Click to play videoNew Delhi: CNN-IBN reported on Friday how policemen turned rioters during the 1992-1993 Mumbai riots and how politicians provoked communal hatred.
A fact underlined by the Srikrishna Commission report that had probed the violence. The Left now says it will take it up in Parliament and demand punishment for the culprits.
CNN-IBN special investigation revealed how communalised and partisan the city's police force was when faced with the task of controlling the riots - a fact admitted to by a former Mumbai police commissioner.
Former Police Commissioner Mumbai M N Singh said, “There is no doubt that the police force in Mumbai was also communalised to an extend. It is truth that a certain segment of the police force in Mumbai had behaved in a very objectionable manner.”
Fourteen years later, all the policemen involved got away free and CNN-IBN's special investigation shows why - because no government in Maharashtra was willing to act against the policemen despite having documented evidence against them. Immediately after CNN-IBN aired the expose, the Left said it will take up the issue in Parliament.
CPI Leader D Raja said, “When we raise this issue in Parliament CNN-IBN tape will be one of the very strong evidence material in the Parliament."
But the larger issue of whether those guilty will ever be punished is still hanging fire with no political party willing to commit itself.
“This is just a report from one judge of the high court and one judge of the high court has also all respect in my mind. But there is a difference between the court decision and a commission report decision,” BJP leader Manohar Joshi said.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said, “We have been fighting this matter in court for so many years why hasn’t the court directed that a special court should be set up and this should be done quickly.”
Noted criminal lawyer Majid Memon, who had represented many of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, has said that all offenders should be punished - no matter how influential they were.
“We can’t ignore Muslims who were victims of crime. The offenders, even if they were Hindus, political leaders or police officers should be treated in the same manner as any other case,” he said.
He was candid about the fact that the Shiv Sena was not above the eyes of the law.
“Everyone should be punished whether it is Thackeray or anyone else. No one is above the law,” he added.
But with pressure now on the Maharashtra government from the Congress president and the Left taking up the fight, will the Srikrishna Commission report be dusted and justice be finally handed to the victims of the riots and families of the more than 900 people who died?
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