Batla House encounter fake?

Digvijay Singh revives allegations surrounding genuineness of Batla House encounter
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi

Controversy over the Batla House encounter took a new turn with the AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh dropped hints of it being "fake" during his recent visit to Azamgarh. The visit came a day after Shehzad, alleged to be an operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police from the town for being one of those who escaped from the fourth floor of the L-18 apartment where the controversial encounter took place.

Singh's statement seemed to be based on the inference he drew after going through the photos of the Batla House encounter. "I have seen the photographs of the youths killed in the encounter. I think there should be a probe," he told the media after a meeting with the aggrieved families of the youth who have been arrested on terror charges.

The powerful Congress General Secretary also promised to make efforts for the speedy trial of accused in one court and was seemingly worried with the way National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) carried out a one-sided inquiry. NHRC, in its report did not take into account the other version of the encounter wherein several lacunae in the official version were exposed. Also, it did not deem it appropriate to talk to the families of Atif and Sajid who were gunned down in the encounter. 

Hardnews learnt that the recent visit of Singh is an attempt of the Congress party to reach out to the minority community, which is angry at the way the security forces have targeted them under the guise of their 'war against terror'.

Meanwhile, the Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA), which is spearheading the movement for a fair probe in the seemingly fake encounter criticised Singh's visit to the 'nursery of terror'. In a statement JTSA said, "UPA's dubious policy of extending healing touch on one hand and the arrests, propaganda and delayed trials on the other continues. Also, the photographs of the deceased have been in circulation since the day of their burial. Why has the Congress-led UPA consistently bulldozed the demand for a fair probe, hiding behind the sham enquiry conducted by NHRC?"

It will be interesting to watch how the UPA government squares with Singh's observations about the Batla House encounter that took place in 2008. After all they not only declared a Delhi Police officer, MC Sharma, a martyr, but also gave him a gallantry medal. From this standpoint if the encounter is declared as fake then how will they explain Sharma's gallantry?