Click to play videoAhmedabad: Former Gujarat Additional DGP R B Sreekumar continues his fight for human rights. After his retirement, he has now joined the NGO - Citizens for Peace and Justice.
Sreekumar had faced discrimination for criticising the Narendra Modi government's handling of the Gujarat riots.
Sreekumar, a top cop in the Gujarat police when the 2002 riots broke out rubbed the state government the wrong way and paid a price for it.
He was denied his due promotion and finally hauled up for the affidavits he filed with the Nanvati-Shah Commission. But he still stood his ground.
Sreekumar says he has no regrets for the stand he had taken.
Sreekumar joined the police force in July 1971 and retired from service on February 28, 2001. He filed first affidavit in commission in July 2002. Thereafter filed three more affidavits.
In April 2005, he moved CAT for being denied promotion. In August 1990 he got President's Medal for meritorious service.
In January 1999 he got President's Medal for distinguished service.
"My victimization is nothing compared to the riot victims. I was pulled more by empathy to them than career interests. Any additional promotion or decision like the CAT decision is only the sweet dish. My main dinner is over. That's what I feel," says Sreekumar.
Those who have supported him through his fight against the state government, say that he is a man who stands by his conviction.
Ironically, only a few hours before his retirement, the CAT ruled that Sreekumar was wrongfully denied promotions.
Prashant director Cedric Prakash says, “Here is a man who stood up for what is right an just. I and others who work for human rights, sincerely feel that there should be more police officers like him."
His detractors say that Sreekumar has cases pending against him while he was police officer and even his depositions in the Commission smacked of a bias against the state government.
State government Special Prosecutor Arvind Pandya says, “From the beginning itself, Sreekumar had a doubtful attitude. He even filed affidavits on the line of the organization which Mukul Sinha represents."
Within five days of his retirement, Sreekumar has joined the NGO as an active member and has even been inducted as a member of its board of directors.
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