Gujarat genocide: Ishrat Jahan encounter

After the Ishrat Jahan encounter has been proved fake, human and civil rights activists are again trying to build up pressure on the Delhi and Central governments to order a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter in which two ‘suspected terrorists’ were gunned down last year by the Special Cell (notorious for encounters) of the Delhi Police.

Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, which has been in the forefront of the movement for judicial probe into the Batla House encounter, has called upon people to sign an online petition in order to pressurize the government to reverse its stand and order a judicial probe in this encounter also. When the communal BJP-ruled Gujarat can allow a judicial probe into Ishrat encounter, why the ‘secular’ Congress-ruled Delhi and Central governments can’t into Batla House encounter, the rights activists ask. The online petition can be signed on

http://www.petitiononline.com/jtsa2009/petition.html

A magisterial probe two days back concluded that June 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter was fake as besides Mumbai college girl Ishrat three others were shot dead in cold blood by the Ahmedabad police. It was a fake encounter staged by the top police officials for promotions, said the probe. The police had described the four as members of Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba out on the mission to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ishrat encounter report has given a boost to the human and civil rights groups who have since Day One been demanding judicial probe into the September 19, 2008 Batla House encounter that took place in Delhi’s Muslim ghetto Jamia Nagar. Sajid and Atif, Azamgarh boys in early twenties killed in the shootout, were described by the police as masterminds of the Delhi serial blasts as well as other blasts in the country. But locals, parents and human and civil rights activists exposed loopholes in the police version about the whole Batla encounter, and so demanded judicial probe which so far has been turned down by the government.

A magisterial enquiry into this encounter has been blocked by the Delhi government through the refusal of the Lt. Governor of Delhi to allow for the same.
Meanwhile, a probe report by the National Human Rights Commission has given a clean chit to the Delhi police for the Batla House encounter. Parents of the slain Azamgarh boys and human and civil rights activists have rejected the NHRC report as the commission prepared the report without bothering to visit the spot and taking views of the neighbours, rights groups and the parents.

(  By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net )