‘Kerala Police emulating their north-Indian counterparts’
By Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,
Kochi: Reny Ayline, national secretary of the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisations (NCHRO), has alleged that the Kerala police are now following the foot-steps of their north-Indian counterparts. Many state security agencies from the northern states are infamous for witch-hunting against human rights activists.
Ayline was speaking at a protest rally, organised to welcome NCHRO leader and human rights activist KH Nasar, who was released from the police custody a day before, after being falsely implicated by police on baseless charges.
NCHRO protest rally at Ernakulum
NCHRO state secretary NM Siddique also criticised the media for parroting police version of the story regarding the arrest, while speaking to TCN.
“The media in Kerala has until now chosen to keep a deep silence over the issue. But NCHRO is committed to resist such threats and human right violations at any cost,” SIddique added.
KH Nasar is now executive committee member of NCHRO, the executive editor of Popular Front of India run Malayalam daily –Thejas and is the Vice President of Popular Front of India [PFI] state committee.
Two and half years back the court had doubted police version and noted the lack of evidence in a criminal case registered against Nasar under section 153 A in connection with the seizure of ‘incriminating’ documents and CDs in a raid at NCHRO’s Ernakulam office in July 2010.
The CDs seized were based on the Marad riots [Maradinte Vazhikal] which explored into the reasons behind the riot and portrayed the lives scattered by the riot and was widely acclaimed and accepted by the public after they were released by Media Research Development Foundation (MRDF).
The documentary carried opinions by eminent environmentalists and social activists like CR Neelakandan and none were able to cite any incriminating content in it.
The Ernakulum police arrested the first two accused, NM Siddique (then NCHRO Ernakulum President and present State Secretary) and Abdussalam (district executive committee member) and they were jailed for 52 days.
The court had latter acquitted both Siddique and Abdussalam.
KH Nasar was the State Secretary of NCHRO during this police raid and he was booked as the third accused considering his organisational post in NCHRO. The police didn’t arrest him then and so he moved high court to obtain anticipatory bail.
On November 1, 2012 the Kerala High Court had granted anticipatory bail to KH Nasar and the bail condition was that he should submit himself before the investigating officers on request.
It was based on this bail condition KH Nasar presented himself before Ernakulum Central CI DS Suneesh Babu and SI Ananthalal. On his submission before the investigating officers, they presented him before the Ernakulum Chief Judicial Magistrate asking the court to give him under custody for two days. The court accepted the Police demand and two days custody was to end on November 8.
NCHRO workers greeting KH Nasar after being released from the custody
However, on the same day around 8.0 p.m. in the evening the state police in a press release said that ‘the accused in hiding, surrenders.’
NM Siddque told TCN that the press release sent from the email-id of SI Ananthalal along with a photograph of KH Nasar, should be considered a clear case of fabrication and an attempt to mock at the Kerala High court order.
The high court while granting the anticipatory bail had observed that as he was a public figure working at offices located at Ernakulum and Thiruvananthapuram, and so can’t be considered ‘an accused in hiding.’
The court has also noted that it could not be considered that he was in hiding as the police never issued a look out notice for him.
The police action against KH Nasar has been part of the police agenda of fabricating cases against human right activists, Siddique alleged.
He also explained that Nasar have been attending public programmes, married his daughter inviting neighbours, friends and relatives, he visited the Kerala Governor, the Chief Minister, Home Minister, Director General of Police and the Additional Director General of Police along with PFI leaders very recently and for each of these visits he has been submitting his identification documents and address for obtaining permission and appointments.
He has been attending public programmes and took part in media discussions in news channels as part of his public work during the last two and half years. Despite all these, what the Ernakulum Assistant commissioner Sunil Jacob has to say is that, ‘KH Nasar is absconding since last two and half years!’
KH Nasar after being released from the police custody was yesterday greeted at Ernakulum Rajendra Maidan. A rally was organized by rights group at Ernakulum to protest against the police action.
[Image Courtesy: Usman Rejila]