The national level People's Tribunal, which heard the complaints of the victims of police torture and harassment in the name of fight against terrorism, has warned that such treatment of Muslim minority in the country was leading to a very strong sense of insecurity and alienation “which may lead to frightful consequences for the nation.” The People's Tribunal, which included Justice G.N. Bhargava, former chief justice of Rajasthan High Court and Justice Sardar Ali Khan, former chief justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court and former chairman of National Minorities Commission, issued its interim observations and made interim recommendations after hearing the depositions in 40 cases of atrocities against Muslims across the country. “The testimonies showed that a large umber of innocent young Muslims have been and are being victimized by the police on the charge of being involved in various terrorist acts across the country. This is particularly so in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan through not limited to these states. The states ruled by both the BJP as well as Congress were witnessing such incidents,” said the report read out by senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the jury. “The victimization and demonization of Muslims in the guise of investigation of terror offenses is having a very serious psychological impact on the minds of not only the families of the victims but also other members of the community,” the jury observed. The other members of the Tribunal, set up by NGOs ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Development), Human Rights Law Network and Peace along with dozens of other human rights organization and Urdu daily newspaper Siasat, expressed shock and dismay that the fight against terrorism had veered more around witch hunting of Muslims rather than curbing of terrorism. “The testimonies show widespread communalization of the police across states in the country,” the tribunal observed. The Tribunal, whose report will be submitted to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Union Home Ministry and International Human Rights organization within a month, heard victim after victim narrating the shocking details of their victimization. The jury observed that the treatment was robbing people of their liberty and freedom and making them more insecure than before. The jury which included senior lawyer K.G. Kannabiran, Editor of Times of India, Kingshuk Nag and Desh Bandhu Lalit Surjan, academics Prof. Ramy Punyani, Prof. Rooprekha Verma and Prof. Haragopal, came down heavily on the role of the judiciary and the media in respect to these cases. “In most of these cases the courts are routinely allowing police remand and not granting bail merely on the police statement that they are required for further investigation. They do not examine whether there is any evidence against the accused. Unfortunately the media too uncritically publicizes the charge and allegation leveled by the police. This has resulted in destruction of the lives and reputations of a large number of persons so picked up by the police who have later been found to be innocent.” Prashant Bhusan said that the media had forgotten its basic duty of subjecting the police statements to scrutiny to find out the truth. __
