ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Huge morcha petitions President on Srikrishna report

Activists of several human rights groups, trade unions, women's and student groups on Friday submitted a memorandum to President K R Narayanan seeking his intervention for the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report.

The activists also held a dharna outside Maharashtra Bhavan in New Delhi here to protest against the state government's decision to reject the report indicting the Shiv Sena for its role in the 1992-93 Bombay riots.

In their memorandum to the President, the activists sought his intervention so that all those indicted in the report were prosecuted, further investigation of the cases was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the families of all riot victims were fully compensated.

Expressing dismay at the Maharashtra government's reasons for rejecting the report, the activists said, ''We believe it has actually been rejected because the commission of inquiry confirms that the riots were well organised by the party currently in power. It specifically indicts Shiv Sena leaders including Bal Thackeray and Maharashtra's minister of state for home Gajanan Kirtikar, for their role in the riots. It also indicts local Shiv Sena activists, and specifically names 31 policemen for participating or not intervening to prevent the carnage.''

Among those who participated in the demonstration and signed the memorandum were the People's Union for Democratic Rights, People's Union for Civil Liberties, People's Rights Organisation, Citizens For Democracy, Human Rights Trust, Indian National Social Action Forum, Saheli, Progressive Students Union and All India Federation of Trade Unions.

Their action comes even as former prime minister V P Singh strongly deplored the rejection of the report by the Shiv Sena-BJP led Maharashtra government and demanded that concrete action be initiated against those who have been indicted in the report.

In a statement, Singh observed that the manner in which the Srikrishan report on Bombay riot had been disposed of was a violation of all democratic norms, and smacks of authoritarian attitude.

''The convention that is being laid down by such arbitrary action is that the ruling party can summarily throw away any indictment against itself even if it is by a duly constituted body'', Singh said.

He asked what relief is there to victims if perpetrators of crime have the powers to decide on the validity of their indictment? Can they be impartial, he questioned.

Urging Parliament to consider the issue, he said Parliament should deliberate on this and think of an effective solution for such cases. Otherwise, the mechanisms for the scrutiny of powers will be severely compromised, he added.

According to him, it will finally result in the disempowerment of the people vis-a-vis the executive.

He recalled that earlier, the country had a blatant example of this during the Congress regime, when the government rejected the unanimous indictment of its ministers by the parliamentary committee formed by the House itself. Singh, however, did not elaborate.

He had even warned the Congress that this will lay the foundation for others to follow suit. ''Now we have the burial of the Srikrishna report. If nothing is done right now it will become the standard practice in future, throwing away democratic norms'', he said.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report