r b sreekumar's letter to cm narendra modi 06-01-14

8/13/2019 R B Sreekumar's Letter to CM Narendra Modi 06-01-14

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R.B.Sreekumar, I.P.S, (Retd)Former DGP. Gujarat.

Plot №-193,‘Sreelekshmideepam’ Sector-8,

Gandhinagar-382007,Gujarat.Phone: 079-23247876M: 9428016117Email:[email protected] Website:- www.harmonynotes.inTel:- 079-23247876

0120 - 4284799Mob:- 09428016117Letter No: RBS/CM-30/GUJ/12C

Date: 06

th

January, 2013.

Sub:- An appeal for initiation of concrete measures for expeditious justicedelivery and genuine relief and rehabilitation of 2002 communal riot victimsin Gujarat state.

Respected Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji,

The unequivocal expression of deep pain and anguish by you about limitless

human agony during 2002 protracted communal riots in Gujarat, in your thousand

word blog-post has evoked widespread hope, optimism and expectation among riot

victim survivors and Government functionaries, who are still persecuted and

victimized for performing their mandatory duties diligently. You had claimed that

“I had to single handedly focus all the strength given to me by Almighty on

the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation, burying the pain and agony I

was personally wracked with”. But the ground reality is dismal and frustrating

because much remains to be done to ensure establishment and consolidation of

durable peace, adequate social cohesion and genuinely intrinsic rehabilitation and

resettlement of riot victim survivors in the pre-riot conditions.

2/- There are sound grounds and obvious reasons for doubting your declaration

about your commitment to maintain public order and protect minorities in the days

of communal disturbances in 2002. Firstly, “the mindless violence of 2002” (to use

your terminology), on a ghastly scale, was enacted only in two Commissionerates

(Ahmedabad and Vadodara cities) and 11 districts (in all there were 30 police

administrative units – districts – in Gujarat in 2002 February – March). In the

remaining 19 units (2 Commissionerates and 17 districts, there were no

manslaughter in 11 districts and casualties were negligible in 6 districts and

Commisionerates of Surat and Rajkot cities. Significantly, loss of lives in 2002 riots

in these areas were lesser than deaths in the previous riots, particularly during post

Babri Masjid demolition disturbances. The illustrative case is of Surat city, where

nearly 300 people were killed in the post Babri Masjid demolition riots in 1992,

while there were only 7 killings in 2002. The Commissioners of Police, District

mailto:[email protected]





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Magistrates and Supdts. Of Police in areas of nil or negligible violence had

scrupulously implemented the Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) and taken

effective administrative and operational measures, sending a clear message to

rioters and activists of Sangh Parivar that police would not act as abettors and

collaborators in the perpetration of anti-minority pogrom. This was a vital factor

responsible for the lesser violence in these regions.

3/- None can find any veracity and validity in your unsubstantiated claim that you

had “to single handedly focus all the strength … on the task of peace, justice and

rehabilitation”. In fact, many of the conscientious and effective law enforcers were

transferred in the thick of riots (March 2002) by you and they were given shabby

treatment afterwards. Transfer of Rahul Sharma (Supdt. of Police – Bhavnagar

district), M D Anthany (Bharuch), Vivek Shrivastava (Kutch) and Himanshu Bhat

(Banaskantha), in March 2002 was reportedly for not implementing the covert anti-

minority agenda of the Sangh Parivar during the riots. These officers were also

allegedly intimidated by the state government for not revealing anything specific

about their operational strategies, grass root level tactics and purposeful micro-

management methodology adopted for achieving durable maintenance of public

order and total normalcy in their jurisdiction, to the JNC, probing into riots and

other investigating bodies. So, except Rahul Sharma, none has revealed truth

about their meritorious ways of handling riots to the JNC. Had they narrated the

nuances of their success stories, the non-performers, abettors, facilitators of riots

and enablers of criminals, who unleashed mass violence against minority (nearly

2000 people killed and 500 odd Islamic socio-cultural and religious monuments

built from the 16th century onwards were destroyed), could have been exposed and

brought under the clutches of law.

4/- By the end of year 2002, nearly 40,000 riot victim survivors were dwelling in

sub-human habitats, without basic amenities, due to opposition from local militant

Hindu sections to their resettlement in the pre-riot residential areas and intentional

neglect by the state authorities, in violation of measures envisaged in Govt.

regulations about rehabilitation and resettlement of disaster affected people.

However, by the middle of 2013, about 30,300 persons were rehabilitated, thanks

exclusively to the sincere efforts by the NGOs. Still, as on today, nearly 8,700

people are forced to stay in the unhealthy ambience, deprived of even standard

basic facilities, normally extended to those below the poverty line by the

Government. Media often has projected their plight, but your Government

remained inhumanly insensitive to the pitiable and pathetic living conditions of

these citizens. This is the painful naked and bitter truth about the status of

rehabilitation of riot affected, in Gujarat, despite your articulation of compassion for

them.



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5/- Honorable Chief Minister Sir, you should not hide under the deceptive self

projected canopy of propaganda, by not recognizing the ground realities during

riots because communication system through police and home department control

rooms had provided you hourly situation reports about communal disturbances.

Who will then believe your claim that you were not aware of many grass root level

conditions?

6/- Another deplorable policy of your government is towards your collaborators in

mass action against minorities. Practically all chief facilitators of anti-minority

massacre in administrative bureaucracy and police were rewarded by you with

prestigious postings, during riots, out of turn promotions and important post

retirement assignments, Nearly seven IAS officers and seventeen IPS officers

were favored for their “loyalty” to you and being committed to your hidden agenda,

and not to their oath to the Constitution of India. Significantly, practically all of them

had avoided filing affidavits to the JNC regarding additional Terms of Reference

dated 20th July 2004, on the role of CM and senor bureaucrats in the riots. No

departmental action was initiated against them for their flagrant violation of SOP

narrated in numerous governmental regulations, Gujarat Police Manual (GPM),

judgments of higher judiciary and recommendations of judicial commissions.

7/- In contrast is your persistent harassment and victimization of 3 IPS officers,

namely R. B. Sreekumar, former DGP, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt who have

provided truthful evidence, since July 2002, about the culpable role by you, Govt.

officials and the Sangh Parivar in riots, subversion of the Criminal Justice System

(CJS), unprofessional investigation of riot cases by Gujarat police and fake

encounters. On the basis of evidence by one of them the Central Election

Commission (CEC) had deemed the data presented by the state government on

the public order situation and rehabilitation of riot affected victims as false in its

order dated 16th August 2002. The CEC had tasked the State government to

satisfy certain conditions before deciding about the time schedule of state

assembly elections in 2002, after rejecting the state government’s proposed

election schedule. All these officers were superseded in promotion and numerous

departmental proceedings were started against them from 2004 onwards. These

disciplinary actions are not closed even after the Central Administrative Tribunal

(CAT) in Ahmedabad had quashed charges against some of them. After the

retirement of one of these officers in February 2007, a case of departmental

proceeding is still vigorously pursued by the state government.

8/- On the other hand, senior officers in the rank of Dy. SP to DGP and Taluka

Magistrate to Chief Secretary, who had acted as enablers and abettors of rioters

and impeded prompt and proper justice delivery to the riot victims, through

numerous deliberate acts of omission and commission or criminal negligence of



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duties were not even asked to explain for their failure to implement SOP delineated

in GPM, booklet on containment of communal riots by DGP Joseph, Central Govt.

circulars captioned “Communal peace” etc.

9/- Do these facts give any credibility to your affirmation in the blog about your

empathy and sensitivity for the riot victims?

10/- In this context, following the letter and spirit of Article 51(A) of our Constitution,

I appeal to you to immediately initiate the following concrete administrative

measures (most of them are mandatory) to establish that you are really

considerate and sympathetic to the riot affected and to those government officials

tortured and tormented by your government since 2004, for their “sin” of not

supporting illegal and unethical covert plans of you and the Sangh Parivar against

the minority population, in violation of the cannons of the Rule of Law.

A) In February 2012, Hon’ High Court of Gujarat indicted the Sate Government

for its failure to protect Islamic monuments during the riots, and directed the

government for their reconstruction. The total destruction of the famous

Dargah of Sufi saint and Urdu poet, Vali Gujarati, located in front of

Ahmedabad Police Headquarters by brigands is an inerasable black mark

on the image of Ahmedabad city police. Strangely, your Government

instead of implementing the High Court orders had gone for appeal to the

Apex Court…………. In this matter, acting in pursuance of your widely

expressed regrets about riots, please withdraw the petition

challenging the High Court orders and start rebuilding of all Islamic

monuments destroyed by the Sangh Parivar-led rioters.

B) Secondly, constitute a Special Task Force (STF) for identifying and

properly rehabilitating riot victim survivors who had become orphans

and refugees in their own motherland – nearly 8700 persons are dwelling in

unhealthy slums at the cost of their health, human dignity and socio –

economic empowerment.

C) Thirdly, please constitute a team of officers from Police, Law and Home

departments to probe into lopsided implementation of the Apex Court

order of 2004 for reinvestigation of 2000 odd riot cases closed by Gujarat

Police by not even issuing a statutory notice to the complainants. It was an

unprecedented move by the Apex Court in the judicial history of India.

Reportedly only less than 35 cases could be charge sheeted and in the rest

the police had filed closure reports as in most of these cases main

witnesses, even the complainants, who provided FIRs, had turned hostile. It

is a shame on the CJS of Gujarat , particularly for the senior police officers,



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home and law departments and public prosecutors. So far, no action against

police officers, who allegedly pressurized and intimidated witnesses to turn

hostile for torpedoing these riot cases, was taken by the state government.

Do not you find anything strange in the phenomenon of witnesses not

supporting prosecution cases after giving truthful deposition initially

in the riot cases investigated by Gujarat police, while such a trend is

almost non-existent in major carnage cases investigated by the Apex

Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT)? In SIT investigated

cases, nearly 116 persons including a former state minister was convicted

with life imprisonment for their culpability in anti-minority violence.

Reportedly, the witnesses had succumbed to the intimidation of police

and did not support the prosecution case as the police had

……….intimidated them to support the accused, as a quid-pro-quo for

their rehabilitation and resettlement in pre-riot areas and vocations.

Recently, there is an instance of the State Home Minister (2011)

convening a meeting of accused of fake encounter case with the State

Advocate General, the Principal Secretary to the CM etc. for conspiring

as to how accused in encounter cases can be saved from CBI action.

Sir, can you prove your keenness for justice delivery and welfare to

riot victims by fixing criminal or departmental liability and

accountability of officers, in this matter, who had allegedly

committed offences under sections 186 and 188 IPC and violated

their charter of duties envisaged in Chapter 4 & 5 of GPM vol-III and

other instructions regarding efficacy and professionalism of police

officers. Will you venture to do this against officers, who had committed

intentional professional lapses for helping the rioters from the majority

community in their crimes, to prove your sympathy for riot victims?

D) Fourthly, initiate departmental action against DGP and senior officers

in Home department, who deliberately did not act upon specific

intelligence assessment reports by the State Intelligence Branch (SIB)

about extensive subversion of CJS by functionaries at cutting edge level in

police and specific suggestions towards curative action (reports dated 24-

01-2002, 15-06-2002, 20-08-2002 and 28-02-2002 – Addl. Chief Secretary

admitted that all these reports were shown to you – audio tape available).

Your inaction affected the justice delivery to riot victims and had forced them

to approach higher courts for correcting ills of CJS. The higher judiciary

issued many interventionist orders for disciplining the Gujarat government.

They are i) Transfer of 2 riot cases for trial to Maharashtra state, ii)

Entrusting investigation of Bilkis Bano mass rape case to CBI, iii)

Reinvestigation of 2000 odd riot cases improperly closed by Gujarat police,



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iv) Appointment by SIT to probe into 9 major carnage cases and complaint

by Mrs. Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP killed by rioters and so

on. Are you not keen in disciplining and penalizing officials who

brought shame and insult to Gujarat government, due to comments of

Judiciary that the state officials acted like Neros during riots?

E) Fifthly take action against officials in police and home department who

did not prosecute publishers and distributors of communally inciting

materials, despite specific proposals by jurisdictional police officers and

ADGP (Intelligence) in 2002. This inaction is in violation of rule 59(9) of

GPM vol-III, Press Council Act, Prevention of Objectionable matters act etc.

F) Sixthly, please order departmental action against officers responsible

for serious dereliction of duties violating provisions of CRPC, India

Police Act 1861 and rule 271 and 272 of GPM vol-III , who were

criticized by courts in their judgments on riot cases. There were severe

strictures against bias of police officers towards the victims of riots from

minority community in the judgment of the Special Court on Naroda Patia,

Ahmedabad city massacre (96 people killed during curfew hours) and Dipla

Darwaza (Mehsana district) mass murder cases.

G) Seventhly, please initiate departmental action against officials in police

and executive magistracy, who permitted high voltage anti-minority

violence during communal disturbances in 2002, in 9 districts and 2

Commissionerates, by not following scrupulously the SOP. Why mandatory

supervisory duties on maintenance of law and order, investigation and

prosecution of offenders were ignored by these hierarchically senior

supervisory police officers?

H) Eighthly, take action against officers responsible for handing over dead

bodies of 54 Hindus killed in Godhra train fire incident on 27 th

February 2002 to the state VHP leaders,…………… in violation of rule

223 of GPM vol-III and other governmental regulations

I) Ninthly, please initiate action against officers who did not submit

affidavits on the second Terms of Reference to the JNC dated 20 th July

2004 and this default was in violation of notification by JNC dated 05-08-

2004.

J) Tenthly, please initiate action against officials in revenue, home and

police departments for making false and misleading presentation to



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the full bench of the CEC on 09-08-2002. The CEC had assailed this

serious misconduct by state government officials in its order dated 16-08-

2002. The false data by the officials was relating to law and order situation,

status of misplaced persons, refugee camps, relief and rehabilitation and so

on.

K) Eleventh line of action by you would be to initiate action against all

officials from DGP to the Chief Secretary, who avoided maintenance of

minutes of meetings convened by DGP to the Chief Minister during the

2002 riots. How could follow up action on decisions taken in the meetings

be monitored without preparing minutes?

L) The twelfth delinquent and culpable act is by DGP, who gave illegal written

orders to ADGP intelligence for not reporting details of an anti-minority

sensitive speech affecting the communal harmony by you in Sep 2002 in

Mehsana district to the National Constitutional Body – the National

Commission of Minorities. This action of DGP was in violation of rule 461 of

GPM vol-III on charter of duties of SIB. Please initiate action against the

delinquent officers.

M) The thirteenth guilty act is by two home department officials and

Government pleader to the JNC relating to their intimidation and tutoring of

a senior police officer, who was summoned by the JNC for cross

examination, for speaking in favor of the Government and suppress

information regarding governments……. incriminating role in the planning

and execution of anti-minority violence in 2002. This misconduct would go

against the letter and spirit of the Terms of Reference to JNC, Government

instructions to all officials to cooperate with the JNC and the Notification by

JNC dated 05-08-2004. Please take action against the officers who had

deviated from the framework of government instructions.

11/- Your government do vigorously pursue disciplinary proceedings, prosecution

and other acts of persecution against 3 whistle blower IPS officers – R. B.

Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjeev Bhat. But if your are committed to your

emotional outburst in the blog about riots and are serious to give up your

revengefulness against those who performed their duties for normalization of the

situation, please take action to end all on-going process of victimization

against these 3 officers and establish that you are neither vindictive and

sadistic, nor you do nurture personal grudge against those who are critical

of your actions.



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12/- The massacre of 2000 citizens in the genocidal violence in 2002 in Gujarat

was like the disrobing of Maharani Draupadi, depicted in the great Indian epic of

The Mahabharata. The proverbial Rule of Law in Gujarat was Draupadi and the

architects of riots are in the position of i) Planners (senior Sangh Parivar leaders

and political bureaucracy in the state government), ii) Organisers (middle level

Hindu militants), iii) Ground level mobilisers of foot soldiers, resources and

weapons (BJP leaders, MLA etc), iv) Facilitators and enablers (police and officers

in executive magistracy in areas of high voltage anti-minority crimes and v)

Perpetrators of ghastly crimes (about 116 persons from this category was

convicted with life imprisonment). These deviants were fully aware of their duties.

You must also be quite conscious of Raj Dharma. But the architects of 2002

violence did not move on the road map of goodness and harmony and they acted

like Duryodhana and his cohorts. Duryodhana admitted, while he was sinking in

the battlefield, to Lord Krishna that he knew what was righteousness but had never

followed it. On the other hand he had knowingly taken the path of unrighteousness.

II Gnanami dharmam na cha me pravarti | Gnanami adharmam na cha me nivarti

||. Those in the political and administrative bureaucracy, who remained merely

inactive without helping the rioters were like Bheeshmacharya and other

Maharathis in Kaurava court, who for selfish careerist reasons did not dare to stop

molestation of Draupadi. Bheeshma had admitted that he was obliged to Kauravas

for wealth (means position and power). The sloka in Bheeshmavadhaparva of the

Mahabharata goes thus || Arthasya purushodasaha | Dasastvarthena kasyachit | Iti

satyam maharaja | Baddhostharthena kauravey || (everybody is slave to urge for

wealth (position and power) but wealth is never indebted to anybody. This is truth,

Oh, Maharaja. I am obliged to Kauravas for wealth). You have written in the blog

that you are inspired by the scriptures. This had prompted me to pen the above

anecdotes from the epic and request you to do introspection as to how you and

your partners in riots are analogous to the characters in the Mahabharata.

13/- Your political rivals have characterized your expression of remorse about riots

as an exercise of hypocrisy. My humble submission and appeal to you is for

appreciating and accepting my above noted suggestions in this representation and

take follow up action for their actualization. For implementing my proposals, you do

not require any clearance form judiciary or the Union government. Moreover, such

an empathetic gesture would be in tune with the fundamentals of Raj Dharma,

which India’s scholar statesman – Atal Behari Vajpayee wanted you to adhere to.

Let your words pass and your deeds prove.

14/- The etymological import of the Sanskrit word “Raja” (ruler) is explained in

Brahmandpuranam thus : The person who provides contentment to citizens (praja)

is Raja – Prajanam ranjanath raja. Literary giant, Mahakavi Kalidasa wrote “The

normal nature of a ruler is to make subjects happy – Raja prakurte ranjanath.



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Kamandakiya Nitisara (compilation of wisdom for rulers) in the chapter 5 – duties

of king – slokas 82-83 caution the administrators to protect the citizens from “the

favorites” (chamchas and sycophants) – || Ayuktakemyaschoremyah Paremyo

Rajavallabhat | Pruthaviptilobhachcha prajanam pinjadha bhayam |

Panchprakarampiyet dapohyam nrupatebhryam || (the subjects require protection

against wicked officers of the king, thieves, enemies of the king, royal favorites

(such as the queens, princess etc.), and more than all, against the greed of king

himself. The king should secure the people against these fears). Will you continue

to favor your favorites or implement my proposals? Since you get inspirational

enlightenment from Indian scriptures as a Hindu Nationalist (as claimed by you in

your interview with Reuters in July 2013), I am quite confident that you will accept

my suggestions for giving amelioration to the riot victim survivors and

unwarrantedly harassed officers.

15/- In case you reject my suggestions and do not do anything to help the riot

victims, any well-informed citizen in India will adjudge your expression of “pain”

about riots as a mere soulless self-marketing drama, full of sound and fury without

any substance and significance, merely for hoodwinking gullible secular sections of

voters. By not apologizing and initiating any action to assuage suffering of riot

victims and persecuted officials you can, perhaps, further consolidate your support

base among the Sangh Parivar brain washed Hindu radicals. But sensible secular

Indians will remain outside the ambit of your support base and they would damage

the prospects of your securing the chair of the Prime Minister of India after the next

Lok Sabha elections.

16/- The immortal and basic holy treatise of Hinduism – The Bhagvad Gita,

exhorted everybody thus “Let the shastras (laws) be your authority in deciding

what you should do and what you should desist from doing” – chapter 16, sloka 24

- || Tatasmacchastram pramanam te karyakaryavyavasthitau | Jntva

sastravidhanoktam karma kartumiharhasi ||. Therefore, there could not be any

confusion or ambiguity in the further line of action to be decided by you to help the

enfeebled, voiceless and orphaned riot victims and distressed government

servants.

Kindly favor me with a reply on the follow up action being taken by you on the

suggestions in this representation.

With respectful regards

Yours sincerely

R. B. Sreekumar



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To,

Shri. Narendra Modi ji,Hon’ Chief Minister of Gujarat State Sachivalaya, GandhinagarGujarat - 382010

Dr. Shrimati Kamalaji (for Kind Information)Her Excellency The Governor of Gujarat StateRaj Bhawan, Gandhinagar,

Gujarat - 382020

r b sreekumar's letter to cm narendra modi 06-01-14

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