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| A fake encounter | | Justice, however, must be real | |
IN a country where fake en
counters are not uncommon,
someone may well ask: why has the Ishrat Jahan killing evoked such national interest? It is unusual for police-Intelligence Bureau officers to pick up a college girl along with three others for staging an encounter. However, the real reason is the political fallout the case may trigger. The encounter happened during Narendra Modi's dispensation.
His critics say Modi has been such a powerful Chief Minister, how could anything, particularly a fake encounter, be done without his knowledge? Secondly, the Gujarat government made no effort to pursue the case until pushed by courts. Thirdly, it gave promotions to police officers whose names figured in the case.
The CBI is yet to establish the motive of the crime. It has to explain whether the eight indicted police officers, including three from the IPS, acted on their own or at someone's behest. Though the charge sheet has not named any politician, the Chief Minister and the then Home Minister, Amit Shah, would be able to breathe easy only if the supplementary charge sheet the CBI proposes to file also gives them a clean chit. Until then they would be on the defensive and this is not the only case of killings they have to be defensive about. Besides, being in power then, they cannot escape moral responsibility.
The charge sheet is the CBI's version of the events and is yet to face judicial scrutiny. It may take years before justice is actually delivered. But this may not stop a political battle in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in which Modi is a key player. The Congress will squeeze maximum political benefit out of it. BJP spokespersons will fight tooth and nail to protect Modi. The party claims the CBI has underplayed the role of LeT and terrorists and its indictment of policemen has "demoralised" the security agencies. A CBI-Intelligence Bureau face-off has also begun. For the people at large it is necessary that the guilty — no matter who they are and what positions they occupy — are brought to justice. |
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