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Killing innocents for promotion and rewards
In the 17 year old insurgency in Kashmir, more than 60,000 people have
been killed. Recently a
new trend has been observed in these killings. Police
officers have been conducting "false encounters" and killing
innocent people to claim rewards and promotions.
The word "encounter" has until now been used principally to mean
skirmishes between militants and the police or the military. For each new
murder, the police invoke self-defence and insist that the miscreants opened
fire first. Not surprisingly, since the law allows the police to use arms
against anyone charged with an offence for which the punishment is death.
In their affidavits, the police always say that the criminals had sophisticated
weapons, imported or smuggled into the country.
It is said that the stand of human rights activists is demoralising for the police: The government says that it has neither ordered the encounters nor will it ask the police to stop the same. In fact, this isn’t an action taken against criminals, it’s a fight between two groups of criminals.
In the eyes of the public, law and order are breaking down. The prestige of the police is damaged and it needs to do something to limit the damage. "Encounters" are part of that damage control strategy. Police depend on informers to discover who pulled the trigger, not who instigated the murder. These known criminals are then tracked down and shot. The police version is that the criminals opened fire on them and they were killed in self-defence. There are no witnesses to corroborate the story. But public opinion is satisfied and police prestige is restored.
Police and politicians create an impermeable web of corruption and concealment..
In effect, there is a sustained effort by politicians and police to discredit the judiciary. Their story is that the judiciary is too liberal, too inefficient, cases take too long to come to court and too many criminals are released on bail on technicalities. The campaign to tarnish the judiciary is part of the apologia for the extra-judicial killings.
Rape and ye shall marry? In India, Yes.
Rapists in India has an option now - Marry and you may get
away scot free.
Last year, a Delhi court asked a rape victim to consider a marriage proposal
from her rapist in a bid to escape conviction. Women's groups, including
the National Commission for Women had criticised
the court for even entertaining such a proposal.
Indians offered cash prizes for marrying beneath their caste
The Indian Government is offering 50,000 rupees to higher-caste people who marry spouses from the lowest castes in its latest controversial effort to dismantle the ancient Hindu social hierarchy.
India's national carrier dishonours Indian Currency
Air India flights accepts only US Dollars or Dirhams on it's flights to UAE for in-flight purchases. If being in international territory is the reason for this, why would the tea vendor in the departure lounge (after emigration) accept Indian Rupees?
High priest sacked on allegations of sexual harassment
The preliminary police investigations showed that the priest
had visited a flat in Kochi and spent time with a woman. There is a
case of immoral trafficking pending against the woman in question whom the
priest had gone to meet.
This is believed to be part of the same master plan that propagated the
desecration story since the priest had opposed the move for corrective rituals
and had alleged that the story was fabricated.
Actress breached security and touched idol at Sabarimala Temple
Controversy erupted at Sabarimala when a film actress admitted to have entered the sanctum sanctorum and touched the celibate idol. Earlier an astrologer had discovered that a woman had entered the temple which was out of bounds for females between the ages of ten to fifty and hence desecrated it.
The chief priest at the temple denied the allegations and maintained that it is part of a master plan to derogate the sanctity and popularity of the temple. It is also alleged that the astrologer is involved in this master plan and the whole set of discoveries by the astrologer and the ensuing revelation by the actress was fabricated.
It is believed that as part of the master plan, the presence of "Lord Ram" was discovered in the devaprasnam. The corrective action proposed was to instate Lord Ram also in Sabarimala to eventually make the believers chant "Jai Ram", the infamous slogan that preceded the destruction of Babri Masjid. The relevance of Sabarimala in the context of multi-religious fabric of Kerala is the glorious camaraderie of Lord Ayyappa and Vavaru Swami. A muslim shine that co-exists in Sabarimala for centuries and where the hindu pilgrims paid a customary visit was also targeted in the master plan, threatening the centuries old secular tradition of the temple.
No skirts for girls in the campus
The women's commission of a state in India is considering a ban on skirts for girls and to enforce strict dress codes for women to prevent crimes against them.
The mindset prevails in these societies that it is the fundamental right of a man to misbehave with a woman and it is a woman's responsibility to protect herself.
Girl child labourer tortured and murdered
The 10 year old girl who was caught trying on her mistress's lipstick was tortured and killed by an educated urban mother of three.
Rapist escapes jail by marrying victim
A 25-year old man charged with raping a young hearing and speech impaired woman in Chennai has escaped conviction by marrying the victim after striking a compromise with her family.
This shocked women rights activists who feel this could be a precedent-setting verdict.
Spammers win the battle once again
In a disheartening development in the ongoing battle against spam by computers users, a computer security company waved a virtual white flag of surrender and closed down its operations.
Idealist politics humbles mafia rule
Former minister and prime accused in the infamous ice-cream parlour sex scandal, IUML leader Mr. P.K Kunhalikutty was defeated in a historic electoral reverse by his former aide Mr. K.T.Jaleel who was earlier expelled from the party since he began questioning the style of functioning of the party.
Police torture boy in custody
A 13-year-old boy taken into custody by police for alleged theft was tortured in a police station in Kerala.
Show cause notices issued to hostile witnesses
In a landmark judgment an Indian judge awarded life imprisonment to the Best Bakery case accused but also accused perjury on the witnesses giving a clear warning message to several other similar cases around the country where witnesses have been forced to change their statements owing to life threats.
Parents of peace activits killed by Israeli bulldozers sue Caterpillar
Parents of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist who was crushed and killed by an army-driven Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza are suing Caterpillar for violating the Geneva Convention and American torture laws in allowing its equipment to be used against the Palestinian people and their homes.
There is a boycott of Caterpillar, the company that makes the bulldozers Israel uses to knock down Palestinian homes.
Rigorous imprisonment for sexual harassment
A court in Kerala has issued a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for sexually harassing a Calicut University employee in a bus.
P.E. Usha, the mother of a 12 year old girl, received little help from the state. For pursuing the case, even her daughter was not left out. She was threatened over the phone that her daughter would be kidnapped, raped and killed. The State Women's Commission had refused to intervene since it is a police case. Though the entire state had been talking about Usha's case, there were few organisations willing to support Usha.