Not just Democracy, but the whole civilisation is under threat’

New Delhi : An independent committee consisting of members of the civil society and
various human rights organisation released a report on Monday, April 2 nd on how the
Jharkhand Police sabotaged probe into Latehar lynching of two Muslims in 2016.

The report has been endorsed by Alliance for Justice and Accountability, New York;
Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai; Dalit American Coalition, New York; Indian
American Muslim Council, Washington D.C.; Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association,
New Delhi; National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements, New Delhi; Rihai Manch,
Lucknow; South Asia Solidarity Group, London; South Asian Solidarity Initiative, New
York; The Quill Foundation, New Delhi and United Against Hate, New Delhi. It was
released on Monday evening at the Press Club of India, New Delhi.

The event was attended by the family members victims along with eye witness
Mohammad Nizamuddin, Lawyer Abdul Salam, Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court
lawyer; Ajit Sahi, Senior Journalist; Pronjoy Guha Thakurta; Senior Journalist and Umar
Khalid, a student leader.

“The BJP was giving full protection to ‘Gau Rakshaks’ and Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is controlling hate and fake news being circulated in the country,” Prashant
Bhushan said during the release of the report.

Such ‘hate’ crimes mostly happen in BJP-ruled states and the states have given
protection to the cow vigilantes, he added.

He termed BJP’s Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as a “goonda” and a
“history sheeter” and referring to recent communal riots in West Bengal and Bihar, he
further alleged that the Modi government was behind it.
“we should not just bother about democracy which is under threat but the more scaring
truth of the time is that the whole civilisation is at risk. I appeal to the people who are
concerned about the rule of law and civilisation need to come ahead against such
communal forces,” he warned.

He added that the government is already adding fuel to the fire and the media is also
playing the same game of communalising everything.

Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said that politicians and administration were
helping people behind lynchings and urged people to fight against the “poison” being
spread in the country.

On March 18, 2016, in a remote rural part of Latehar district of Jharkhand, a group of
Hindu men self-styled as gau rakshaks kidnapped two Muslims, Mazloom Ansari (32)
and Imtiaz Khan (12), beat them mercilessly, and hanged them to death by a tree.

The report showed, as with most lynchings by gau rakshaks across India, this ghastly
incident, too, is backed by eyewitness accounts and other testimonies. These clearly
establish the following:

•At least three people saw the crime being committed;

•The eyewitnesses knew at least some of the murderers by face and name;

•The murderers had previously threatened to kill the victims unless they stopped trading
in cattle

This report shows, not only did the police not fully investigate the crime on basis of
eyewitness accounts and testimonies, but also failed to press appropriate charges
against the accused. This has considerably weakened the case, as a consequence of
which every one of the accused was able to secure bail from the Jharkhand High Court.
According to the report, the eyewitness accounts, the testimonies and the post-mortem
reports should have clearly made the police pursue an investigation along the following
lines:

—The murders were premeditated as the accused knew both victims from beforehand
and had threatened them weeks before the crime.

—The accused had hatched a conspiracy to carry out the killings.

—At least one alleged conspirator is linked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also rules the state of Jharkhand

—The attackers were armed, with pistols and hard, blunt rod-like weapons

However, though the police acknowledged the involvement of a gau rakshak, they were
quick to suggest these weren’t vigilante killing but actually the result of a “gang
attempting to loot cattle.

Earlier TwoCircles.net did eight-part series on Mob Lynching in Jharkhand. TCN’s

Afroz Alam Sahil travelled across Jharkhand to understand and narrate how the terror
spread by right-wing fundamentalists under the garb of protecting the cow has left a trail
of blood in its path. He revisited the Latehar in January 2018 and found out that despite
the heinous crime, the accused are not only out on bail, but also on a mission to
continue to terrorize and intimidate Muslims living in the region.

Kathua Rape Case: Are the actions of BCI politically motivated?

BCI says Kathua lawyers did not obstruct charge-sheet filing, demand CBI probe

The Bar Council of India (BCI), on April 26, 2018, told the Supreme Court that the Kathua Bar
Association hadn’t obstructed the Crime Branch from filing the charge-sheet against the accused
in the Kathua rape and murder case. The BCI also advocated the CBI probe into the case.
Notably, on April 9, 2018 lawyers from the Kathua Bar Association had tried to
prevent the police from filing charge-sheet before the court. On the same day the
President of the Kathua Bar Association passed a resolution to keep work under
suspension until April 12 and called for a complete Kathua Bandh on April 11.

CJP believes that urgent reforms and safeguards are required to ensure justice is done in the
Kathua case. If the Supreme Court moves this trial out of J&K, monitors it to ensure it is time-
bound and if adequate security is provided to the victim’s family and lawyers, there will surely be
#JusticeForOurChild Join CJP and help us further our quest for Criminal Justice Reforms.

The Kathua Bar Association had itself, in a statement, admitted that it had
obstructed the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir from filing the charge-sheet.
This move of the Kathua Bar had also drawn widespread condemnation and flak.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice DY Chandrachud and

Justice Indu Malhotra, was hearing the case and has stayed it till May 7. The trial
was stayed as the SC asked the accused to respond on the plea for transfer of trial
outside Kathua. The petition for transfer was filed by victim’s father.

The BCI committee which was headed by the former High Court judge Justice
Tarun Aagarwal, also added in its report that advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat who
is representing the victim’s family was not threatened by the lawyers’ body from
appearing in the matter before the High Court there. Deepika Rajawat, in multiple
testimonies had elaborated how she was being heckled and threatened and how she
feared her safety. Supreme Court had slammed the lawyers for obstructing the
legal process in the case took suo-motu cognisance of the case.

Earlier, even the Principal District and Sessions Judge Kathua had submitted to
registrar General of the High Court regarding the said obstruction, especially in an
atmosphere of protests and sloganeering by lawyers. The report that was submitted
as early as March 10 said, “The accused seven in number were brought in custody
in police vehicle, which was parked in the parking area of the court premises, but
they could not be produced in the court of learned CJM, Kathua because of
continued protest demonstrations by the lawyers,” the report read. “The lawyers
also remained outside the court of learned CJM Kathua, raising slogans. In view of
the sensitive nature of the case, the CB officials were advised to bring the accused
to the official residence of learned CJM Kathua and at 8: 00 PM, the accused, in
proper custody, were produced at the official residence of learned CJM Kathua,”
the report further states.
Many newspapers too reported this incident.

Previously, in a statement, Kathua Bar Association president Advocate

Kirty Bhushan Mahajan had admitted that they prevented the Crime Branch from
filing charge-sheet.

“The agitation of the Bar proved successful and the Crime Branch was compelled
to go back and the challan could not be presented in the court of Chief Judicial
Magistrate Kathua,” reads the statement. “All the members of the Bar have
strongly agitated against the presentation of the Challan by the Crime Branch in the
Rasana Case”.

However, senior CPI (M) leader MLA Kulgam M Y Tarigami came on strongly on
the Bar Council of India (BCI) for “advocating” the CBI probe into Kathua rape
and murder case. He also flayed the BCI for “justifying” the protests by the
lawyers of Jammu Bar Association in its report to the Supreme Court.
Tarigami said that the BCI panel didn’t have the authority to submit such a report.
“They (the BCI panel) were only directed by the Supreme Court to enquire and
find out whether the local lawyers had obstructed the filing of the charge sheet by
the police.”

He also added that CBI investigation was a demand made by the accused and the
HEM and that the accused didn’t have any right to demand such investigation.
Calling their demand illegal he also said that they were trying to influence the
investigating officers/police and thus denying a fair trial to the victim.

It is interesting to observe how the BCI is stretching itself to defend the Kathua Bar
association and also advocating for a transfer of investigation of the case to CBI
despite the fact that the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir did a meticulous job
with the investigation. The demands of the BCI seem to be in line with the
demands of the accused themselves. This seems to be falling in line with another
propaganda that went around during this time, in which some media houses alleged
that no rape took place, only to be proven wrong later by forensic reports. BCI’s
interventions in this case therefore seem to be politically motivated

Bastar Journalist Kamal Shukla booked on Sedition charges Had shared cartoon
about Judge Loya case on Social Media
On April 29, Chhattisgarh Police have booked senior journalist and activist Kamal
Shukla on sedition charges under Section 124 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. The
matter pertains to a cartoon about the Judge Loya case, criticizing the
government and judiciary that Shukla shared from his Facebook wall few days ago.

However, his lawyer Isha Khandelwal from Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group, has
refused to comment on the issue for now as they have not been able to access a
copy of the FIR yet. Though Kamal Shukla wasn’t available for comments, he said
in a post on Facebook, “Neither can my voice be stopped, nor will my pen stop
writing… till my last breath”

CJP believes that a Free Press is important for maintaining the health of a
democracy. We condemn the use of coercive tactics to muzzle the media,
especially independent journalists reporting on Human Rights violations. To
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The case against Shukla has been registered at the Kotwali police station in
Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district. Superintendent of Police KL Dhruv confirmed it,
saying, “We booked Shukla under Section 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal
Code on the basis of a complaint filed by a Rajasthan resident. The case was
handed to us by the cyber cell in Raipur. An investigation is on, and appropriate
action will be taken soon”

Who is Kamal Shukla

Kamal Shukla is a veteran journalist and editor of a weekly newspaper circulated
in Bastar called the Bhoomkal Samachar. He has been a vocal critique of
Chhattisgarh government’s anti-people policies that affect the Adivasis. Shukla is
known for taking a tough stand against alleged extra judicial killings and state
sponsored atrocities in his state.

He has drawn attention to the dangerous nexus between government and

corporations to exploit the land rich in bauxite, iron and other mineral resources.
On various occasions he has highlighted that the State was using the term
‘Naxalism’ as a justification to eliminate the Adivasis, who protect the forest lands,
by either killing them in fake encounters or by locking them up for years under
false charges. He says that the few who dare to speak against the State are targeted
through arrests or false charges and threats. Not only this, he has also theorised
about the disastrous impacts of high industrialization on the environment in
Chhattisgarh state.

He has also raised his voice against the daunting circumstances under which
journalists operate when they report on such matters. Last year, commenting on the
arrest of another veteran journalist Vinod Verma who was arrested on
charges blackmailing Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, with a so called
‘sex CD’, Kamal Shukla had said that it was virtually impossible for a free and fair
press to survive in Chhattisgarh these days. He had also demanded the
implementation of the provisions of the Journalists Protection Law-2017, which
was passed to safeguard the rights of journalists.

He is president of Patrakar Suraksha Kanoon Sanyukt Samiti, a movement that got

a law passed to protect journalists working in the state of Chhattisgarh. In the year
2016, Kamal Shukla was invited to participate in the prestigious press freedom
awards organised by Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ) in New York
for his exemplary reportage from ground Zero in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.

Others like Shukla

The sedition charges against Kamal Shukla come in the wake of several other
attacks on freedom of expression and free press, especially in impoverished states
such as Chhattisgarh where Adivasis are facing off against large corporates. Nearly
a dozen journalists have been targeted similarly in the past few years under various
sections of Indian Penal Code including sedition. Some of them included Lingaram
Kodopi, Santosh Yadav, Prabhat Singh, Somaru Nag and others.