Jyoti Punwani writes on human rights issues. You can e-mail the author at jyoti.punwani@gmail.com
'We want the Commission to finish its work; the issue it is investigating is too crucial for its work to be left incomplete.'
The callousness with which these political dissidents are being treated goes against the Supreme Court's directive, given right at the beginning of the lockdown. The apex court had directed states to release prisoners to decongest jails, which had become hotspots of the coronavirus.
On August 31, a fresh report was supposed to be submitted, and his plea for bail on health grounds was to be decided. Before that could happen, the 81-year-old poet was stealthily discharged and taken back to the Taloja jail hospital on August 25. Not even his lawyer on record, Advocate Satyanarayanan, was informed.
Anyone with such experiences could have been expected to turn fundamentalist. But Shaheen Kadri is anything but that.
'Why the restrictions for Bakri Eid?'
'In what must go down as one of the most nonchalant remarks by the head of any hospital, J J Hospital Dean Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar said: 'We do not know where the staff was, but he did not suffer serious wounds'.'
His family found an old man on a bed soaked through with urine at the J J Hospital. The man whose name drew thousands to public meetings was requesting anyone who cared to listen to change his bedsheets. But there was no one to do so.
'People accused of mass murder and worse are let out on medical grounds.' 'Saibaba is now 100% handicapped, and has committed no murder, yet he is not allowed to come out.'
The poet and professor's 'life breath is now in the hands of those sworn to uphold his Constitutional right to life.' 'Will they be true to their oath?', asks Jyoti Punwani.
The most experienced administrator in the country seems to have sat back and allowed bureaucrats and policemen to manage the lockdown, observes Jyoti Punwani.
'Reports of hitherto 'atmanirbhar' breadwinners having to stand in line for a plastic bag of khichdi or, travelling thousands of kms with nothing but packets of biscuits, have not moved the prime minister,' observes Jyoti Punwani.
'Wasn't it the PM's duty to reach out to the daily wagers of whom he claims to have been a part?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
Today, hour-long, high-pitched 'debates' at prime time, replete with inflammatory visuals and captions, using half-truths, insinuations and lies, pour venom against Muslims and seek to divide Hindus and Muslims, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Sharad Pawar claims he is not in a position to name the organisations behind the violence at Bhima Koregaon, 'though active role of right-wing forces behind the violence cannot be ruled out.'
'The humanity displayed by ordinary, lower middle class residents of north east Delhi -- Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs -- will be remembered perhaps even more than the evil wrought in the riots,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
'It wasn't as if the senior police inspectors in charge of the police stations were not aware of the communal tension that was being created in their areas before and during the riots.' 'Yet they chose not to act,' recalls Jyoti Punwani.
If the Bhima Koregaon commission is terminated before completing its work, the people affected by the violence 'would feel cheated'.
'Look at Kejriwal. With his work, he's made a place in our hearts. But the BJP leaders have only abuses for us," protesters at Shaheen Bagh tell Jyoti Punwani.
'The circumstances indicate that the government is not serious about the commission...' '...We are not at the mercy of the government.'
'There is a contradiction between what the then CM said in the assembly and the legislative council, and the direction taken by the police investigation.'
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