kasmiris and assamese in partcular

RE:

``Juzst B/c it happens in PakistAn it does not make you saint....
Raw is implicated in the following incidents``

Tolkinin, what about these incidents. Is RAW involved in this too? (Note: Pics are too gory, view at your own risk)

http://bznotes.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/karachi-is-burning-a-political-and-security-crisis/

See it and then let me know..............

From your neck of the wood leaving Kashmir Bangladesh Punjab Assam etc aside


India, Sri Lankan Navy, LTTE and Tamil Nadu Fishermen

The Maria Episode and Investigation

Usha Ramanathan

TAMIL TRIBUNE, May 2007 (ID. 2007-05-01)
This article is archived at: http://www.geocities.com/tamiltribune/07/0501.html


OUTLINE

1. Background

2. A Boat Named Maria

3. Reality Check: An Analysis of Police Conclusions

4. Eyewitness Identification

5. What is the Evidence Against LTTE?

6. What Could Have Happened?

7. Why Would India Frame LTTE?

ABBREVIATIONS

See end of the article

1. Background

Sri Lankan Navy has been shooting and killing Tamilnadu fishermen for over 15 years. In spite of repeated requests from Tamil Nadu chief ministers (M. Karunanidhi and J. Jeyalalithaa), Indian government had done nothing effective to put an end to it. In early 2007, as the number of killings increased, pressure mounted on the Indian government to do something the stop the killings. Tamilnadu chief minister repeatedly wrote to the Indian prime minister as usual. The main political parties (DMK, AIADMK, PMK, MDMK, Congress Party, BJP, DPI, DMDK and CPI) asked the Indian government to act. DMK and BJP held protest demonstrations demanding action. Fishermen also went on a one-day strike and fast. As the heat was on the Indian government to do something to stop the Sri Lankan Navy, India`s Chief of the Naval Staff (Admiral Sureesh Mehta) and Naval Officer-in-Charge of Tamil Nadu area (P. E. Vanhaltren) issued statements that it was not the Sri Lankan Navy but may be the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or Tamil Nadu fishermen fighting amongst themselves and killing each other. No one in Tamil Nadu believed those excuses. Demand for action against the Sri Lankan Navy continued. It was under these circumstances the episode of a boat named Maria occurred.

2. A Boat Named Maria

March 29, 2007:

Eight Tamil Nadu fishermen were in the sea on their boat Red Sun. Suddenly two boats came towards them. Each boat carried about eight men. One boat had the name Maria painted on it. The men shot at the Tamilnadu fishermen. Three fishermen fell into the sea and drowned (presumed dead). Two died of injuries. The three surviving fishermen brought the two bodies home. Survivors told that their attackers did not wear any uniform. Indian Navy and Coast Guard launched an extensive air and sea search for the boat Maria. More ships were brought in to carry out the search for Maria. (It is noteworthy that, in the past 100 or so shootings where survivors accused the Sri Lankan Navy, no such extensive sea and air search operation was launched.) All newspapers in Tamil Nadu and a number of them in rest of India and Sri Lanka carried the news about the boat Maria and the extensive search operation by Indian Navy and Coast Guard.

April 11, 2007:

Indian Coast Guard found a boat with the name Maria painted on it off Tutucorin Coast, Tamil Nadu. According to Indian officials the boat carrying six Sri Lankan Tamils had some snag and six Tamil Nadu fishermen who saw them in the sea were helping them. A Coast Guard vessel saw this and detained the Sri Lankan Tamils and the boat. The six Sri Lankan Tamils in the boat were handed over to Tamil Nadu police. The fishermen who survived the March 29 shooting were shown the captured boat Maria and the six Sri Lankan Tamils. They told police that the boat was not the one that attacked them (although it had the name Maria painted on it) and also the six men were not their attackers. So the killings of March 29 cannot be pinned on the six Sri Lankan Tamils. So they were held for violation of Indian Passports Act (essentially, entering Indian territorial waters without permission). [Tutucorin is known as Thoothukudi in Tamil.]

April 23, 2007:

The case was transferred to Q Branch of Tamil Nadu Police. This is the branch that investigates cases associated with extremist activities (including LTTE activities). Under Q Branch interrogation, the six Sri Lankan Tamils allegedly told them that: (1) They were LTTE cadres of the sea wing (The Sea Tigers). (2) They were smuggling weapons and ammunition for LTTE. (3) The boat Maria was the same boat that attacked (shot and killed) the Tamil Nadu fishermen On March 29. (4) Some other LTTE cadres were smuggling weapons and ammunition using Maria on that day and they shot the fishermen suspecting them to be spying on them.

April 27-28, 2007:

Many newspapers in India and Sri Lanka carried headline news that LTTE was responsible for the killing of five Tamilnadu fishermen.

3. Reality Check: An Analysis of Police Conclusions

Let us start with the assumption that it was LTTE cadres who attacked Tamil Nadu fishermen on March 29 and they were in a boat painted with the name Maria. Almost all major newspapers in Tamil Nadu, rest of India and Sri Lanka carried the news that a boat named Maria was responsible for killing Tamil Nadu fishermen and an extensive Indian Navy and Coast Guard sea and air search for Maria was underway. So LTTE knew that Maria was suspect and there was a search for it. Will they send the same boat to carry on weapons smuggling in an area not far from where they know air and sea search operations are going on? Will they not at the least remove the name Maria and paint another name on it? What the police say does not pass the reality check. What they say cannot be true. It smells of framing the LTTE to absolve the Sri Lankan Navy. It can only be that the Indian government is framing the LTTE and absolving the Sri Lankan Navy, in order to remove the pressure from Tamil Nadu to act against Sri Lankan Navy for shooting and killing its fishermen.

4. Eyewitness Identification

The most important piece of evidence that clears LTTE of the killings is the statement by fishermen who survived the March 29 shooting. They were shown the boat and the six Sri Lankan Tamils detained on April 11. They told police that it was not the boat that attacked them on March 29. So, on what evidence, did police reach the conclusion that LTTE was responsible for the killing?

5. What is the Evidence Against LTTE?

Given the survivors` statement that the detained boat was not the one that attacked them, what is the basis for the police to say that it was the same boat that attacked and killed the fishermen on March 29? Police has only two pieces of evidence: (1) The name Maria is painted on the boat, (2) The six Sri Lankan Tamils in the boat tell police under interrogation that this was the boat that carried the men who killed the fishermen.

Let us look at these two pieces of evidence with a critical eye: (1) Boats do not have unique names; a number of boats can have the same name. Anyone can paint any name on a boat. (2) Experts say that you can make prisoners say anything you want them to say under torture. Prisoners can also be induced to say things in exchange for lenient sentences and better prison conditions. All that the prisoners could say is that they heard that some LTTE cadres killed Tamil Nadu fishermen. They did not see it themselves. This is what is called hearsay evidence. That is, somebody heard something about a crime and they have no first hand knowledge of the crime (they were not there, they did not see it). Dictionary definition for hearsay is ``unverified information acquired from another``.

In short, no impartial judge would ever convict someone of murder on the basis of statements made by a group of prisoners and a name painted on a boat, in spite of survivors` testimony that the boat that attacked them was not the same.

6. What Could Have Happened?

March 29 survivors` identification of the boat as one painted with the name Maria gives Indian government an opportunity to frame LTTE and absolve Sri Lanka Navy. India paints the name Maria on a boat, puts six Sri Lankan Tamils in its custody and asks them to sail into the sea. (There are many Sri Lankan Tamils in Indian custody.) Then the Indian Coast Guard arrests them in the presence of some Tamil Nadu fishermen who happened to be around that location at that time. The six Sri Lankan Tamils were asked to say that LTTE was responsible for the March 29 killings, in exchange for better prison conditions or reduced sentences for whatever reasons they were under custody. Or, they were tortured to say so.

However, India encountered a hurdle. The surviving fishermen of the March 29 shooting said that the boat detained on April 11 was not the boat that attacked them. This is the only solid evidence in this case but it is brushed aside because it does not support Indian attempt to pin the killings on LTTE and absolve the Sri Lankan Navy.

This is likely what India did. Even if what I say here in this section (Section 6) was not the scenario, one thing is certain. It did not happen as the police say, because of reasons discussed in Section 3, 4 and 5.

7. Why Would India Frame LTTE?

Why would India frame LTTE for the killings of Tamil Nadu fishermen? By putting the blame on someone other than the Sri Lankan Navy, Indian government hopes that the government, politicians and people of Tamil Nadu would no longer demand that India act sternly against the Sri Lankan Navy--something that the Indian government has been refusing to do for over 15 years of killings [Reference 1 - 2]. Why else would the Indian government disbelieve over 100 independent, separate eyewitness reports of surviving fishermen saying that the Sri Lankan Navy was shooting at them, and believe the statement of a group of six prisoners pointing to someone else? Why else would police ignore the one piece of hard evidence in the case--survivor`s statement that the boat in Indian custody was not the boat that attacked them?

ABBREVIATIONS

AIADMK - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam

BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party

CPI - Communist Party of India

DMDK - Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam

DMK - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

DPI - Dalit Panthers of India (known as ``Viduthalai Siruththakal`` in Tamil)

LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

MDMK - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

PMKI - Pataali Makkal Katchi

This is a ``Category A`` article. If you wish to republish this article or its translation in your print publication or web site Click here.

REFERENCES

1. Killings of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Continue with Impunity (by Usha Ramanathan), TAMIL TRIBUNE, September 2004 (23 KB)

2. Is Tamil Blood Cheap in the Eyes of Indian Government? (by Usha Ramanathan), TAMIL TRIBUNE, April 2007 (6 KB)

3. Gujral and the Fishermen (by Usha Ramanathan), TAMIL TRIBUNE, December 1997 (15 KB)

Juzst B/c it happens in PakistAn it does not make you saint....
Raw is implicated in the following incidents

A car bomb explosion in the Saddar area of Peshawar on 21 December 1995, which caused the death of 37 persons and injured over 50 others.

An explosion at Shaukat Khanum Hospital on 14 April 1996, claiming the lives of seven persons and injuries to over 34 others.

A bus traveling from Lahore to Sahiwal was blown up at Bhai Pheru on 28 April 1996, causing the deaths of 44 persons on the spot and injuring 30 others.

An explosion in a bus near the Sheikhupura Hospital killed nine persons and injured 29 others on 08 May 1996.

An explosion near Alam Chowk, Gujranwala on 10 June 1996 which killed three persons and injured 11 others.

A bomb exploded on a bus on GT Road near Kharian on 10 June 1996, killing 2 persons and injuring 10 others.

On 27 June 1996, an explosion opposite Madrassah Faizul Islam, Faizabad, Rawalpindi, killed 5 persons and injured over 50 others.

A bomb explosion in the Faisalabad Railway Station passenger lounge on 8 July 1996 killed 3 persons and injured 20 others

RE:#2 Various too many to redress:

You need to get your facts right; Ltte is a Srilankan issue,Maoist is a Nepali one and the others are the lunatic fringe elements, common in any developing country.

Take pakistan as an example; No rights for minorities, no rights for certain muslim sects like Ahmediyas and rampant discrimination against Sindhis & Baluchis.

In India an independent judiciary was the one which forced the Gujarat Govt to accept its responsibility for the fake encounter; unlike pakistan where the Chief Justice can be removed on the whims & fancies of a tin-pot dictator...

Get your facts right, for Gods sake........

#2 Various too many to redress

and it depends on changing govt both at the center and local level
for e, g Gujrat ,Maoist Ltte in south, Naxalites and points both against and for them

Joe:

This seems to be another rant against India with little substance and too much rhetoric.Please advise us what steps you think India should take?

Al-Qaida & India – Strange Bed Partners

In response to the unprecedented attack on September 11 on American soil, U.S. entered Afghanistan with gun blazing last October, the end of Taliban and their ‘guest’, the criminal terrorist organization Al-Qaida was imminent. Al-Qaida immediately went into hiding in the mountains, US. Led anti-terror coalition followed them leaving no place for them to run.

Those who tried to run into mountains areas near Pakistan were met with U.S. forces and heavy Pakistani border patrol. Pakistan, the frontline state in global war on terrorism, relaxed border rules allowing U.S. forces to pursue running Al-Qaida across its border.

The first setback to anti-terrorism coalition was letting go of tens and thousands of Taliban and Al-Qaida fighters by the ‘Northern Alliance’, the pro-India group of warlords the coalition relied on to topple Taliban. The Taliban quickly dispersed themselves making it impossible to distinguish them from Northern Alliance or ordinary Afghans. However, the small band of hard core Al-Qaida vowed to continue fighting.

The ruthlessness of Al-Qaida is evident from the fact that a band of captured Al-Qaida members over powered and killed 42 Pakistan Army men who were hauling them away after their capture. Pakistan has lost many more of its soldiers in helping fight back Al-Qaida than all the other members of global anti-terrorism coalition. Taliban and Al-Qaida is no friends of United States or Pakistan, although both helped establish Taliban as a unifying and stabilizing force in Afghanistan after the Russian departure.

The plans of Taliban and Al-Qaida for Pakistan were no different than the Indian plans. That is to destabilize and take over Pakistan. India found Al-Qaida a helpful ally in this regard. The increasing number of religiously motivated incidents & killings among others were already taking place in the entire Pakistan long before September 11 terrorist attack on the United States. The Pakistan Government was scrambling with controlling this menace. It was evident that a small developing country constraint with resources will have a difficult time in its efforts to curb terrorism. Hence, it was not a surprise when Pakistan welcomed the coalition to fight against a mutual enemy.

However, when by December 2001 it appeared that Al-Qaida had no place to hide and no place to run, help to Al-Qaida came from a strange corner – India. Rushing its forces to Pakistan border after a foiled attack on its parliament. India was not able to provide any evidence although was quick to blame it on Pakistan. India knew its actions would impede Pakistan’s ability to help fight terrorism as well as throw the whole region into nuclear war threat. This Indian created distraction provided vital time for Al-Qaida to regroup.

Pakistan stood fast and refused to move its forces away from Afghanistan border. India continued to build pressure on Pakistan to a point where she was shelling Pakistan’s towns and village along the border and killing civilians daily. After two weeks of consecutive cross border shelling and severe threats to its sovereignty Pakistan has finally decided to move it forces away from Afghan border bringing a halt in pursuit of Al-Qaida.

However, this is exactly in accordance with the Indian plans. Moving forces from the border is likely to provide opportunity to the fleeing Al-Qaida to infiltrate into Pakistan and continue with its plans to destabilize Pakistan.

In its zest to destroy Pakistan, India has embarked on a very dangerous road of supporting and helping Al-Qaida, a known terrorist organization. Next time there is a terrorism attack on US by Al-Qaida, India for one will be directly responsible for it and must be ready to bear the consequences