J&K: BJP in fix as leader seeks release of cop accused in rape, murder of 8-year old after holding right-wing rally

By Our Representative
The rape and murder of eight-year-old nomadic girl, Asifa Bano of Hiranagar town in Kathua district, mid-January is blowing into a full-blown political controversy engulfing BJP, a partner in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) government, following a Hindu Ekta Manch (HEK) rally last week seeking the release of a special police officer (SPO) arrested for the gruesome act.
The demonstration, which took place from Ghagwal to Hiranagar in Kathua area last Friday, was led by state BJP general secretary Vijay Sharma, with people holding the tricolour in their hand, and shouting "Bharat mata ki jay", with local dailies carrying photographs showing J&K personnel providing an "escort" to a section of the rally.
Sharma, has opposed the arrest of the accused, SPO Deepak Khajuria, saying he has been "falsely implicated", even as hailing the "5,000 strong rally", saying the HEK was formed to "defend people from police harassment”, another BJP leader, general secretary (Organization) Ashok Koul, has said there should be "exemplary punishment" for SPO.

Sharma, significantly, not only headed the HEK march, but is also state party general secretary. Pointing towards HEK's links with the BJP, he reportedly said, "Members from BJP and other parties have come together under the banner of Ekta Manch". Koul, on the other hand, even as calling for thorough investigation , said HEK's protest was its own decision, after the "locals" alleged that police had framed the SPO, and the BJP had nothing to do with it.
Distancing itself from partial BJP support for the SPO, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, tweeted that she was "appalled by the marches and protests in defense of the recently apprehended rapist in Kathua", asserting, she was "horrified by their use of our national flag in the demonstration", calling it "nothing short of desecration".
According to the police, Khajuria and a minor boy, who has also been detained, were responsible for the ghastly crime which was discovered after a badly mutilated body was recovered from the Rassana forest in Kathua on January 17, a week after she went missing while grazing horses.
Sources have been quoted as saying that Khajuria threatened the boy that he would kill his parents if he told anybody about the incident, adding, the investigation by the Crime Branch of J&K police showed that the accused initially administered her a locally available intoxicant. Later they gave her diazepam regularly so that she wouldn’t scream for help and catch attention of passersby.
The sources further said, the accused had held the girl captive for seven days before murdering her in a brutal manner, adding, the police officials had identified the drug store where the accused had purchased drugs. Interestingly, Khajuria was also part of the police team that had “searched” for Asifa after she went missing on January 10.

Meanwhile, well-known state daily "Greater Kashmir",
has editorially accused the rally in Kathua in support of the accused as "the new low in the communal turn that the politics of the state has taken in recent years, notwithstanding the argument that the PDP-BJP coalition has prevented the communal polarization in the state."
"The rally was led by HEK headed by the BJP state secretary. The protesters demanding the release of the accused were carrying the tricolour to lend legitimacy to their demand. This forced the Chief Minister to tweet her shock at the development", adding, Kathua BJP MLA Deepak Sharma visited the area, but "held deliberations with the people of one community only."

Comments

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

'Anti-poor stand': Even British wouldn't reduce Railways' sleeper and general coaches

By Anandi Pandey, Sandeep Pandey* Probably even the British, who introduced railways in India, would not have done what the Bhartiya Janata Party government is doing. The number of Sleeper and General class coaches in various trains are surreptitiously and ominously disappearing accompanied by a simultaneous increase in Air Conditioned coaches. In the characteristic style of BJP government there was no discussion or debate on this move by the Indian Railways either in the Parliament or outside of it.

Why convert growing badminton popularity into an 'inclusive sports opportunity'

By Sudhansu R Das Over the years badminton has become the second most popular game in the world after soccer. Today, nearly 220 million people across the world play badminton. The game has become very popular in urban India after India won medals in various international badminton tournaments. One will come across a badminton court in every one kilometer radius of Hyderabad.

Faith leaders agree: All religious places should display ‘anti-child marriage’ messages

By Jitendra Parmar* As many as 17 faith leaders, together for an interfaith dialogue on child marriage in New Delhi, unanimously have agreed that no faith allows or endorses child marriage. The faith leaders advocated that all religious places should display information on child marriage.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Ayurveda, Sidda, and knowledge: Three-day workshop begins in Pala town

By Rosamma Thomas* Pala town in Kottayam district of Kerala is about 25 km from the district headquarters. St Thomas College in Pala is currently hosting a three-day workshop on knowledge systems, and gathered together are philosophers, sociologists, medical practitioners in homeopathy and Ayurveda, one of them from Nepal, and a few guests from Europe. The discussions on the first day focused on knowledge systems, power structures, and epistemic diversity. French researcher Jacquiline Descarpentries, who represents a unique cooperative of researchers, some of whom have no formal institutional affiliation, laid the ground, addressing the audience over the Internet.

Article 21 'overturned' by new criminal laws: Lawyers, activists remember Stan Swamy

By Gova Rathod* The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, organised an event in Ahmedabad entitled “Remembering Fr. Stan Swamy in Today’s Challenging Reality” in the memory of Fr. Stan Swamy on his third death anniversary. The event included a discussion of the new criminal laws enforced since July 1, 2024.

Hindutva economics? 12% decline in manufacturing enterprises, 22.5% fall in employment

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The messiah of Hindutva politics, Narendra Modi, assumed office as the Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. He pledged to transform the Indian economy and deliver a developed nation with prosperous citizens. However, despite Modi's continued tenure as the Prime Minister, his ambitious electoral promises seem increasingly elusive.

Union budget 'outrageously scraps' scheme meant for rehabilitating manual scavengers

By Bezwada Wilson* The Union Budget for the year 2024-2025, placed by the Finance Minister in Parliament has completely deceived the Safai Karmachari community. There is no mention of persons engaged in manual scavenging in the entire Budget. Even the scheme meant for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS) has been outrageously scrapped.

Search This Blog