Delhi Police gets a clean chit in the Batla House case
In the fight with terrorism, there is a thin line between what is justified for national security and what is a violation of human rights. Sometimes, this gets muddled up. An example is when sometime back, the UP police were shown to be shooting down a dacoit when he was coming out with hands in the air. There was a lot of protests and condemnation over the way the police shot him in cold blood. It was only when a second video was released (which showed that the dacoit had earlier offered to give himself up, but had shot the policeman who went to accept the surrender) that the reputation of the police was restored. In many cases, the police and security agencies have been accused of detaining suspects without proper records, and subjecting them to torture to get information. A law and order approach is that the police should document their arrest, and file for detention in front of the court.
One case that caused a huge amount of controversy was the Batla House case. In this case, the national capital got the news, that in a locality in South East Delhi, the police had raided a house and killed some suspects in a shootout, and in the encounter, a celebrated cop had also got killed. This was in the aftermath of the Indian Mujhaideen cases where serial bomb blasts were happening in various cities, and the Government was under huge pressure to show some progress in the case. Almost immediately, there was suspicion that this was a cooked up encounter, with certain aspects of the case causing questions.
Categories: Accountable, Crime, Delhi, Investigation, Media, Police, Politics, Terrorism, Tribunal, Violence Tags: Delhi, Encounter, India, Inquiry, Investigation, Murder, Police, Politics, Security, Terrorism, Violence
Government claims that it will investigate seats for money scam
Image the situation; a private college in a state run by a political party; the college is owned by a member of the same political party who is now also a central minister of the Government of India. The same college demands money for admitting students (and not some small sum, but the sum of Rs. 20 lakhs). A media team plans a sting and shows the administrative officer of one of the colleges (the college is Shree Balaji Medical College owned by Union minister of state for information and broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan); in the other college, the registrar asks for Rs. 40 lakhs for students to be allowed admission into the medical college.
This seems perfectly realistic, inspite of Supreme Court judgments and Government policy, capitation based admission is a reality which the Government and the education ministry is perfectly fine to let happen. After all, for Governments that are able to sniff out the movements of opposition parties through their internal intelligence agencies, how hard would it be to find out which all colleges are charging capitation fees ? But when you consider that colleges are owned by politicians and important people, there is no effort that is going to happen to stop such practices from happening.
Categories: College, DMK, Education, Investigation, Law, Media, Medical, Tamil Nadu Tags: College, Education, India, Media, Medical, Money, Policy, Sting
Terrorism: India and Pakistan bicker
Lee’s Dhaba
#fullpost{display:none;}There has been a lot of mail regarding the Mumbai tragedy. In its aftermath, Pakistani blogs have been full of accusations and recriminations. Even those that would question their own government find it easier to focus on India. I have reproduced below my response to a Pakistani blog on the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Zeeshan
Thank you for posting this article.
First, some things we agree on:
While I am Hindu and you are Muslim; I know the things I stand for you will stand for: a safe environment for my children, good schools, good job, good career prospects in the future…freedom of speech and freedom to follow my path to God..if our governments could provide that then the rest I will leave in the hands of your God and mine.
With respect to tolerance and stupidity here some facts to think over:
You are inaccurate about 9/11 since AlQaeda and Taliban took responsibility for that Act.
It is true that India does not have friendly relations with its neighbors..and a budding power must be able to make friends with its neighbors. This is a failing of my government and must be rectified and the responsibility always lies with the bigger brother.
It is also true that I have a lot of good Pakistani friends…mostly in the middle-east..and most of them would prefer to live in their home-land but feel insecure or there are not enough opportunities.
Pakistan is spending huge amounts of its budget on military expenditures…I know this is supposed to be because of the Indian giant next door…but the fact is Pakistan has attacked India twice militarily…not the other way around.
In 1947, the economy of Pakistan and India was on par. While India spent little on military it spent enormous amounts on education and infrastructure. Today the economy of India is 50 times the size of Pakistan on a per capita basis.
As a result, today the Pakistan military is a match for a country 6 times its population…but the Pakistan economy is having to get hand-outs from the IMF to pay its bills. This is not right and your government is to blame.
In 1948, after partition, 20% of the population of Pakistan was Hindu and 80% Muslim. Today less than 2% is Hindu. In India, the Muslim population was 8% Muslim in 1948, today it is over 13%.
Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where the Hindu population has declined.
In India, we have Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Shabana Azmi, Azim Premji, Hamid Ansari, Abdul Kalam, Pataudi, etc…..all Muslims but they are great and respected for their achievements not because of their religion which is their private affair.
There is little doubt that India has far surpassed Pakistan on the world stage..it is not because the people are smarter or work harder..we are the same people after all…it is because the Pakistan government has not pursued good policies for its people.
The conflict between our countries has to end. I do not care if it is ISI or CIA or AlQaeda or RAW…you have to know that these conflicts are breaking the long term dreams of the Pakistani people.
Do not think that your government is going to follow good policies without your push…they have not done so for 60 years. It is time for the Pakistani people to rise up and wrest their country from the vested interests.
If you agree with my first paragraph then you know the path to friendship. Focus on our agreements…and build on that. The conflicts then melt away. Those that wish to divide us are forcing us to focus on our differences. It is within us to not allow that to happen.
Salam
Categories: Citizen, Coalition, Congress, Convenience, Crime, Discrimination, Disturbance, Education, Family, Governance, Growth, India, Law, Media, Pakistan, Politics, Protection, Responsibility, Security Tags:
