The following is a statement, issued by seven eminent persons, against the Gujarat government’s action against Citizens for Justice and Peace activists fighting the Zakia Jafri case :
Indian citizens have just got a disturbing glimpse of how the state would deal with dissidents and human-rights defenders should Narendra Modi come to power nationally. Hardly had the ink dried on a magistrate’s judgment exonerating Modi in the Zakia Jafri case, when the Gujarat police filed a First Information Report against Teesta Setalvad and other Citizens for Justice and Peace activists on patently trumped-up charges.
Eleven months ago, the police had dropped investigations into these very charges after CJP activists explained what they were working towards. The sudden filing of the FIR is evidently in anticipation of CPJ’s decision to appeal against the Jafri case judgment. This follows Gujarat’s well-established pattern of harassment of critics, the intention being to intimidate and silence them. Any attempt to prevent the early filing of an appeal will subvert the process of justice. Such intervention is contrary to the norms of our Constitution and speaks of an anti-democratic mindset.
— Romila Thapar (Professor Emerita of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University); Justice B.N. Srikrishna (former judge of the Supreme Court of India); Deepak Nayyar (distinguished economist, and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi); Justice P.B. Sawant (former judge of the Supreme Court and former chairman of the Press Council of India); Kuldip Nayar (senior colu-mnist and author); Nirupam Sen (former Indian ambassador to the United Nations); and Justice B.G. Kolse Patil (former judge of the Bombay High Court).
Related articles
- Gujarat 2002 riots: Zakia Jafri vows to continue her fight against Modi (kractivist.org)
- Press Release after Zakia Jafri Judgment 26-12-2013 (kractivist.org)
- 2002 Gujarat riots: verdict on Zakia Jafri’s plea against clean chit to Narendra Modi today (kractivist.org)
- Gujarat riots: Order on Zakia Jafri’s plea against clean chit to Narendra Modi today (ndtv.com)
January 13, 2014 at 3:46 pm
Petty Thieves or Party Thieves ?
Arvind Kejriwal’s helpline produced 23,000 complaints against corrupt officials , within first 2 days
And managed to arrest 2 constables trying to accept Rs 3,000 by way of bribe
Some 60 + sting operations are under way
Similar help lines are being installed in Goa , MP , Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh
( BJP walking in the footsteps of AAP ? )
Can such efforts to curb corruption, produce results ?
Yes , if what China’s Central and Provincial governments managed to achieve in just 11 months ( Jan – Nov 2013 ) , is any clue
Here are some statistics released by Supreme People’s Procutorate :
> No of ” corrupt ” govt officials investigated ………….. 36,907
> Total number of cases ………………………………….. 27,236
> Major / Important cases ……………………………….. 21,848
> Cases involving ” Losses ” ………………………………. 16,510
> Amount of Losses …………………………………….. Rs 566 crores
( – peanuts compared to our scams totaling Rs 5 LAKH CRORES ! )
Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reports :
> Investigation and Punishment of party Officials ……… 182,000
> High level officials facing legal prosecution …………. 8
( – including Zhou Yong Kang – a former member of Politburo Standing
Committee – equal to an Indian Cabinet Minister )
If our Democratic System is superior to China’s Dictatorial System , we ought to do better !
In China , a Politburo Member cannot be ” Voted Out ” by people
But , in India , we can !
I hope the 543 sitting MPs and 5,000+ sitting MLAs of India realize that they will get voted out in April 2014 , if they fail to act against the corrupt – and do it fast
People calling Narendra Modi , a ” Dictator ” have no clue how angry Indian voters are !
For them , a dictator who rids them of corruption is a better choice than the so-called democrats who couldn’t care for 4,383 children ( under age of 5 ) dying EVERYDAY , due to starvation !
Voters know that Rs 5 LAKH CRORES could have saved these children !
They don’t care for Freedom of Speech that cannot bring Freedom from Hunger !
* hemen parekh ( 13 Jan 2014 / Mumbai )