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The 8216;encounter8217; in New Delhi, has consumed most Urdu newspapers this fortnight, as several papers find it difficult...

The 8216;encounter8217; in New Delhi, has consumed most Urdu newspapers this fortnight, as several papers find it difficult to accept the Delhi Police version of events. The loudestwas Delhi-based Hindustan Express which questioned the veracity of the encounter story given out by the Delhi PoliceSeptember 20. Its front page headline asks: 8216;Jamia Nagar mein encounter, magar farzi ya asli?8217; Encounter in Jamia Nagar, but fake or real? While most papers questioned claims that the two alleged terrorists escaped from the flat, and the recovery of an AK-47, Rashtriya Sahara went a step ahead, saying that the injury and death of the inspector is 8220;shrouded in mystery8221;. The newspaper on September 23 splashed a front page photograph of Sajid who was killed along with the alleged mastermind, Atif with wound marks on his head/face, ear and shoulder, said to have been taken before his burial.

That some papers are going beyond anger on this issue is demonstrated by Delhi-based Hamara Samaj. A front-page editorial by the paper8217;s editor, Khalid Anwar, says: 8220;Serious people are now compelled to think that for getting rid of terrorism and its implications, the proper approach is certainly not that we declare incidents like the one that took place at Batla House on September 19 as fake8230; The need is for responsible persons of the Muslim community to come forward and rein in those who raise passions among the community members 8230; there is need for a seriously thought out policy so that we have a close watch on our surroundings8230; At the same time pressure should be mounted on the government that arrests following a terrorist act should be on the basis of solid evidences and name of any particular section or religion is not tossed about.8221;

Undermining Hinduism

Recent acts of violence on Christians and their places of worship in Orissa and Karnataka, allegedly by Bajrang Dal and VHP activists, are being seen as another face of terrorism. Hyderabad-based Rahnuma-e-Deccan in its editorial on September 18 recollected the burning alive of the Christian priest, Graham Staines, and his two children in Orissa in 1999. 8220;But what has happened to the UPA government that came to power on the support of aam aadmi, that it is not taking any action against the Orissa government?8221;, it asked. Munsif has drawn attention to the recent incident in Kanpur in which two Bajrang Dal activists were killed while assembling a bomb in a hostel. It writes: 8220;Involvement of Hindu extremist organisations in terrorist acts is not a new thing8230;If the Central Government has any doubts and apprehensions about any Hindu extremist organisation, it should act on its own against such organisation 8212; even if Mayawati government does not order a CBI inquiry into the incident8221;. The Daily Milap, published from Delhi, expressed its anger thus: 8220;By becoming the torch bearers of Hindutva, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad could not achieve the representation of Hindus but they certainly pitted other religions against Hindus. Is this the way of service to Hindutva?8221;

A firm foundation

Union Minister for Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal, had the distinction of laying the third foundation stone of Senior Secondary Panama Building Girls School in the Ballimaran area of the Capital8217;s walled city recently. After abandoning the school as a dangerous building in 1978, foundation stones for a new building had been laid on two earlier occasions: by former Lt. Governor, K.L. Kapoor, and again by Sibal himself a year and a half ago. But no progress has been made regarding its completion, according to a report in Hamara Samaj September 19.