Wrongly Jailed Persons

Author(s): Bharat Dogra

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 51, No. 15 (APRIL 9, 2016), p. 5
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44002671
Accessed: 12-07-2022 07:45 UTC

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Asia (2005), Meghnad Desai incorporated has raised a very important question - He begins by saying that the event
an essay written in the early 1990s, in Why does the government not have a was in "blatant violation of the law
which he predicted what is happening rehabilitation policy in place for the and defiance of ngt [National Green Tri-
today. To put it in his own words: "What- rehabilitation of those who are wrongly bunal]" and then contradicts himself
ever its virtues, territoriality has limited sent to jail? saying "authorities erred in acceding to
emotional hold except in times of inva- The epw too carried an article on this the organiser's demand." The organisation
sion. There remains a strong current issue ("Condition of Undertrials in India" was given full permission by the Delhi
which would like to construct nationality by Murli Karnam and Trijeeb Nanda, Development Authority to host the event
on the lines of Hindu religion." 26 March 2016) which gives a good and there was no "demand;" permission
In fact, there is no conflict between the account of the countrywide problem. was sought routinely.
neo-liberal paradigm of development and This is a question which is very rele- His claim that aol ignored the demand
the agenda of Hindu nationalism. In his vant for the central government, the by ngt to pay ^120 crore as reparation
tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, state governments as well as for the judi- is incorrect, ngt did not "step back"
Narendra Modi ensured strong support ciary, particularly the Supreme Court. lowering reparations to ^5 crore. Sri Sri
from the big business houses and marketed Enormous distress is being caused to did not "threaten" to go to jail; he simply
the idea of "Vibrant Gujarat." The Modi- thousands of innocent persons and no said that he would rather go to jail than
style of politics "depoliticized local-level less to their family members due to their pay a fine for having done nothing
issues, problems and protests." In the unjustified imprisonment. Another recent wrong. It was then clarified that the ^5
wake of the 2002 carnage, segregation of example is the imprisonment of a very crore was an "environmental compen-
living spaces between the religious com- large number of Maruti Suzuki workers sation" and not a fine.
munities became sharper in Gujarat. of Haryana. In most such cases, the He refers to the army building two
The all-Muslim ghetto of Juhapura imprisoned workers are from relatively pontoon bridges for "essentially a private
in Ahmedabad tells that story. It was weaker sections and their families be-
gathering" as "ominous." Yet wcf was a
reported in the media that the Hindus come heavily indebted and may even public event. Secondly, as he himself
moved out of Juhapura in 2002 and the face financial ruin in the course of their quotes, the Regulation for Army Para
ruling party/state abandoned the area. efforts to obtain justice. 301, Page 100 permits civil authorities
The outcome was as follows: "There is Several well coordinated steps shouldto call on the armed forces for assis-
no proper drainage or street lighting inbe taken with a sense of urgency to tance not just in exigencies but "in any
ensure that as soon as evidence becomes
Juhapura. Across the 'border,' from where other situation."

the Hindu locality of Vejalpur begins, available about the innocence of a jailed His next contention is about aol being
person immediate steps are taken not a commercial organisation marketing
are the sodium lights, the wide road, the
overbridge and water supply." only for the release of the prisoner but spiritual products made out of the raw
Now, after the passing of the Aadhaar also for providing suitable compensa- material of Hinduism and the "mela," an
Bill, other than the possibility of masstion, help and rehabilitation package event to showcase Hinduism, aol is a
surveillance, the chances of more nuanced
keeping in view the sufferings and injus- global humanitarian, educational organi-
discrimination between the majority and
tice inflicted on the person. sation with a presence in 155 countries. It
minority communities in delivering wel-
Bharat Dogra spends approximately 90% of its inflows
fare benefits become more pronounced. NEW DELHI
on service projects.
Arup Kumar Sen As for wcf being used to showcase
KOLKATA
Response from AoL Hinduism, Teltumbde does not take into
account that it was the largest public
Wrongly Jailed Persons multicultural gathering the world has
In published
published his
on 2article
April on2016,
"Dance 2 April of 2016, the Devils" Anand
Anand witnessed. If anything the event showed
Teltumbde has gone to extraordinary that unity is possible in diversity, a
Due number to several
number of innocent
of innocent or almost complex
inno- or almost factors, inno- the lengths to hit out at Sri Sri Ravi Shankar step in bringing us closer to the ancient
cent persons who are sent to jail and even and the Art of Living (aol) in the context of ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or one
spend quite a long time there is known the recently held World Culture Festival world one family.
to be very high in India. Mohammad (wcf) in Delhi to which we would like Karthik Krishna

Aamir Khan is one such person. At the to respond. Art of Living

age of 18 he was arrested by Delhi Police

on charges of terrorism. In 2012, the court Web Exclusives
acquitted him in 17 out of 19 charges but
The following article has been published in the past week in the Web Exclusives section of the EPW website.
before this he had already spent 14 years It has not been published in the print edition.
of his youth in jail.
What Murdered the "Mixed-Race" Jarawa Baby? - Ajay Saini
In a recent interview published in the Articles posted before 2 April 2016 remain available in the Web Exclusives section.
Times of India (30 March 2016), Khan
Economic & Political weekly K3SES3 april 9, 2016 vol li no 15 5

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