Probe in Dehradun encounter, why not in Batla House?

Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Group released a statement demanding application of the same standards of justice for Atif and Sajid killed in batla House encounter as those applied in the case of Ranbir Singh killed in Dehradun
Hardnews Bureau

The police are in the dock again after the cold-blooded killing of a 24-year-old MBA student in Dehradun. The police version, full of lacunae, has already triggered off protests across the country. In what is being seen as a fake encounter, the bruised and battered body of the youth had 14 bullet wounds shot from close range and 28 other torture marks. What followed this was an attempt at a massive cover-up operation by the police which was thwarted by the media and the people of the area. A CB-CID probe has begun and a murder case has been registered against the police.

Ranbir Singh's encounter brings to the fore the trigger-happy ways of the Indian police. There are instances of men in uniform killing for medals and promotions. Manisha Sethi of the Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Group (JTSG) said, "The manner in which the Indian State and the mainstream political parties have responded to the Dehradun encounter is in striking contrast to the reaction to the Batla House encounter, where two boys were killed by the Delhi police in September last year." Ranbir's encounter, like the Batla House encounter, followed mass protests and an upsurge in Dehradun.

However, unlike the Batla House encounter, in Ranbir's case both the Congress and the BJP have joined the agitation in Uttarakhand for a fair probe. The Congress sought an inquiry by the Central agency while the BJP sent Rajnath Singh's son to the family of the slain youth. He reportedly assured Ranbir's parents that a free and fair probe would be ordered without the involvement of the Dehradun police and a CB-CID enquiry has been ordered. All policemen involved in the encounter have been charged with murder.

"Recall now the jingoist hysteria created by the Congress and the BJP alike, aided by a section of the pliant media, in which all calls for independent and impartial enquiry in the Batla House encounter were branded as unpatriotic and downright insulting of the bravery of special cell cops. The Congress, which today preens on the retrieval of its minority vote, persistently bulldozed all demands for a probe into the Batla House 'encounter'", Sethi said.

She went on to add that even the simple, procedural requirement for a magisterial enquiry was subverted through the lieutenant governor, who refused to grant permission for an enquiry on flimsy grounds. The post-mortem reports of the two boys and Inspector MC Sharma have been given a State secret status. However, as Hardnews reported earlier that following Information Commission's directives, appellate authority of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Dr YK Gupta has asked the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), Prof MC Misra, to issue autopsy reports of the deceased in the encounter.

So, why this hurried response by both the Congress and the BJP for justice in case of Ranbir Singh and the persistent denial to the widespread demand for an enquiry into the killings of Atif Ameen and Mohammad Sajid? "Atif and Sajid fall in that unfortunate category of 'encounterables'- those whose killings can be justified, explained, and remain unmourned by our society and polity. It is all right to snuff out the lives of young men as long as they are drawn from a certain community and reside in areas identified as ghettos. What we are being told here is that the Atifs and the Sajids cannot claim the framework of democratic rights - the only framework that they must exist in is that of national security," said Adeel Mehdi of the JTSG.