Blaming Muslims for the Malegaon blast in Maharashtra was difficult to digest as there is no internal sectarian strife among the Muslims in India to warrant such a murky phenomenon. The arrest of some Muslims for the alleged crime of killing their own people was to demoralise, let down and marginalise the community. The false implication of the Muslim youth many a time couldn’t stand the judicial scrutiny. The initiative to falsely implicate the Muslims in terror cases was taken by the Congress Government and it had to pay the price. The move is being continued by the present political dispensation.
The false implication of Muslims in Malegaon blast case was not an isolated phenomenon. It was Hemant Karkare, who, with his impeccable investigation, showed no hesitation in exposing the saffron terrorism. Karkare’s investigation was feared to reach very higher-ups. Before Karkare could nail the bigwigs, he was bumped off in the Mumbai terror attack. Karkare died in the mysterious circumstances creating all round suspicion over his untimely death.
A.R. Antulay questioned the circumstances leading to the death of Karkare. His speech in Parliament concerning Karkare’s suspicious death raised many an eyebrow in the various camps. He had to pay dearly so much so that Antulay’s funeral failed to invite the Congress heavyweights. It was the same Antulay who had played a very crucial role in rejuvenating the party from the deep political crisis. While Antulay’s status went on declining with his speech in Parliament touching upon the controversial death of Karkare, a section in the Congress was very keen on Bharat Ratna being conferred on former P.M. Narasimha Rao who had silently fathered the ignominious demolition of Babri Masjid.
Recently the cat is out of the bag with the statement of the Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian in the Malegaon blast case that since the governments changed at the Centre and in the state she has been under pressure from the NIA to go “soft”. Four Muslims were killed in the blasts.
She said that some officer met her at the instance of the higher-ups. She is stated to have said that the communal officers have penetrated in the N.I.A. which has prevented her from making an application for the discharge of the Muslim accused. It is observed that there are clandestine efforts to save the skin of the saffron terrorists. Such efforts were made earlier also. Such pernicious efforts not only damaged the reputation of the investigating agencies but questioned the very credibility of our judicial system. The very purpose behind such pernicious efforts is to spread the lies and victimise the Muslims youth.
Against this backdrop there is another move by the Maharashtra ATS to publish the calendar carrying the names of the Muslim suspects along with a photo of a Naxal or two.
Such a move by the state ATS is designed to tarnish the image of the Muslim community and spread communal disharmony and divisiveness in the society.
The law says that a person is innocent till he is found guilty. The matter is subjudice. In the wake of the matter being subjudice it is illegal to publish the photos in the calendar. The ATS is not to play the communal card. The ATS officers or the bosses giving such obnoxious instructions can well be charged under Section 153 A of IPC for promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and inviting contempt of Court.
Rohini Salian is not succumbing to the communal overtones of the investigation. She has done a great job. The political culture in the country cannot take the people like Hemant Karkare, Rohini Salian and human right activists for granted.
The Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi smelt conspiracy in the statement of Rohini Salian. Smelling conspiracy in the expression of truth shows his hypocrisy.
Fair investigation is oriented to provide justice. Justice knows no religion. The terrorists whether Muslims or Hindus are to be dealt with sternly and strictly. Any interference in the course of Justice will not be in the interest of democracy, secularism and desperately needed impartiality.