THE MAGISTERIAL report probing the encounter of four people on June 15, 2004, says that the encounter was ‘staged’. Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year old student of Khalsa College, Mumbai and three others who were proclaimed Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives out to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, were actually killed a day before they were officially shown as having died in a police encounter.
“Ishrat Jahan was killed by Gujarat police in a cold-blooded, pre-planned way…. The police crime branch officials carried out the fake encounter for their personal gains, for promotions and other benefits. They wanted to show they were doing a great job, essentially to seek appreciation from the chief minister,” says the 243-page report written in Gujarati.
This is the second such case during the tenure of Narendra Modi after Sohrabuddin Sheikh, which the government confessed before the Supreme Court was a case of ‘fake encounter’.
This latest news of encounter being ‘planned’ and executed ‘mercilessly’ has been described as setback to the Gujarat government but I feel that it is a setback for the entire nation if true. As a citizen of this country, it is really something to ponder upon. ‘Police Waala Gundas’ are worst than the terrorists. This can happen with any one of us. Imagine, four people being gunned down for sake of vested gains. Then they are labeled as ‘terrorists’. This is the ‘Death of Democracy’ where the citizens are being killed by its own police. The same police which is meant for safeguarding the residents of the country. This is really shameful for this country. The Indian National Flag should fly at half mast in shame for what happened to Ishrat Jahan and others.
It is now quintessential that the justice is done and all the culprits should be punished. At the same time, government must ensure that these incidents don’t happen in future. Such type of heinous crime will only widen the gap between different communities in the country.
Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian 