Hudud: What about the people, the followers of Islam MCA to quit BN if Umno implements hudud law
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The vindictive agenda being pursued by the Gujarat government is once again reflected in the arrest of whistleblower police officer Sanjiv Bhatt. The 1988 batch IPS officer has accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 communal riots.
Bhatt was arrested following a complaint filed by KD Pant, who worked as a subordinate with Bhatt in the state Intelligence Bureau. According to Pant’s complaint, Bhatt had forced him to file an affidavit in which Modi had been named as accused.
The specific reasons cited against Bhatt were unauthorized absence of duty, non-appearance before a departmental panel and alleged misuse of official vehicle.
The Narendra Modi government had ordered the suspension of Bhatt on August 8, 2011 on the grounds that his conduct was unbecoming of an IPS officer.
This was because Bhatt had handed over, about 600 pages of documents to the Central Bureau of Investigation which could incriminate several politicians, police officers and bureaucrats for their active connivance in engineering the riots of 2002, whose countless victims are still struggling for justice.
On September 27, 2011, Bhatt filed an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court, alleging that Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the former Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah had repeatedly sought to pressurize him to withdraw his report and destroy the evidence he had placed on record regarding the murder of former minister Haren Pandya.
Mr. Bhatt in the affidavit said; I was removed from the post of Superintendent of Police in-charge of the Sabarmati central jail and was kept without a posting for over two-and-a-half months for not withdrawing my report the very important documentary evidences regarding the role of certain highly placed State functionaries/politicians and senior police officers in the killing of Haren Pandya.
Earlier, a youth from Hyderabad was arrested on murder charges with allegations that some riot victims had hired him to murder Pandya, who is believed to have played an active role in the communal program against the Muslims. The trial court had acquitted the youth for lack of evidences.
As the Haren Pandya murder case remains unsolved, Mr. Bhatt’s claim of possessing documentary evidence that would point to his killers is crucial piece of evidence to solve this murder mystery.
Bhatt had earlier courted the Modi administration’s disapproval by disclosing his presence at the meeting where Chief Minister Narendra Modi directed law enforcement officers to “allow the Hindus to vent their ire on the Muslims.”
Although Modi’s complicity in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom has been documented by several independent human rights groups, this was the first time a state functionary had come forward with direct evidence of Modi’s involvement in the pogroms of 2002 that resulted in the massacre of 3000 Muslims.
Bhatt’s affidavit in the Supreme Court has alleged that the 2002 riots took place with Modi’s tacit approval. He had also accused Modi of asking cops to ignore calls for help from Muslims during the riots. He alleged that SIT probe details on riots cases were leaked to a top law officer of the state government.
Against this backdrop, Sanjiv Bhatt’s arrest by the Gujarat government and the harassment of his family by repeated raids on his home, amounts to a witch-hunt that raises dubious questions about the government’s motives.
Even social crusader Anna Hazare has come out in support of Sanjiv Bhatt. Hazare castigating the move to arrest Bhatt has said; ‘What was the need for the state government to interfere and arrest Bhatt when the Supreme Court was fully aware of the matter. What Narendra Modi has done is wrong; It is not good for democracy in the country.’
The Gujarat government’s alacrity in arresting Bhatt stands in stark contrast to its criminal inaction against police officers who have been charged with complicity in the riots. It is equally remarkable that barely any arrests or convictions have happened in over 2000 cases filed by the victims of the 2002 massacres.
The irony that some like Babu Bajrangi, Haresh Bhatt and Ramesh Dave who have confessed killing hundreds of people in sting operations, that was telecast to the entire nation, are still at large. Whereas, whistleblower officers like Sanjiv Bhatt, Rahul Sharma and R. B. Sreekumar and human rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Shakeel Tirmizi have been subject to arrests and intimidation on dubious charges.
This is not all, former Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, who was arrested on charges of running extortion and a fake encounter killing racket is currently out on bail. The fact that Amit Shah was the Minister of State for a portfolio held by Modi himself, and the Gujarat government’s repeated but failed attempts to protect him are clear evidences of the government’s dubious role towards law and order.
Added to it is the case of the former head of Gujarat ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) D G Vanzara who is serving his time in jail on charges of fake encounters. Vanzara’s closeness to Modi once made him the most powerful police official in the state.
Still more, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in the Modi government was forced to resign after her arrest on charges of inciting and arming a communal mob that slaughtered and burnt alive 98 Muslims during the 2002 riots.
The fact is that Maya’s mentor was Narendra Modi who kept her in his cabinet until the findings of the Special Investigation Team appointed by the Supreme Court made her a political liability.
It may be prudent that the CBI should conduct a full-scale investigation into the allegations made by Mr. Sanjiv Bhatt against Narendra Modi and other state functionaries. The probe should be without any regard to the status and position of the people he has implicated.
One hopes that despite the active subversion of justice and intimidation of activists and whistleblowers by the state government, the long arm of the law will catch up with the perpetrators of the pogroms of 2002.
It is the Gujarat government’s dismal record in upholding the rule of law that should serve as a context in which Bhatt’s arrest.
It is clearly part of a pattern of vendetta against whistleblowers and human rights activists. The Gujarat government’s sinister pattern of complicity and deceit are apparent in the arrest of Sanjiv Bhatt.
It’s high time that the Gujarat government should eschew the sectarian agenda that have marked Mr. Modi’s 10 years as Chief Minister. The Prime Minister-in-making has lots of wounds to heal.
Nobody should be mistaken about the cultural importance of the topic. The link between the mind and the brain is not merely a medical story. Its implications reach into almost all aspects of religion and spirituality including the belief in God, ghosts, angels, devils, and life after death.
To understand the issue of hudud we first need to examine what Islam teaches us about the value of human life.
Islam views human life as a sacred gift from God. The Qur’an over and over again stresses the sanctity of life. The life of every single individual regardless of gender, age, nationality or religion is worthy of respect. In verses referring to the sanctity of life, the term used in Arabic is nafs(soul, life); and there is no distinction made in that soul being young or old, male or female, Muslim or non-Muslim.
“Do not take any human being’s life, (the life) which God has declared to be sacred – otherwise than in (the pursuit of) justice: this has He enjoined upon you so that you might use your reason.” Qur’an Sûrah al An’am 6.151
The poetic phrase Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate) offers both profound insight and radiant inspiration. It constitutes the true spirit of the entire Qur’an, Islam itself as well as the true themes of all religions. When God can be compassionate and merciful, human beings have a duty to emulate these attributes in their everyday life. Unfortunately there are some who profess the religion of Islam but do not adhere to the message of this basic phrase – a major pillar of Islam – that appears at the beginning of all but one Chapter of the Qur’an.
The Pakatan opposition will not implement hudud laws as called for by PAS because it is not in line with the common policies of the coalition, the Federal Consitution and their Orang Book agenda, said Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the Pakatan leadership respected PAS stand on the issue but at the same time accepted the views of the DAP, which opposed hudud laws.
“We cannot deny the right of any party to voice out what it wants, but we are bound by a common framework and the Federal consititution,” he told a press conference after chairing a meeting of Pakatan’s leadership council at PAS’ headquarters here Wednesday night.
Also present were DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, DAP chairman Karpal Singh, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The meeting was called following PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s controversial remarks that the party would implement hudud laws if it came into power.
Toying around with hudud
Islam in the contemporary world is exploited by so many aspiring politicians just to grab or stay in power. The poor and ignorant people are being subjugated and their minds closed to queries and reasons. Because of politics and self-centred reasons, it is now quite hard to find the line of distinction among the various interpretations of hudud that exist, and the difference between what happened during the Prophet’s time, Islam 200 years after that and Islam in the contemporary world. But one thing for certain is that those who administer hudud laws without compassion and legitimate reasons in some Islamic countries are actually less informed about the considerate and thoughtful elements promulgated by Islam.
In our set-up, it appears like the Islamic credentials of any party – PAS or UMNO – somehow hinges on their willingness to apply or to toy around with hudud laws. Evoking the hudud by some UMNO leaders is a convenient way to scare off the non-Muslims from PAS. It appears that UMNO is fixed in the scaffoldings of antiquated politics.
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