People's Democracy

Ishrat Jahan Case: Bring All the Guilty to Book

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on November 22, 2011.

THE report of the High Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) --- that the so-called encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others by the Gujarat police in June 2004 was nothing but a cold blooded murder --- constitutes a severe indictment of the Narendra Modi government which has done everything in its power to shield the criminals in uniform and to assassinate the character of the young 19 year old student.

The order of the High Court to file a fresh FIR and charges of murder against the police officers must be immediately complied with. The accused must be arrested without any delay.

There is another crucial question which needs to be investigated. Could such a cover-up take place without the acquiescence of the chief minister and top officials in the government? It is on record that at every stage of the case the government tried to subvert the processes of justice, just as it had done in the nine cases pending before the courts on the genocide of 2002. The investigation must cover the role of the chief minister in the cover-up and this will not be possible as long as Modi remains in power. Justice for the victims demands that Modi quit office.

The SIT report also brings into question the role of certain senior officers of central agencies who were complicit in the faking of evidence. Their role must also be investigated. The central government must immediately take appropriate action on this count.