Open letter to P Chidambaram on 'unfair' targeting of Muslims in the war against terror

For long I had followed P. Chidambaram's career and was impressed by his maturity and serious political image. However, recent disclosures, especially about his alleged role preceding Hashimpura massacre of innocent Mulim civilians at the hand of security forces, has shaken my confidence and I find a hidden monster of communal bigotry in him. He is not fit to be India's minister, much less India's Home Minister.

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S.M. Farooq <hellofarooq@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 2:31 AM
Subject: [nrindians] Open letter to P Chidambaram on 'unfair' targeting of Muslims in the war against terror
To:

http://www.gulfindiatimes.com/full_news.php?id=4848


New Delhi: A protest against what the activists called the 'unfair' targeting of Muslim men in the name of fighting terror was called by various civil society organizations on Thursday at the residence of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the national capital. The activists had planned the protest outside Chidambaram's house, but they were detained by the police as soon as they gathered at the venue.

On May 13, a Bihar engineer Fasih Mahmood was picked from his home in Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia, and his whereabouts are still unknown. The government on Monday told the Supreme Court that Mahmood went missing in Saudi Arabia last month, was not in police custody in India and the Saudi authorities were not co-operating in tracing him. Mahmood hails from Barh Samaila village in Darbhanga district of Bihar.

Only last week another terror suspect, Qateel Siddiqui, who wasn’t yet chargesheeted seven months after his arrest, was murdered in Pune Jail. In the last week of May, two students of Jamiatul Falah were picked from Kaifiyat Express at Aligarh. They were produced in court seven days later. Concerned over what the activists called a growing and unfair trend, the activists released the following letter to Chidambaram during the protest.




To,
The Home Minister,
Government of India.
Mr Chidambaram,

We are forced to gather outside your residence today. We have broken with our tradition and etiquette of protest, i.e., to demonstrate at public offices rather than private residences because a large section of our population no longer feels safe in their own homes. Disappearances and illegal detentions have become rampant in the name of fighting terrorism. It is as though a new wave of counter-terrorism has been launched to terrorize the youth belonging to a community.

In this Kafkaesque world over which you preside, young men are picked up, some times snatched by one agency from another and presented to the world as dreaded terrorists. You may remember the case of Naquee Ahmed who was aiding the Special Cell in tracing two suspects in Mumbai when the Mumbai ATS abducted and kept him in illegal custody before announcing that a sensational arrest had been made. The Special Cell of course abandoned him. Competition between the agencies is costing innocents their life and liberty and when these squabbles spill into the media, your Ministry merely considers them bad PR rather than genuine concerns of a democracy.

You have stated, Sir, that Fasih Mahmood, the engineer picked up from Jubail in Saudi Arabia, is not in the custody of any of your agencies. Is it of no relevance that Indians accompanied the Saudi Arabian police when Fasih was taken away from his home? It is another matter that a red corner notice was issued for his arrest after his wife moved a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court. Another matter also that an affidavit submitted by the Karnataka police in the SC had details of his employment and an itemized list of his alleged guilt. And still, the Government of India claims to be clueless, even as to whether he is alive or dead.

Talking of death, Qateel Siddiqui, alleged IM operative arrested last November in Delhi, was killed in the Yerwada Jail, Pune by fellow inmates. Taken to Maharashtra by the Mumbai ATS on remand, to probe his role in a blast in a temple that did not take place (and of which there is no evidence except of course in now-dead Qateel’s disclosures). But this non-existent blast ostensibly enraged his fellow inmates to the extent that they strangulated him the day his remand was to end. A murder in broad day light in a high security prison. And what a convenient answer. An inmate booked for murder takes all blame. ‘Nationalist’ and ‘patriotic’ Mafiosi have been attributed with such killings in the past. Remember Shahid Azmi, Sir? The courageous lawyer with his own troubled past?

We think it’s important to recall the deep links of these ‘nationalist’ forces of the underworld with our very own Intelligence Bureau. In 2005, when the Mumbai Police swooped down on Vicky Malhotra, close aide of Chota Rajan, whom did they find sitting next to him in the car? Mr Ajit Kumar Doval, recently retired head of the IB. And the man who pulled the trigger on Azmi was himself eliminated later. So certainly, the theory that these were lone hit men, out to avenge their nationalist hurt, must be treated with a lot of circumspection.

Is it too much to ask that DK Basu guidelines for arrest be followed by your agencies? Is due process of investigation and law only to be followed in its violation? We are not opposed to any investigation, but surely, the law of the land must be followed? Agencies cannot be handed over a license to pick and detain anyone at will. Will we continue to pick one Muslim dominated town after another, branding it the hub of terrorism?

In the meeting of the Chief Ministers held to discuss the NCTC — whose unbridled powers to arrest suspects under UAPA will further aggravate the situation — you lamented that “in practically every case, a small section of the people springs to the support of persons who are detained for interrogation or arrested and charged. There is no apparent reason for such support other than the affinity of religion or sect.” With one sentence, you dismissed the genuine fears and demands about the rife misuse of powers by agencies being articulated by civil rights groups as sectarian (and as though the articulation of such fears by religious groups somehow rendered it illegitimate).

You ask us Sir to “observe caution and restraint and place faith in the integrity and impartiality of the investigation.” How can we, when the lessons from Malegaon and Mecca Masjid are not being heeded? When the NIA drags its feet in the cases of Hindutva terror? When we see that the Special Cell, despite its claim of a water-tight case against the senior journalist Syed Qazmi, asks for 90 more days to file a chargesheet?

From a poor construction worker like Qateel to a veteran journalist like Syed Qazmi, respected for his vast experience and bold views, all Muslims appear to be under the scanner. We have come here today to say to you that this ceaseless assault must end. Investigating agencies’ reign of terror must stop. This is not a sectarian issue, Sir. The very future of justice and democracy rests on this.

All India Students Association (AISA),
Aman Biradari,
ANHAD,
Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan,
Centre for Policy Analysis,
Champa - The Amiya & B.G. Rao Foundation,
Citizens for Democracy,
Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association (JTSA),
JNU Students' Union,
Movement for Empowerment of Muslim Indians (MOEMIN),
National Campaign against Fabrication of Cases ( www.fabricated.in),
NCDHR (National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights),
PUCL (Delhi unit),
Revolutionary Youth Association,
Syed Kazmi Solidarity Committee.

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A HIGH VOLTAGE DRAMA By Seema Mustafa - The Free Press Journal, Mumbai, India

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/69857-a-high-voltage-drama.html

A high voltage drama

• India


• Jun 18, 2012
• Seema Mustafa

•      

  

Sonia was caught between VP and Pranab. She preferred the VP, but could not get away from Dadas declared keenness. Thats when he felt the tension of possible rejection and told scribes ''''If the Congress let him down at this stage then…

The medias obsessive coverage of the Presidential election lost sight of a few pertinent points thrown up in the chaos and confusion. The mood in television studios shifted with the minute, with the morning heralding a doomsday scenario for the Congress party and the afternoon screaming 'victory'for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her party managers. Every little comment was seized upon to draw wild conclusions, often quite contrary to the truth.

The woes of India - including the massive water shortage staring us in the face - were discarded for 24- hour coverage of not even the election, but the selection of a candidate for Rashtrapti Bhawan.

The story began somewhere here: Mrs Sonia Gandhi could not really make up her mind whether the party candidate should be her Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari. She seemed to prefer the VP, but could not get away from Mukherjees declared keenness to get into Rashtrapati Bhawan now that he was certain he would never be her choice for Prime Minister.

So the party did not formally announce either, but the adept managers were instructed to let it be known to the media that these were the two chosen ones. However, the process of consultation continued and in her talks with the allies the Congress president left the issue wide open, seeking their views without really indicating her preference. If anything she seemed to be leaning a little in favour of Ansari.

Mukherjee felt the tension of possible rejection and started meeting select journalists to let them know that he was a determined candidate and if the Congress let him down at this stage then……. The rest was never really spelt out but the enthusiastic media rushed to fill in the blanks and let it be known that Mukherjee could walk out of the party if it did not support him.

Meanwhile another hopeful PA Sangma became the choice of two regional parties, the Biju Janata Dal and the AIADMK in a clear indication that they were quite in the mood for a contest. And that in the confusion created by Congress vacillation Sangma could become a serious candidate.

The BJP did not quite reject this move, and indicated possible support for Sangma if the circumstances worked out in his favour. The Left of course continued to maintain a studied silence, and except for Comrade AB Bardhans suggestion that someone should field a Dalit woman, there was no move from the Communists to even float a worthwhile name.

They had decided not to muddy the waters, including their own, by joining the cacophony.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee sensed an opportunity. And fed up with the Congress efforts to woo the Samajwadi Party to negate her influence on the UPA, she rushed to Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out a 'deal'. The wily Yadav was also willing to give the Congress a jolt and joined Mamata Banerjee in declaring three candidates for the presidential post, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, and former President Abdul Kalam. The first was to light a fire under the Congress and critique the performance of the Prime Minister by suggesting he was fit for the ceremonial post; the second was of course a non serious attempt to irritate the Left whose relationship with Chatterjee remains strained; and the third was a plausible name with the intention of convincing the skeptics that the two were serious in contesting the Congress choice for President.

The Congress party that was till then taking no position at all, was galvanized into action. In the rush and hurry, the party finally announced Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate but that too after he made a few telephone calls and was able to convince Sonia Gandhi that he had the necessary support. One of the newspapers was not too far wrong in quoting a 'source'as saying that Pranab Mukherjee was of the view that he had done all the work to make himself the President- elect with little help from the party. Mulayam Singh, happy that he had succeeded in making the Congress aware of his power and influence, agreed to go along, leaving Mamata Banerjee isolated.

Till last heard of she was lashing out at all, but again the media has gone wrong in presuming that her relationship with the UPA is over. Far from it, neither she nor the Congress at the Centre will let this relationship end.

Several political signals emerged from the entire drama. One, the Congress is its own worst enemy and its indecisiveness is proving extremely costly, to the party and often to the nation. A simple issue assumed the dimensions of a war, created solely by the Congress that could have declared Pranab Mukherjee at its candidate right at the very beginning, and spared him and itself much grief.

Two, the regional parties are quite confident of their own strength and although it was a momentary ruse, they again made it clear to the Congress and the BJP that they were quite able to make their own decisions now.

Three, that no one is willing to rock the boat for an early election at this stage. The possible exception could be Mamata Banerjee but when the chips are down it is not certain whether she too will plunge into the vagaries of an early poll.

Four, the BJP is in no position to turn a Congress mistake into an opportunity. It has been at best a bystander in this issue, trying to fire from the shoulders of individuals and the state parties without much success. Bereft of a strategy and sufficient support it has been unable to mark its presence in the presidential polls, at least so far.

Five, Sonia Gandhi has not left either Pranab Mukherjee or her Prime Minister too happy in the process. Her unwillingness to defend her colleagues in times of crisis has cost her considerable goodwill within the party, although of course no one has the independence or the ability to even indicate this. Mukherjee might have thanked her and the party for selecting him but in a sense he selected himself with the support of others; and Prime Minister Singh could not be happy with the total silence of the party when he was virtually humiliated by the SP- TMC who wanted him to be, as the popular phrase goes, " kicked upstairs." 

What should have been a routine, sober election - with or without contest - was turned into a high voltage drama with the media of course at its voyeuristic best.

Perhaps Mulayam Singh and Mamata Banerjee did everyone a favour with their announcement, as otherwise the drama would have dragged on till the penultimate day with speculation driving the news completely.