'Brutal' custodial torture of youth in West Bengal border district: inquiry sought

By Our Representative
In a gruesome incident, a youth from 108 Chhoto Kuchlibari village of Mekhliganj block and Kuchlibari police station area of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal, Mohammad Bachha is alleged to have been "brutally tortured." Worse, he was later implicated along with his family members on "false charges."
In a complaint, Kirity Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has told the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, has insisted that the perpetrators were the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel attached with the BRK Bari BSF Border Outpost, ‘B’ Company, Battalion No 40.
The incident, said Roy, took place on July 20, 2022 at around 10:30 pm, when Bachha was returning from the Telir Dola pond after fishing. "He was carrying a light and fishing net with him for fishing. As he was about to reach his house at around midnight, six BSF personnel stopped him and started beating him up without even questioning", the complaint said.
It added, Bachha "was severely injured from series of tortures he suffered at the hands of the perpetrators and fractured his hand and waist. He was denied medical attention for the whole night and on the next morning was taken to the Mekhliganj Sub-Divisional Hospital for treatment."
The complaint said, "The Kuchlibari police didn’t receive the victim in custody from BSF as he was severely injured. Hence, the perpetrator BSF officials took the victim to the Jalpaiguri district hospital for allegedly acquiring a fitness certificate from the hospital and then handed over to the police during late night."

Stating that "the Kuchlibari police in connivance with the perpetrator BSF lodged an FIR against the victim and arrested him", Roy said, "The victim’s wife lodged a complaint to the Kuchlibari police station and informed about the incident of torture on July 21, 2022. An FIR was lodged against the complaint (Kuchlibari PS case No 91/22) but no proper action was taken by the police."
Claimed Roy, "The incident violates the rights guaranteed in Articles 19 and 21 of Indian Constitution, and also the premise of Articles 7 and 12 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the Goal Nos 8 and 16 of the Sustainable Development Goal earmarked by the United Nations."
Roy demanded, "The whole incident must be investigated by a neutral agency appointed by NHRC. The CCTV footage from Kuchlibari police station and Jalpaiguri hospital on July 21, 2022 and July 26, 2022 should be examined during the investigation to find out the irregularities by the erring officials."
He added, "The guilty BSF personnel and on-duty police personnel involved in the nexus should be booked and prosecuted", the victim must be "duly compensated and provided all expense of his treatment", and "security and safety of the victim and his family members must be protected."

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

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.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

'A disaster in the making': Expansion of oil palm plantations in Northeast India

By Rupa Chinai, Ravi Chellam* Until a few decades ago, India was nearly 100% self-sufficient in edible oils, with a diverse variety of oilseeds that were grown and consumed sustainably in keeping with the ecological and climatic conditions of different regions in the country. Today, India is highly reliant on palm oil imports to meet its vegetable oil demands.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Counterview

Search This Blog