With the BJP-BJD Government coming under fire for the continuing anti-Christian violence in Orissa, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Wednesday demanded that investigating officers from outside the state be sent to carry out the probe. A delegation of NCM members, led by chairperson Md Shafi Qureshi, who met Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also demanded that special courts be set up if the need arises to conduct a time-bound trial of cases registered in this connection.The NCM team also requested the Prime Minister to personally intervene in the issue.The Commission said it has discovered that out of the 127 cases registered earlier this year by the Orissa Police related to anti-Christian violence, chargesheets have been filed in only five. Now, 203 more cases have been registered in connection with the latest incidents of violence, NCM vice-chairperson Michael P Pinto told The Indian Express.“Mere filing of cases is not enough. Chargesheets should be filed to begin the trial. Clearly, the police can do much more than that,” he said.“As a practical solution”, Pinto said, “investigating officers should be brought from outside the state to conduct the probe and if there are a sufficient number of cases, then a special court should be set up.” On whether the NCM delegation had demanded a ban on the Bajrang Dal, he said, “We have not gone into that question,” while adding that it was up to the Centre to decide on the matter. NCM chairperson Md Shafi Qureshi had already demanded banning the Bajrang Dal, pointing out that outfits like it were out to destroy communal harmony and the very basis of the Constitution.“It is the duty of the Government to see that such outfits do not grow. The commission strongly feels that the Bajrang Dal should be banned. Further, it also wants the Centre to take drastic measures in Orissa as the state has completely failed on this count,” Qureshi had told The Indian Express earlier this week.
