Letters: No justification

The “extra-judicial” killing of eight inmates, who “escaped” from a high-security prison in Bhopal shows India’s human rights record in poor light. The camera does not lie. Images captured by it cast doubts on the official version of events while making for uncomfortable viewing. There is no way the Madhya Pradesh government can justify the gunning down of unarmed Simi activists when they could have been apprehended and produced in court for the law to take its own course.

There is no circumstantial evidence to show that the policemen, who surrounded the escapees, faced any threat of violence from them and had to exercise the right of private defence, opening fire at point-blank range. The description of the “encounter” given by the state home minister and the police were in conflict with each other and pointed to holes in the case. The sequence of events leading to the killing is shrouded in mystery and needs to be unravelled by a judicial probe.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is no stranger to fake encounters; it wriggles out of admitting its guilt by citing “national security” and branding opponents of fake encounters as “anti-nationals” and “cohorts of terrorists”. But the fig leaf of “national interest” cannot conceal the truth. The BJP has mastered the art of harnessing emotion to the cause of nationalism.

G David Milton   Maruthancode

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