By TCN News
Boston: Coalition Against Genocide (CAG) a broad alliance dedicated to justice and accountability for the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, and for continued violations of human rights in Gujarat, today called on the Central government to initiate prosecution of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, following the written confession of disgraced Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Gujarat, DG Vanzara who has been in prison since 2007 on trial for several extra-judicial killings, including that of 19 year-old Mumbai student Ishrat Jahan in 2004.
The explosive letter has shaken the nation for the gravity of the charges it contains against Mr. Narendra Modi and his Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah. Mr. Vanzara has revealed that the “fake encounters” in Gujarat, were a conscious policy adopted by the Modi administration. The fact that these killings furnished the ‘halo of a brave chief minister’ to Modi is an indication of the cold-blooded political chicanery behind the encounters.
“I categorically state that officers and men of the Crime Branch, ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) and Border Range, during the period 2002-2007, simply acted and performed their duties in compliance with a conscious policy of this government,” wrote Mr. Vanzara, once considered a confidante of Modi and Shah, in his resignation letter.
This is the first time that a police officer of Mr. Vanzara’s rank, has publicly cited Mr. Modi’s approval of the killings committed in the name of fighting terror, and his endorsement of the state police’s brutality in return for political gain. Mr. Modi’s disregard for the rule of law has been known since the carefully orchestrated Gujarat pogrom of 2002, which according to human rights organizations and revelations by senior officers such as Sanjeev Bhatt and R. B. Sreekumar, took place with Mr. Modi’s complicity.
In a separate development, an independent journalist released a video showing senior BJP leaders discussing how to shield Mr. Amit Shah, currently out on bail, from the fallout of the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case. The video is a “smoking gun” that corroborates Mr. Vanzara’s charge that the Gujarat police’s impunity in murdering innocent people through fake encounters was backed by a conscious policy of the Gujarat government under Mr. Modi.
“The Central government needs to act on Mr. Vanzara’s revelations, so that those who hold innocent human lives cheap, and are willing to expend them for political gains are held accountable under the law of the land,” stated Mr. Raja Swamy, a spokesperson for CAG. “The PIL filed in the Supreme Court, pleading for the court’s direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take Mr. Vanzara’s confession, should be speedily heard and appropriate orders passed for a CBI investigation and prosecution of Mr. Modi,” added Mr. Swamy.
Mr. Vanzara’s letter and the video from the sting operation also explain why so many senior IPS officers are currently serving time in jail for fake encounters. As Mr. Vanzara pointed out, the state government has a motive in keeping them in prison so that the probe is not transferred to the CBI from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
“The people of Gujarat have suffered enough. This dark night of state terror must give way to a new dawn, of respect for democracy, the rule of law and the sanctity of human life,” said Dr. Ubaid, a co-founder of CAG. “This is the time for the judiciary to demonstrate its independence and its adherence to the dictum. ‘Be you ever so high, the law is above you,'” added Dr. Ubaid.
The Coalition Against Genocide is composed of a diverse group of organizations and individuals in the United States and Canada that have come together in response to the Gujarat genocide to demand accountability and justice.
Link:
http://coalitionagainstgenocide.org/