It is a sign of the maturity of the Indian criminal justice system that even the harshest criminal, a protagonist of an ideology that thrives only on barbarity and terror, has the liberty to express his opinion even when his physical movements are restricted. Kobad Ghandy, an alleged central committee member of the banned CPI(Maoist), facing trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, recently wrote in The Indian Express (‘Only some are free’, August 15). It’s baffling that a person who doesn’t seem to believe in the country’s parliamentary democracy and its representative institutions, who espouses an ideology that reposes faith in arbitrary dispensation of justice, draws attention to faults in the criminal justice system. Ghandy’s agony in jail may be real, but “he who comes into equity must come with clean hands”.
Ghandy is accused of propagating an ideology that shows no regard even for the bodies of the deceased, let alone the human rights of those who refuse to toe the line. The memory of an explosive being stitched to the inside a slain securityman’s body in Jharkhand has not yet faded. What an irony that a person who has allegedly been responsible for such ghastly acts thinks he has the moral authority to talk about “humanity and justice” to achieve true freedom as a “by-product”!
Ghandy has tried to highlight atrocities inflicted by upper castes on the depressed classes. There are many instances of such treatment in our country, but Ghandy has conveniently ignored the fact that most of the men hacked to death by Maoist cadres belong to the Scheduled Tribes — one of the poorest classes of our society. A strong discriminatory set-up exists among the Maoist cadres. Bias against the lower cadres is not uncommon, so much so that lower cadres are brutally murdered when they surrender or even decide to surrender to the police. But senior cadres are allowed a new lease of life with impunity, at the expense of the government’s reward money on their heads.
Ghandy is concerned about “no consideration… made for age and health” of Tihar inmates. His discomfort at the “humiliating search… disallowing interaction with relatives and lawyers” inside gaol is understandable. However, he has missed out on enlightening readers about the dispensation of justice in the jan adalats organised by Maoists in public to punish so-called counter-revolutionaries. Antithetical to the canons of common law, Maoists not only investigate the allegations themselves but also punish suspects mercilessly. Most are butchered with their hands tied behind their backs in front of their families — irrespective of age and health. Recently, a physically challenged tribal, over 55 years of age, was hacked to death in a kangaroo court in Sukma district only because his sons had joined the police.
Perhaps the lack of proper medical facilities in jail might have led Ghandy to realise that hindering the development of medical infrastructure in Maoist bastions, as he is said to have done, was not so revolutionary after all. Undoubtedly, fake confessions should have no place in a criminal justice system. Such confessions, if any, are bound to be discredited by the judiciary, and no one can be held responsible for criminal acts committed by others, unless he conspired with them. Who, then, should be held responsible when a sick and unarmed constable is abused, his throat is slit and a leaflet thrown around stating he was killed because he was a state agent? Ghandy now, at his own liberty, wants to absolve himself of the sins of the cadres he reportedly has.
The CPI(Maoist) does not spare even children and students. They are indoctrinated and inducted into the “Baal Sangh” and “Chhatra Sangh”. They are imparted military training and handed explosives. The freedom of the inhabitants of affected areas has been throttled by Maoists — not in relative but absolute terms. More such “revolutionaries” need to be brought to justice so that lesser mortals can breathe fresh air, free from fear and liberated from the clutches of the imposed ideology.
Ghandy is right. Only some are free.
The writer is additional director general of police, Chhattisgarh
