Tehelka expose: Activists question NHRC’s stand

Mumbai: A group of activists has questioned the ‘silence’ of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) four days after the telecast of the Tehelka expose on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The activists, headed by senior advocate Yusuf Muchalla, are planning to petition the NHRC and the National Commission for Minorities, urging them to immediately intervene and recommend action against the culprits who organised one of the worst communal riots in post-Independence India.
“It’s shocking that the NHRC is silent even after some of the culprits of the Gujarat pogrom have given graphic details of their dastardly acts,’’ said Muchalla who was attending a workshop on “Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC): Learning from the British Experience’’ at the Indian Merchants’ Chamber on Monday. Muchalla also recalled that it was primarily on the basis of the NHRC’s recommendations that the Best Bakery case (Zaheera Sheikh was witness to the murder of 14 members of her family) was transferred outside Gujarat.
The NHRC was not available for comment. However, Zoya Hassan, member of the National Commission for Minorities said she would consult the chairperson of the panel on the issue.
The activists who had gathered on invitation of the Muslims for Secular Democracy (MSD) felt that it was time, civil society intervened and put pressure on the two nodal agencies-the NHRC and the National Commission for Minorities-to act.
“What’s the purpose of having these two bodies, which were created to safeguard the weaker sections against the violations of human rights. What stops them from using the Tehelka tapes as evidence and telling the Centre to act against the rioters?,’’ said P A Inamdar, a noted educationist from Pune. In fact, some activists have already sent sections of the Tehelka expose to the NHRC, asking it to act quickly.
Sukla Sen, a member of Ekta, a body working for communal harmony, said that he had mailed to the NHRC the sections which dealt with the direct involvement of prominent Sangh Parivar members like Babu Bajrangi.
“Babu Bajrangi admits that he was sheltered by the Gujarat government in its guest house at Mount Abu for four months to help him evade arrest. Why no action is being initiated against the Narendra Modi government?,’’ said Sen.
Urdu columnist Hasan Kamal deplored the cold reception, the Congressled government in the Centre had given to the Tehelka expose.
“Even if it might help Modi win the elections, the Congress must act because it’s the question of saving the sanctity of the rule of law,’’ said Kamal.
At the workshop, Professor Kay Hampton, a former chairperson for the United Kingdom’s Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), explained that even though the commission was by the public exchequer, it had the rights to drag everyone, including the royal house, to the court in case of violation of laws. “We are not just a recommendatory body. We can hold the government and its different agencies, accountable,’’ said Hampton who is also commissioner, Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in the UK.
Javed Anand of MSD said the workshop was aimed at understanding how people in India could benefit from the British experience of having a body like CRE, which helped mitigate racial discrimination in the UK.

NCP WANTS CBI PROBE

The NCP has urged CJI K G Balakrishnan to order a CBI inquiry against Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in connection with the recent disclosures. Party leader Jitendra Avhad has stated that the taped confessions contained sufficient material to prosecute Modi and senior police officials. He also demanded the transfer of all riot-related cases to a court outside Gujarat so that witnesses can testify without fear. TNN