September 19 brought back gloom in the minds of residents of the Batla House locality in Delhi. One year has passed since the infamous Delhi encounter that was conducted days after serial blasts in the capital.
Jamia Teachers Solidarity Group, a lose association of teachers of the University formed in the backdrop of the last year encounter, brought a mashal march (torchlight rally) on the eve of the encounter anniversary along with other students organizations. Academicians, students and several civil right activists participated in the march. Newly elected MLA of the Okhla Assembly Aisf Mohammad Khan, who was also present, said that he has been raising the issue of independent enquiry and will continue to do so on all platforms.
The demand for independent judicial enquiry again reverberated and many compared it to the Ishrat Jahan case of Gujarat, where judicial probe has now questioned the role of the police involved in the 2004 encounter.
Other than the march organized by Jamia teachers, the locality at large seemed to have put the issue aside and move ahead though suspicion against police still looms high The market in the Batla House is gushing with crowd and locals are busy shopping for Eid. In the last Assembly elections the issue of encounter was high on the agenda. But in the last week concluded by election, it was not as prominent.
Meanwhile, several other groups, including main Opposition BJP, has put up posters of “Martyr” Mohan Chand Sharma, the Police officer who lost his life in the operation, at several places in the city glorifying the ‘fight against terrorism’ and his ‘sacrifice’.
There is no real progress in the case yet. Those who have been arrested in connection are still languishing in several jails. A report by National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has already given a clean chit to the operation and remarked that ‘there is no need of further enquiry’. The Delhi High Court has accordingly denied any further enquiry in the matter. Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD), a NGO led Shabnam Hashmi, has filed a petition in the Apex Court against HC order requesting for judicial enquiry.
“People raise questions because they have doubts. If the government and the police has nothing to hide, why are they shying away from enquiry”, asks Afroz Alam Sahil who sought information’s under Right to Information (RTI) Act from several bodies including Delhi Police, NHRC and the hospital where postmortem of the deceased were conducted. He has been “denied” information in a “clear mockery of the RTI”, he adds.
Protest march was also organized in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, the alleged ‘hub’ of terrorism. Atif and Sajid, killed in the conspirators killed in the operation, were also from the same place. Magsay award winner Sandeep Pandey, who too reiterated the demand for an enquiry, led the protest.
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