Kerala Muslim leaders put eight demands regarding Beemapalli killings

By Najiya O., TwoCircles.net,

Cochi: Leaders of the major Muslim organizations in Kerala today presented a set of eight demands before the State Government regarding the Beemapalli police shooting incident.

Six people were killed and many seriously injured in police firing in the Beemapalli area in Thiruvananthapuram on 17th May. Clashes between two groups of people led to indiscriminate police firing which killed innocent people from the Beemapalli area

The leaders met Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan under the banner of the umbrella organization Muslim Samghadana Ekopana Samithi (Unified Committee of Muslim Organisations), with Muslim League MLA Kutty Ahmed Kutty, as its chief patron.

The eight demands are:

Give Rs.15 lakh as compensation for the families of the people who died in the police firing.

Provide Government job for the dependents of the deceased as soon as possible.

Increase the amount of compensation for the person who had his leg amputated to a minimum of Rs.10 lakh.

Increase the amount of compensation to Rs.5 lakh for those who are seriously injured.

Put an end to the false cases being taken by the police against the innocent Muslims of Beemapalli.

Accelerate the steps for judicial probe in the matter.

File cases of homicide against the policemen and others guilty.

Provide ample compensation for all those who have lost their means of livelihood in the firing and violence.

The leaders also said that the people of Beemapalli will not receive the compensation declared by the government unless the above mentioned demands are met. They added that the Chief Minister and the Home Minister had promised to consider the demands seriously.

All the groups in the organization will continue to stay together in all the matters regarding the community, said Kadakkal Azeez Moulvi, chairman of the Muslim Samghadana Ekopana Samithi and President of the Jama’ath Federation. There should be no matter of hesitation when it comes to realizing justice, said Karamana Ashraf Moulvi (Popular Front of India), vice-president of the Ekopana Samithi.

The Government has already ordered for a judicial probe into the matter of police firing. A compensation of Rs.10 lakh has been declared for the families of the deceased and Rs.10, 000 to Rs.1 lakh has been announced for the injured. But the Samithi has put forward new demands since the compensation announced by the government won’t be enough to meet the various needs of the poor families.

Shaheer Moulvi (Jamaate Islami), vice-president of the Ekopana Samithi, laments about the attitude of the public and the mainstream media in this serious human rights violation that has taken place in the State. The media tried to project the issue as a communal problem, whereas the real issue was the unruly police act, he added.