Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

Mr. Sesha, a social worker of Bangalore was rubbed all over his body with poisonous caterpillars. Narasinha Rao a M.A. student of Bangalore was beaten and put on the "aeroplane" for 20 minutes. Other reports include Nagendra and 5 other students of Mysore (Dec. 8) Govind Bhatta and 4 others of Harihar (November 25), Puleshki of Bangalore on Nov. 14, N. H. Suresh, Suresh Naik, Govindhan, D. T. Srivaram and Someshwar students of Bangalore and the satyagrahis Kananur and Saketeshpura on November 28.

KERALA

Generally all prisoners are stripped to their underwear and beaten by groups of 10 to 12 constables. No food is provided while in custody. If physical signs of beatings are too obvious they are not produced before a magistrate but moved from station to station.

CANNANORE

On Nov. 14 Insp. Nanda Menon and S. I. Pulikod Narayana ordered the satyagrahis lathi-charged. 12 satyagrahis were mercilessly beaten until finally the lathis broke. The inspector then personally dragged the leader to a nearby maidan and beat him into unconsciousness. They were then left bleeding and broken by the roadside.

IDUKKI

On Nov. 16, Prabhakaran, Thangappan, and Vasu all farmers at Udunbanchola taluka were taken to the police station at Mundiyeruma for questioning. At 8:30 p.m. the S.I. and 6 constables all appearing drunk came in and beat and kicked them, raining blows with rifle butts. They asked details about the bulletin "Kurukshetra”. Prabhakaran was rendered unconscious. No water was provided and Thangappan was forced to drink his urine.

CALICUT

Only three out of 11 satyagrahis arrested on Nov. 14, produced before magistrate. Frequent intensive beatings. S. I. Farook, Gopalkrishnan, Suresh Peter Manu. Similar treatment at Quilandy the same day, S. I.'s Joy and Raju.

KUNNAMANGALAM

Two satyagrahis beaten on Nov. 14, by D. 1075 and Const. John. MavoorS. I. Thomas, Const. Vallabhadas, D1962 D2831 lock-up beatings and 'Z' position, on 19 and 21 Nov. On Nov. 19 at Thoppumpady Junc. of Cochin and again on Dec. 2, at Ravipuram June, of Ernakulum K. Purshottam Pai and 10 others offered satyagraha. They were beaten with canes as they were forced to walk between two rows of policemen, later their heads were held between policemen's knees and blows with elbows rained on to the spine with occasional removal of knees causing the victim to fall flat on his face. On falling they were roughly hauled up by their ears and kicked with the knee in the spine. Later Pai and another leader Hari of Moovathupusha were sat with their legs extended out and caned on the soles of their feet until the cane broke. Pai was punched in the eye till it swelled up, and Hari was beaten on the ears with cupped hands, witnessed by S. I. Sukumara. At Alleppy on Nov. 20, C. Sivadas, Mathu, Chandaran, Appu all of Pandalam, Mohandas Preman, Raman Namboodiri of Ambalapush, Radhakrishnan Sarasan of Thekkekara, Sahadevan and Mani of Alleppy were similarly treated, by Principal S. I. Sreenivasan South Circle, Insp. Baly Syrac, Head Const. Achari, Crime Branch S. I. Jayaprakash.

MADHYA PRADESH

The maximum number of prisoners are in this State. In Bhopal a 7 year old girl, a polio victim, was taken into custody as hostage to force her mother, Mrs. Rukamani who had gone underground. She surrendered but her daughter was not released. In Gwalior District jail political prisoners are kept alongside notorious dacoits and allowed to be abused by them, an opposition M. P. Hukumchand Kachwai has gone on an indefinite fast to force the jail authorities to stop ill-treatment.

On Dec. 5, 8 satyagrahis were taken to the police station at Dewas and their clothes torn off. Wooden rulers were inserted into their body orifices. They were

forced to perform sodomy and Fellatio on each other while the police looked on. Later were forced to raise slogans against the "Jana Sangh" and its leader and forced to sign resignations from the party under threat of forcible incest with their daughters. At 11 P.M. bails were furnished but they were not released. They were suddenly aroused at 4 A.M. and taken to and dumped at Kannaud forest to ensure that they would be unable to present themselves in Court the next morning and forfeit their bail. All this done in the presence and at the direction of the Superintendent of police. The M.P. Lok Sangharsh Samiti has written protests to the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the State Chief Minister asking for a judicial enquiry.

ASSAM

On Nov. 14, at Gauhati, Madan Singal 55, Jagdish Sharma 25, Sharad Kalita 25, beaten for 3 days and kept without food for offering satyagraha. On Nov. 27, similar treatment to Rajnarayan Panday of Bilasipada, Gwalpada Dist. Anil Kumar Vaidya's sister from Ghupdu was beaten for 4 days to find out her brothers whereabouts.

On Nov. 21 at Dibrugarh Manuu Dey, Yogeshwar Sharma, Subhash Kar, Laxmanprasad, Jyoti Gogai and Vimal Khemka all severely beaten by police.

BENGAL

Satyagrahis treated as criminals and kept with them at Siliguri, Alipur Madinipur, and Bankura. Those from Chunchuda, Higli Dist. and Tufanganj Cooch Bihar Dist. mercilessly beaten including Prof. Nirmal Goswami and Ajit Samari.

RAJASTHAN

Mulchand Solanki and Tolaram were taken into custody and beaten by Dy. G.S.P. Kalyanmal and Station-in-charge Jagdishcon Nov. 17. At Bikaner, Om Prakash Rai 16, Vijayakumar Bhat 17, Data Dave 18, Ashutosh Rawal 16 and Brahmanwade Gahlot 18 were severely beaten. Jugal Bihari Sharma M.A. B.Ed. and Motilal Jat and satyagrahis of Sawai Mdhpur were given electric shocks on Nov. 14. On Nov. 21 Phulchad, Ramesh Chandra and Ramesh Sharma of Gangapur were administered electric shocks. Also reported are severe beatings of Dhannalal, Mahua Chandrasen Gupta of Bhagwagad (Nov. 15) Vishnudayal, Ramkrishore, Banwarilal and Mohan Ial of Hindoun (No. 18) Vishnukumar and Uttamchand of Bharatpore (Nov. 14) Satyanarayan and Rajsinha of Alwar (Dec. 16). Ghanshyam Tiwari, Advocate of Sikar went to Jhunjhun to file petitions in the District and Sessions Court. The Sessions Judge took him to the D.S.P.'s office where he was beaten into unconsciousness. A doctor had to be summoned. The Bar Association of Sikar has passed a resolution condemning this and demanded an inquiry from the Chief Minister.

At Jodhpur demonstrators were paraded with placards saying "We are Traitors" On Dec. 8, Hardeo Joshi and Suresh Chandra Tiwari were beaten in front of the Chief Minister then were taken to the police station and made to stand erect with their hands up for 24 hrs. denied food or water and constantly poked with rods.

DELHI

Hemant Kumar Vishnoi, secretary Delhi University students union was arrested with fellow students at Budha gardens. He was hanged upside down, beaten, burned with candle flame on the bare soles of his feet, chili powder was rubbed into his nose and rectum to obtain a confession about some non-existent plot. He was then transferred to Rajendra Nagar police station and a case registered. Mahavir Singh another Delhi U. student was hung upside down, stripped naked and beaten.

Shiv Kumar a B.S. student arrested on Dec. 11, was beaten with rods, shoes and gun butts and made to inhale chili dust. Harish Kumar of Tilak Nagar was beaten, so was Suresh Jain an M.N. student. Rajesh 15 and Anil 18 were arrested for distributing pamphlets were beaten and made to sweep the entire police station. Satyaprakash of Fatehpuri was taken to Hauz Qazi police station on Nov. 23 beaten with rods and shoes, then spread naked on a cot and his soles were punctured with rods. He was then tied with chains in a crouched position and hung from a ceiling fan whirled around and beaten until he revealed the names of his colleagues. Om Prakash 21 was kept without food water or sleep for two days,

beaten on the back hung upside down, chili solution was poured into his nose, his testicles poked in with a rod, later he was made to stand up for two days at a stretch, incident at Timarpur police station on Nov. 25, 26, 27. Mr. Rasik Agarwal 20, similarly tortured at the same place on Nov. 28, 29, 30.

Vasudeo 52 and Paras Ram 48, were made to stand out in the cold winter night with their hands tied to a rod placed on the shoulders behind the neck, and repeatedly hit on the legs. Ashwin Kumar was compelled to lie down while Const. Diwarkar danced on his chest with heeled boots, at Kotwasi police station. Krishnagopal arrested at midnight of Dec. 6, stripped and beaten about the chest.

Beatings of satyagrahis at Rajmandi and Lohamandi by Thandan Albelasingh Nov. 14, at Shanganj Nov. 16 at Sadar Thana Dec. 5, at Chhatta Thanana Dec. 13, and Sultanpur Dec. 14.

Kisan Lal Katpiecewale Ex-member DELHI Metropolitan Council Dr. Nulak Raj Jureja, Govind Cholini, Municipal Councillors and about 100 detenues of Tihar jail sustained injuries due to the brutal lathi-charge on Oct. 2, in the presence of Krishnan Sarup Executive Councillor Jails, Rajendra Tanwar Cong (R) member Metropolitan Council, Lala Hans Raj Gupta industrialist and former Mayor of Delhi. Protest made by Sangh Chalak on Oct. 3 to the Home Minister.

Sunil and Major two minor children picked up at 10 P.M. from Jogiwara by Hauz Kazi police and were beaten to obtain a false confession implicating others. On June 26 more than 200 teachers of Delhi U. were arrested in a pre-dawn swoop. Prof. Q.P. Kohli President of Delhi U. teachers Assn. a lame individual was made to stand up for over 24 hrs. while being abused more of the same. Many teachers when released by the courts were immediately re-arrested at the gates. Some including O.P. Dogra, Principal Rajdhani college are still held prisoner.

HARYANA

At Yamuna Nagar in Harayana, Mulikchand, Satyapal and Pawan Kumar were arrested on Nov. 23, kept in detention till 27. Then paraded in the streets with their shoes on their heads, beaten with rods, kicked and humiliated by urinating into their mouths. Jai Prakash a local school teacher was arrested at Ambala Cantt. ib Nov. 23. On Nov. 24, night was made to stand naked outside in the cold wintry night while buckets of water were poured over him. He was not allowed to sleep. On Nov. 28 he was tied with ropes and placed in a cycle rickshaw with his face painted black and paraded through town while being spit upon and beaten by policemen. Also arrested were Vijay Kumar, Sushil Kumar and Dinesh Kumar.

KARNAL

Sultan Singh, DhanPal, Ravi Dutt, and Bekh Raj arrested on Nov. 14 stripped naked, beaten and made to lie down while three policemen jumped all over their bodies. Satyagraha offered at Panipat. Also arrested were Faquirchand who sustained a fracture, Parmanand, Bhagwandas, Charandas and Ramaldas, and Darmpal on Nov. 13 and 14. At Rohtak, Amirchand Babar a renowned social worker, Bhagwandas Jagdamaprasad Madanlal, Radha Ram, S. S. Parsicha a college lecturer Attarchand and Deshbandhu, offered satyagraha on Nov. 14 and were severely beaten. Satyagrahis also beaten at Bahadurgarh Nov. 24 Bhiwani Nov. 14, Jind Nov. 21, Sonepat Nov. 22, Dulichand Gautam 70 was beaten.

UTTAR PRADESH

On Dec. 22, Sudhiram and others offered satyagraha before the Collectorate at Allahabad. They were arrested at 3:30 p.m. and taken to Colonelgunj police station. As he alighted from the police van insp. Shyamsingh Jadhav sent him flying into the station with a kick, later slapped him and beat him all over with his baton. Still later, he called in some bad characters under trial and asked them to thrash him further. His moustache was shaved off. No water was supplied.

On Dec. 23, at Allahabad Cantt. police station Sharada Prasad Tiwari and his group were severely beaten one Shukakaran was hospitalized and remained unconscious on oxygen for 6 days. He now suffers fainting spells.

On 4, Dec. the satyagrahi group was led by Principal Shri Rajapati Pandey of Vaghela Inter College of Allahabad. The demonstrators were first taken to Colonelgunj and later to Catt. police stations. Here under the Dy. S. P.'s direc

[blocks in formation]

tion they were made to kneel, their backs bared and beaten with canes. After that they were made to lie down and their soles were beaten. The other satyagrahis were Hinch Narayan Shukla, Suresh, Sahyam Narayan Misbra and Ram Suraj Pandey. All these persons had swollen soles and ankles for days together after this treatment.

At Phulpur in Allahabad district, Shrinath Dubey and three others, Raj Narayan Mishra, Seva Nath Mishra and Dhaniram Mishra, had offered satyagraha on 4, Dec. These men were subjected to brutal beatings every three hours at the local police station under the supervision of station officer Valadeen Yadav. The treatment went on throughout the night, no food was given and those who brought them food were driven out. At the end, these persons could not walk or stand.

On 29, Nov. in Allahabad Chowk Shri Surendra Kumar and others offered satyagraha. They were dragged to the police station and locked up. The city police chief manager Pandey appeared on the scene with several officers. He ordered the satyagrahis brought up and began to beat up the satyagrahis on their palms. Surendra Kumar became unconscious but the beating did not stop. His palms bled and his nails came out. Thereupon he was beaten on the ankles and even today he carries the marks of that treatment. Similar baton treatment was given to 16 year old Pradeep Kumar of Anglo Bangali College and 15 year old student Anil Kumar on 28, Nov. at police lines and at Allahabad city police station, respectively.

At Unnao, Triguni Narayan was paraded with his hands tied to his back being beaten all the way. Ratan Kumer and Keshav Kumar were taken to Hasangunj police station and hung upside down from a tree and beaten. Similar incidents took place at Hardoe, Sitapur, and other districts. At Rordabad Krishna Avatar Gupta, a trader, was beaten, made to drink urine, and policemen then urinated in his mouth and ear. Om Prakash Khemche of Chandausi had his fingers crushed under a plank and one finger nail was pulled out. Phagansingh of Kanpur sustained a fracture due to beatings with a lathi at Chamanganj Chowki on July 3, 5 P.M. Santoshkumar Shukla, a fractured leg. July 11, 11:30 P.M. at Vashiou police station in the presence of the S.P. Rajaram Sachan of Pukhraya, Kanpur was stripped and kicked with boots Nov. 23, 10 A.M. in the presence of the S.P. Chhedilal of Kanpur beaten at Cwalloli police station Nov. 2, 10 P.M.

Ramdev Shukla of Jagdishpur (Kanpur) was beaten with lathis by constables in the presence of Sarva Shri Surendra Sharma and V. F. Malik on Nov. 26, 1:00 P.M.

Omranain Tripathi a law student had his fingers crushed under a chair sat upon by Const. Vedsinah at Nawabganj police station. Fingers suffered crush fractures.

Arunkumar Gupta of Kanpur beaten severely at Kanalganj police station on his right shoulder and left palm, his money taken away by constables. Dec. 1, 8:00 A.M.

Jamanijay Chawan taken to Sadar police station on Dec. 9, hung upside down and beaten by S. C. Virendrakumar in the presence of the D.S.P. Other reports of similar torture include:

[blocks in formation]

Satyagraha

Satyagrahi
Lok Sangharsh

Samiti Dist.

Const.

D.S.P.

S.P., Dy.S.P..

Insp.

S.I.

GLOSSARY

Non-violent peaceful civil disobedience consisting of processions, leafleting, pamphleting, and peaceful assembly making speeches and raising slogans.

One who offers satyagraha.

Peoples struggle committee, consisting of the 4 major opposition parties, Jana Sangh, B.L.D., Socialists, Congress (O).

District-administrative unit about the equivalent of a county.

Constable-junior most police rank.

District Superintendent of police, in-charge of Dist.
police.

Superintendent of police, Deputy Superintendent.
Inspector of police, one rank junior to Dy. S.P.
Sub-Inspector of police.

The above report is extracted from materials received by Indians for Democracy from the Lok Sangharsh Samiti in an attempt to document cases of torture and physical abuse to which many of our compatriots are subjected. It is by no means a full and complete account of the atrocities perpetrated by the authorities. This report constitutes only the tip of the iceberg and includes only those cases that the local chapters of the Lok Sangharsh Samiti could authenticate. This report has been supplied to central cabinet ministers by the Lok Sangharsh Samiti for investigation and action.

His Excellency KURT WALDHEIM,
Secretary-General,

United Nations, New York, N.Y.

MAY 31, 1976.

YOUR EXCELLENCY: It is with deep regret that the International League for Human Rights must submit a communication to the U.N. evidencing a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms engaged in during the last year by the Government of India. Ironically, the conduct of which we complain, directly in contravention of the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other human rights instruments is being perpetrated by a Government forged of the high and humanistic ideals of Gandhi and Nehru, two of this century's greatest champions of human liberty. So, it is with particular sadness that we transmit this communication to Your Excellency. The object of our communication is to seek implementation of the principles of the United Nations Charter. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other applicable human rights instruments for the one sixth of humanity ruled by the Government of India. Accordingly, we respectfully request that this communication be brought before the Working Group of the twenty-ninth session of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. In our view the consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Government of India revealed in this communication and its annexes warrants a United Nations investigation or study in accordance with ECOSOC Resolutions 728F and 1503.

INTRODUCTION

On June 26, 1975, the Government of India on the recommendation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi issued an Emergency Proclamation which sounded the beginning of the decline of human rights and fundamental freedoms in India. This Proclamation was swiftly followed by anti-libertarian legislation and executive action. The Government argues that its actions were necessitated by a “deep and widespread conspiracy" among Mrs. Gandhi's political opponents and by a need to achieve greater economic progress. We believe that such justifications are legally and morally inadequate to exempt the Government of India from harsh approbation by the conscience of mankind for systematically trampling on the freedom and dignity of tens of thousands of its citizens.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »