Letters to the editor

State of brutality8226; THE Sohrabuddin Sheikh counter case is not an isolated aberration by errant police officials, but a systemic expres...

State of brutality

8226; THE Sohrabuddin Sheikh counter case is not an isolated aberration by errant police officials, but a systemic expression of the increasing brutalisation of the state and the abysmal failure of the criminal justice delivery system in India. Such tactics have been used in all states. In Gujarat, after the communal holocaust of 2002, it has been used at regular intervals to kill so-called 8216;Muslim terrorists8217; by a few chosen 8216;loyal8217; police officials as a part of the 8216;hate-and-kill8217; political agenda of the Modi government. We speak from our personal knowledge that a large number of Muslims in the state have been terrorised and demoralised by these self-proclaimed 8216;encounter experts8217;. No civilised society or polity governed by the rule of law can permit or condone such a gross violation of basic human rights. These are the worst forms of state terrorism and no criminality of the victim can justify such behaviour. It is shameful for the BJP to appear to support unconstitutional encounter deaths by pointing out alleged criminal acts of the victim. These encounters and forced disappearances of unwanted people are going to remain the part of our system, because a brutalised police has become a handy instrument for the nefarious activities of the rulers and no force, including the court, seems to be serious about reforming the criminal justice delivery system.

8212; Girish Patel, 8212; Mahesh Bhatt; Ahmedabad

8226; THE latest in the encounter row 8216;Gujarat8217;s Dirty Harry8217;, IE, May 2 indicates that fake encounters are becoming a growing industry. The communal angle renders it even more gory. The NHRC ought to take the responsibility of inquiring/investigating every encounter of a civilian by the police or military. It has adequate jurisdiction to do this under The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. It should give a clean chit to police officers involved in genuine shoot-outs, and punish those who stage fake encounters. This is a matter of the highest importance since fake encounters are a blot on Indian democracy and secularism.

8212; Hem Raj Jain, New Delhi

8226; THE Gujarat government is desperately trying to prevent a CBI inquiry into the encounter case as more skeletons are likely to tumble out of its cupboard. The police officers involved could not have done what they did for pleasure. It is a reasonable assumption that they did it to please their masters and win favour. If pressed further, say by the CBI, they may open their mouths to save their skins. This will be extremely inconvenient to the incumbent government in an election year.

8212; K.G. Dave, Ahmedabad