Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Printers:
Maha Sabbanda, Offset Printers Reports
Nallakunta, Hyderabad- 500 013
Vatoli Massacre, Sameera Murder,
For Private Circulation Only
Lockup death &
Suspicious death on Orderly work
EDITORIAL
We are in the era of Democracy and our country’s constitution is based on Secularism, wherein the protection
of rights is guaranteed to common citizens. Civil liberties and Human rights have been recognized and given
importance. The article 21 of the Indian constitution guarantees the right to life with human dignity. By taking
oath of this constitution, the governments are formed. However, even after all this; the violation of human and civil
rights by the state has been continuing. After the 9/11 incident, America has given slogan of ‘war against terrorism’ by
globalizing it; in the name of fighting terrorism, violation of human and civil rights have spread all over the world,
where India has also come under its influence. To overcome and resist the mass violation of human and civil rights,
many civil and human rights organizations emerged, nationally and internationally, CLMC is one among them. The
founders of CLMC were already connected with one or the other rights group. While working in those groups, these
people involved themselves in the protection of Civil and human rights. The founders were also well aware as to how
the struggle can be continued for human and civil rights by being in the limitations of law, in democratic manner and
how the government can be made accountable for violation of Human Rights. These were the fundamental points, of
which the founders were well aware of.
Through our constant work and struggle, the confidence and expectations of the oppressed people also
increased. Especially the Muslim community who had lost their courage after the Babri Masjid demolition, continuous
riots, and police harassment. They were feeling that the torture and harassment done to them would not be exposed
like other cases, but they were becoming aware. People started coming with their problems with lots of hope and
wanted immediate relief. We had lots of difficulties by this and faced lots of problems, because we were not able to
work independently. However, on the other side, there were loads of problems coming on which immediate attention
was needed. Considering this, few people were trained for the rights of minorities and formed ‘Minorities Rights
Forum’ which was able to work for few months only. The people working in this forum excused themselves to work
because of police harassment and therefore this forum dissolved. After this, ‘Joint Action Committee for the Protection
of Minorities Rights’ was formed under which many organizations were part of it. Even this committee ceased to exist
after few months because it consisted of people and organizations of different ideologies and concepts, and there
were differences in their thinking and working nature.
This was the time when the Gujarat carnage took place, which spread from Ahmedabad’s Gandhi Nagar to
Hyderabad’s Gandhi Bhavan. In the Genocide thousands of Muslims were killed, lakhs of women were raped and
thousands crores worth of property was robbed and engulfed (gutted) in fire. Lakhs of people became homeless and
were forced to spend their lives in graveyards. Ahmedabad’s Shah Alam graveyard is one such example. Congress
MP Mr. Ahsan Jaffri was brutally killed. Parliament and judiciary were the mute spectators. The situation was so
worse that even the doors of sabarmati Ashram were also closed for Muslims. Gujarat High Court Muslim judge had
to run helter skelter to protect his life. The other side of this genocide was that the Muslims were picked up arrested
from relief camps, leveled with the charges of conspiracy to kill Modi and Togadia and were filled in the jails of
Gujarat. This type of arresting was not limited to Gujarat alone; Muslims from other states were also arrested and
sent to Gujarat jails. It is very strange that where India is the biggest democratic and secular nation, there every
Muslim is robbed, slit and burnt alive. They were even blamed, arrested, tortured inhumanly and booked under
draconian law such as POTA.
Gujarat’s anti-Muslim Hindutva government proved helpful to Hyderabad’s anti-Muslim police group and thus
illegal nexus emerged between them. Andhra police arrested Muslim youth and handed them over to Gujarat police
and then they were labeled with the charges of conspiracy to kill Advani, Modi, Togadia and Haren Pandya and each
one was also accused of taking revenge of Gujarat genocide. Everyone was mum on these arresting. During that
time, a Civil Rights leader and well-known advocate of AP Mr. Bojja Tarakam called up and said “what you are doing
when a large number of Muslim youths are being arrested”. Then he suggested to form a fact-finding team. Thus, a
fact-finding team was formed with representatives from different organizations. This team visited different parts of
Hyderabad, went to the houses of the victims and spoke to their family members, encouraged them to break silence
and present the facts before people. This made them feel secure and relaxed. After collecting all the facts, the team
presented its fact-finding report before people through press conference. It was clearly mentioned in the report that
the anti Muslim group of police is targeting Muslim youth, randomly arresting and handing them to Gujarat police.
The illegal nexus between Gujarat and Hyderabad police was also exposed through this report. The people of
Andhra Pradesh were in shock when they came to know the facts through our report. The social and political groups
of Muslims started speaking against these arrests, the common people expressed solidarity towards the family
members of the detained youth.
After the fact-finding of the Gujarat genocide in 2002, Prof. Rehana Sultana felt that instead of depending on
other committees to condemn the torture on minorities, to bring facts before people, to raise voice against violence,
we should ourselves come forward. To think about this we met people of similar thoughts, took suggestions from
intellectuals; everyone thought that this idea is good. Hence, in 2002, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee was
formed with the aim that this committee would work for minorities, backward classes and against the violation of the
rights of common people. The aims and objectives of the committee are: “to encourage public awareness of
constitutional rights and encourage involvement of the whole community in preserving and protecting
them. In pursuit of this vision, CLMCI’s mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing
and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression,
and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights”. It was decided
that this committee will expand its work all over India; therefore ‘India’ is suffixed to the name. This committee is
totally independent, purely non-political and also not related to any party/group. The committee works keeping in
view the fundamental rights given in the Indian constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
This committee work is based on Article 21 of the Indian constitution i.e. right to life with human dignity.
Common man benefited a lot by the formation of this committee, when the illegal detention, arrest and violation
of human rights was exposed due to which saving of hundreds of innocent lives was possible. Democratic ways
were explored to protest against injustice, by being in the limits of law. Right from the beginning, CLMC tried to
collaborate and work with other organizations, and in return, those organizations understood its importance, co
operated and coordinated with CLMC. Apart form this, the international human rights organizations such as Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, ILPS also responded on CLMC’s reports. On CLMC fact-finding report National
Human Rights Commission registered cases and issued notices to governments. The example of such cases is:
a) Encounter case of Zaheerabad
b) Child Labour case of Hyderabad
c) Twin blasts victim case i.e. of Shiva Reddy
Civil Liberties works in the limits of constitution of India, but from the day one itself, a group of fascists’ police
officers started blaming CLMC, because the responsible persons of this committee are Muslims, therefore labeling
them as ISI and naxalites was easy for them not only this, even threatening calls and SMSs were given by the names
of COBRA and BHARAT TALWAR asking to close this committee. However, inspite of all such difficult circumstances,
civil liberties continued its work and still resists the difficult situations.
At present where we are celebrating 63rd year of independence, on the other side, it is becoming difficult to
work for civil and human rights. All kinds of tactics are being used to silence the voice of rights and struggle for the
rights. With this one can imagine that even after 62 years of independence, the citizens are still denied the benefits
of independence and its practical exposure. In independent India, there is a constitution, democracy, secularism, but
even after this, the constitution is not implemented and promoted to develop. Constitution of India and democracy
has been limited to electoral politics and the constitution is followed only to the extent, which benefits the ruling class.
Democracy is limited only to the extent of elections in every 5 years. Common mans rights are ignored. There is no
sense of accountability by the state. Instead of being welfare state, Government is becoming a police state; and
police is operating in the manner of kill and get promoted. The minorities and down trodden, fighting for their rights
and social justice, killing them in the name of encounter has become common, because to label them as terrorist,
ISI, naxalite, conspirator, traitor, waging war against state etc has become easy. They are treated with every kind of
torture, for this purpose all kinds of torture cells exist in every corner of state, which are dangerous than Abu Gharieb
and Guantanamo Bay. The fourth pillar of Democracy, the print and electronic media have become the estate of
Indian ruling class, which has become an instrument to defame the minorities. Police with is biased and of communal
mindset, creates stories that are purely fictitious and communal through media. Now a day, media itself runs the trial
on accused and declares them as guilty. In the present circumstances, it is very much necessary to bring the voice
of the oppressed before common people and this becomes much more necessary when an oppressed is a minority.
Because this community is the most unpopular among the police, government and media. It is very easy to target
them but very difficult to raise voice against the atrocities done on them; very few people come forward with open
hearted. By keeping in view all these circumstances, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee is formed and it started
this magazine to expose the facts and create awareness among common people.
Civil Liberties magazine is an effort to expose the torture and close the torture cells, custodial deaths and
killings in the name of encounters, atrocities by police, to stop the atrocities done by private outfits, to expose the
exploitation of the natural resources done on the name of globalization, and apart from this, to raise voice against
violation of rights, to support the truth, to bring awareness of the rights, and to continue struggle against the injustice.
CLMC believes that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere”.
A few years back I raised the question “whether a Political Party not subscribing to the Constitutional
value system so clearly spelt out by the Preamble and the other provisions in the Constitution, have its
party registered to contest and participate in the country’s election?
H V Kamath, a member of the Constituent Assembly, suggested to add a prefix “In the name of
God” to the Preamble and this was opposed. It was put to vote in Assembly and was voted against it. In
the debates, it was pointed out that invocation of God is inconsistent with freedom of faith promised by
the Preamble but also to the guaranteed right. If we say ‘In the name of God’ the question that would
arise is: whose God and which God’. That is because there is a plurality of religions and communities
and that ruled out the recognition of any religion as a State Religion. The Country went on as a Secular
State until electoral politics brought on to the political agenda religion for garnering power and progressively
religion started playing a pivotal role in the electoral politics. This entry of politics of the religion of the
majority became strident and aggressive after the death of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and its ascendancy was
ensured during PV Narasimha Rao’s tenure as the Prime Minister.
The attacks on the minority commenced immediately after the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi. Majority
religion, after it was brought on to the political agenda, the assault on the minorities increased. The
second onslaught was on the Muslims in Mumbai in 1992 and in Gujarat in 2001 by the BJP. The scale
on which attacks took place cannot be described as backlash or communal riots for that would be a gross
understatement. Moreover, the attacks on Christian minorities in Orissa and Karnataka complete the
attacks on the major minority communities. This would include the Hindu terrorism that we are reading
almost every day in the newspapers.
The violence and the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim terrorism have to be understood as major breaches
in terms of Constitutional governance. Whatever debates that take place has to be within the parameters
of the Constitution. The Constitution is intended to govern the plural communities residing within this
country. The ruling in SR Bommai was given in 1994 in the backdrop of Ayodhya, Babri Masjid and the
riots that followed in Mumbai. The Supreme Court pointed out, “The founding Fathers could not have
countenanced the idea of treating Minorities as second class citizens. On the contrary, the dominant
thinking appears to be that the majority community, the Hindus, must be secular and thereby help the
minorities to become secular. For it is the majority community alone that can produce a sense of security
for others.”
The Preamble declares the objectives having in view the plural communities who have been within
the country for centuries. It is intended to govern the plural communities within the Hindu system equally
and equitably and the plurality residing outside Hindu Community also for centuries equally and equitably.
No political Party or Community has any authority to ride roughshod over the other constituents of this
society. There cannot be a partial suspension/enforcement of Rule of Law. The government cannot ban
all the minority communities’ outfits big and small and not ban RSS and its outfits and allow them the
freedom of assembly to conspire and commit offences at will. The Schedule to Unlawful Activities
Prevention 1967 will reveal the glaring partial suspension of Rule of Law. This partial suspension of Rule
of Law was done openly in major conflagrations in Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Coimbatore. This requires
serious debate towards increasing Constitutional governance and this cannot happen unless the parties
constituting the electoral system are disciplined. Violence cannot be checked, are preventive or punitive
S. A. R. Geelani,
Vice President,
Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners
28 July 2009, Srinagar
Janardhan was kept in illegal detention and tortured for three days on the charges of theft where he
died; we reached his house and spoke to his family members mother Sattemma, brother Sadanand, who
gave us the facts. He said that his brother was picked up by policemen in civil dress from his house on the
midnight of 2nd August. An oral complaint was given in Golconda police station on which the Golconda police
sent an alert message through wireless. Janardhan who was working as security guard, his family members
started searching him on 3rd august but were unable to find him. On 4th August at 4pm, L.B.Nagar policemen
brought him to his house in Tata Sumo and took away 2 tola gold chain, a gold ring, two cell phones, TV,
bank pass book and pension pass book. Janardhan’s condition was very bad and except his sister nobody
else was present in home at that time. Janardhan was not even able to stand properly and fell down many
a times. When asked for water and food, he was kicked by the policemen on his stomach and told that he will
be fed at his in laws house.
Later in the evening at 7pm they got the information that he was shifted to Gandhi Hospital where he
was declared brought dead. Janardhan’s relatives’ 40-50 members demonstrated at L.B. Nagar PS and
later the dead body was handed over to them after the postmortem. Sadanand said that there were signs of
beatings on his feet soul. There were marks of torture on stomach, ribs, near the eyes and on the face.
Janardhan’s brother says that even if there were charges of theft on his brother, then that should have been
dealt according to the law. His mother questioned why her son was kidnapped and killed? Is this police or
the gang of killers? His brother Sadanand said that a case of murder and SC/ST Atrocities Act should be
booked on the killers and they should be punished, so that no other youth becomes the prey of such kind of
torture. The team then reached the L.B Nagar PS and met SI Naveen Kumar and SHO Saidulu and enquired
about the facts. First of all they denied saying that they do not know anything about the facts, then as the
team started asking them questions, they were compelled to say and told that a case has been booked in
Chilkalguda PS under section 176 Cr PC and also said that this incident happened because of ill fate,
otherwise who will want to loose their jobs by doing such things, and they also said that two of the persons
suspended were new SIs.
Like wise the team visited the house of Armed Police Constable P.Muralinath who was sent on orderly
work to the house of Vivek Dubey, DIG Octopus at Noida, and spoke to the wife of Muralinath and consoled
her. She said that her husband was a self respectable person and in near future was to get promoted to the
post of SI; he was very fond of stars. One day suddenly he got orders from CPL commandant Mr. Abraham
Lincoln to reach Delhi immediately. On the fear that he might loose the chances of promotion if he does not
obey the order, he decided to go to Delhi. This orderly work was for 15 days. On morning of 20th July he left
for Delhi by AP express from Hyderabad railway station. As Noida is a remote area, where barely anything
is available, he took with himself 2 cell phones and chargers. On 22nd he called his wife and expressed
After knowing all the facts, the fact finding team observes that, a person who is a dalit, whether
he might be an accused or a policeman, there is no difference in discriminatory treatment, he is
always tortured and killed.
1. In both the cases, the culprits should be booked under SC/ST Atrocities Act, a case of murder under
section 302 should be booked, and the culprits should be arrested.
2. Judicial enquiry should be conducted on the lock up death case, and CBI enquiry should be done on the
suspicious death of constable, because there is inter- state link of the IPS officers of three states.
3. For the enquiry of Muralinath case, the three-member committee was formed to protect IPS Dubey;
therefore, the report is not reliable.
4. DIG Octopus Vivek Dubey should be immediately suspended and arrested in the case of constable
death, and the five policemen who are suspended in the case of lock up death, should be immediately
arrested.
5. In both the cases, the family members should be given ex gratia and government employment.
The present condition of the case of lock-up death is that the policemen involved in the death have
been suspended but no other action has been taken against them and the case is pending till now.
In the case of suspicious death of the constable who was on orderly work, a three-member committee
was formed, not to investigate but to protect the IPS officers responsible for this death namely Vivek Dubey
and Abraham Lincoln. Later they were suspended.