The recent verdict by the Tis Hazaari sessions Court, Delhi on the Hashimpura massacre brings out a sad truth in the present structure of the Indian democracy. It has again brought forward the incontinent role of the rightist forces in the country, who have only one single intention in their mind, and that is pushing forward the ideology of Hinduism. The Hashimpura incident, the biggest case of custodial killing in the country after independence, has experienced everything that the progressive masses of a country like ours does not expect, from botched up investigation to serious debate over the security of the minorities.
Hashimpura, a tiny locality in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh was drenched in hellish waters on 21st of March, 1987 when an intoxicated police officer was hit by a firecracker, and in return he opened fire on two Muslim youngsters. In addition to this, a Muslim ceremony was disturbed by the incessant sound of Hindi film songs played at a “mundan”. These were the chain of events which resulted in an incarnadined quarrel between the two communities, finally concluding with prolonged firing in the open, killing twelve.
The court let all the 16 members of the Provincial Armed Costabulatory, who were accused of killing and abducting 42 Muslims during the massacre, go free. This verdict in itself puts up a glaring question in front of the masses of the country, “Is our country still run on the basis of secularism?”
The wave of immolating Muslims by the saffron forces has grasped the nation by its collarbone. Even during the investigation by the CBI on the massacre, there are instances when serious evidences like photographs and witnesses have been neglected and unheeded. The photographs by Praveen Jain, which could have provided an indispensable insight into the case was put beneath the shoes. Even murder charges were not taken up against the PAC officials while many of them remained on active duty during the proceedings of the case over the years that followed. The officials refused to take any action as they were in a constant fear of rebellion.
The inadequacy of the government on the issue had escalated to such a level that even though Hashimpura is adjoining Delhi, the news of the massacre was telecasted almost after a week had passed. The shoddiness of the investigation can be easily brought out.
Out of the 19 accused in the case, the highest ranked was a sub-inspector. But it is out of the capacity of a sub inspector to land out such orders, which provides a surety to the fact that there were in fact other high ranking officials too, who were never booked for the same. Several were even called by the CBI, but their cooperation was unheard of.
Even the army’s role in the whole massacre was dubious and deceptive. According to the Indian laws, whenever the army is called in any law and order situation its job is to assist the civil administration. But in the Hashimpura incident, they were seen taking authority of the area, making searches and arrests at their own free will.
The court, though, took all this into its own view. It accepted the chain of events, only it did not find the officials guilty. The sessions court was unsure regarding two issues, whether the PAC truck, URU 1493 was used during the massacre to transport Muslims and whether 17 .303 rifles were issued to the PAC officials. It neglected the evidence provided by the investigation that a .303 rifle bullet was used for the crime.
The Indian masses would be wrong to think that the Hashimpura incident was a solitary one. According the PUCL report, there was another planned attack on the Muslims in a place called Maliana, where 24 Muslims were killed. The fact that all these were taking place just a few years before the Babri Masjid demolition by the saffron forces cannot be ignored as well.
The Gyan Prakash Commission, which was formed to investigate into the massacre, had submitted its report long back, in 1994 but the report has not been made public yet. None of the successive state governments have even taken steps to table the report in the parliament. All these irregularities and insufficiencies incite a terror in the Indian minorities regarding their security and the country’s diversity and secularity as a whole.
