Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 25, 2008
URL: http://dailypioneer.com/136639/Time-to-halt-this-farce.html
As terrorist charges against Sadhvi Pragya,
Lt Col SP Purohit, and an endless list of others become increasingly surreal,
the possibility of their being substantiated in a court of law also appears
more remote. Rather than struggle daily with new sub-plots, the Maharashtra
Anti-Terrorism Squad would do well to release the accused and abort its nascent
career as a pulp fiction-writer.
Even if the tale of 'Hindu terror' had initial
plausibility, it fell apart as the arrests degenerated into a fishing expedition
of anyone who knew anyone, and the list of their 'successful crimes' became
truly incredible. The allegation that Lt Col Purohit supplied RDX for the
Samjhauta Express bombings blew the case to smithereens as those explosions
were caused by incendiary devices; the Army does not stock RDX; the impugned
officer had no access to any explosives nor knowledge of bomb-making; and,
there is simply no way an Army officer could be involved in so much covert
activity without being detected.
Political analysts feel the case was contrived
for political reasons, and the Prime Minister's decision to speak to Mr LK
Advani and depute the National Security Adviser and Intelligence Bureau Director
to meet him suggests unease at the affair. There are whispers that regional
players have driven the crisis to retain their power base, and forced coalition
partners into acquiescence. If this is untrue, the sooner the Union Government
moves to dissipate this impression the better, as the crisis is having a deleterious
impact on the morale of the defence forces.
Mr KPS Gill, the nation's most valiant police
officer, led a citizens' delegation to the National Human Rights Commission
last Friday, where he said that never in his career had he seen such a prolonged
police remand for any woman, let alone a sadhvi. Lt Col Purohit has also mentioned
maltreatment, but as only Sadhvi Pragya's affidavit is public so far, it would
be worthwhile to note some of its salient points.
Sadhvi Pragya became a sanyasin in January
2007 and was living in a Jabalpur ashram when the Maharashtra ATS called her
for interrogation in October 2008 as a vehicle that belonged to her was allegedly
involved in the September 29 Malegaon explosion. After she said she had sold
it to one Sunil Joshi in October 2004, and the police discovered the latter
had been murdered in 2007, matters should have ended there.
Instead, Sadhvi Pragya was illegally detained
and interrogated for 13 days from October 10 to 23, with no woman constable
ever present. She was beaten by police officers, who also assaulted her disciple,
Bhimbhai Pasricha, when he refused to physically abuse her. She was subjected
to obscene language and psychological torture, and felt depressed enough to
contemplate committing suicide. She was moved from place to place, including
being lodged in a hotel, again without women constables. The ill-treatment
necessitated hospitalisation for nearly six days, after which she was formally
arrested on October 23.
Details of Sadhvi Pragya's narco-analysis
and polygraph tests are well known. It is pertinent that a supplementary interrogation
technique - used to cover missing links in criminal cases like the Telgi stamp
paper scam - was used as a primary tool of investigation, repeatedly, even
though it failed to unveil any hint of crime.
This suggests misuse of the ATS by its political
masters. A narco-analysis of Swami Dayanand Pande last Friday caused him to
lose his senses; he regained consciousness only after eight hours! It is pertinent
that media photographs have revealed that both religious persons arrested
in this case have been forced to wear civilian clothes during custody, a terrible
abomination and a religious insult that should be actionable under Section
495-A of the IPC.
Sadhvi Pragya has rightly asked that narco-analysis
and polygraph tests be conducted on the ATS officers who handled her detention
and interrogation to unravel the truth about those who masterminded the conspiracy
behind her arrest, and that of others, destroying lives and reputations in
a disgraceful attempt to equate 'Hindu terror' with jihad.
Indeed, the story was so malleable that when
the Samjhauta-to-Malegaon plot began to collapse under the weight of its own
contradictions, the scriptwriters twisted it to incorporate a plot to kill
top RSS leaders, most notably general secretary Mohanrao Bhagwat. VHP leader
Pravin Togadia has rightly said the Maharashtra ATS deserves the Man Booker
for its narrative! Seriously, however, the Malegaon accused could have plotted
to kill either innocent Muslims or Hindus; not both. Hence, this is clearly
a witch-hunt.
In this context, it may be pertinent to know
if Lt Col Purohit, during his tenure in Military Intelligence in Jammu &
Kashmir, had submitted information that impacted adversely upon the ruling
party's political vote-bank, or hurt some other political interests of the
powers-that-be. Certainly, the sudden decision to invoke MCOCA even when no
credible prima facie case could be established against the accused suggests
that there is a desire to hold them in custody at all costs, at least until
the current round of Assembly elections, and possibly also the general election,
are over.
The Congress-dominated regime's decision to
use MCOCA is invidious also because the UPA at the Centre revoked POTA on
the plea that existing laws are adequate to tackle terrorism, and more stringent
measures are not needed, either at the Central level, or in States like Gujarat,
where the police have a good record of unearthing crime. The known terrorist
Abu Salem, extradited from Portugal, was removed from MCOCA coverage by a
generous State Government, though spiritual leaders and Army officers are
being subjected to hideous defamation by selective media leaks.
Some of the purported evidence is truly extraordinary.
Photographs of women have allegedly been found in the swami's computer, and
one is at a loss to connect them to the Malegaon bomb blast. There are audio
recordings of mobile phone conversations that could mean anything, as the
word 'bomb' or 'blast' is never used; and there is a witness who has heard
both sides of a telephone conversation! Photographs of public functions where
media was present are being projected as evidence of a private conspiracy,
and overall, the investigation is degenerating into a travesty of justice.
It is time to call a halt to the farce.