'Human rights only for terrorists, jawans don't matter?' Harsh Vardhan's jibe at Opposition

Amid the controversy over the “encounter” killing of eight alleged SIMI terrorists by Madhya Pradesh Police, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan took a dig at opposition parties and a section of intelligentsia saying “human rights are only for terrorists” while the lives of soldiers don’t matter.

“For Afzal, Yakub, Ishrat, Burhan, Batla (House encounter) they’ll cry foul and chatter. Human rights are for terrorists only, lives of soldiers don’t matter,” Harsh Vardhan, minister for science and technology, tweeted. 

He was apparently referring to a certain section of media and intelligentsia.

Following the “encounter” killing of alleged SIMI terrorists on Monday, several political parties demanded a probe into the matter.

Vardhan also posted a collage comprising media reports on the executions of Parliament attacks convict Afzal Guru, 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memom, and killings of Ishrat Jahan and Burhan Wani.

Meanwhile, as the clamour for a judicial probe into the encounter killing, Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Bhupendra Singh said there was no need for any investigation, while state’s police chief Rishi Kumar Shukla maintained the Crime Investigation Department will go into the incident.

Eight undertrial terror suspects of the outlawed SIMI had been shot dead by police in an alleged encounter within hours of their escape from high-security Bhopal central jail after killing a constable. Videos shot purportedly at the scene of the encounter appeared to question its authenticity, prompting demands by opposition parties for a judicial inquiry.

“It is mandated by the law that the state’s CID will investigate the encounters for a free and fair probe,” Director General of Police Rishi Kumar Shukla said, adding there was nothing new in it.

“CID is going to do its duty according to the law and inform the (competent) court,” he said.

State Home Minister Singh, however, struck a different note. “There is no need for any investigation into the encounter,” he told reporters in Anuppur district earlier in the day.

“Bhopal Police Range Inspector General Yogesh Choudhary has already briefed the media about details of the encounter yesterday,” he said. 

“He (IG) has briefed on how the encounter took place. So there is no need for any inquiry,” Singh said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), he said, will only look into the jail break incident -- the plan, from where the accused got help, from inside and outside, their links in the country and their network. “NIA will not inquire into the encounter,” he said.