The Hindu : Same paragraphs in officials' statements on Marad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 25, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Same paragraphs in officials' statements on Marad

By Biju Govind

KOZHIKODE, JAN. 24. The additional statements filed by the District Collector, T.O. Sooraj, before the Marad Judicial Inquiry Commission contain similar paragraphs, punctuation marks and even grammatical mistakes of the affidavit filed by the Kozhikode City Police Commissioner, T.K. Vinod Kumar, on the May 2 massacre at Marad.

Mr. Sooraj submitted the additional statements on January 9, 2004 while Mr. Vinod Kumar had submitted his first affidavit on December 17, 2003. Mr. Sooraj had also filed his original statement on December 17. Both were asked by the Commission, Thomas P. Joseph, on December 19 to file additional statements pertaining to intelligence reports. Mr. Vinod Kumar filed the additional statements on Saturday.

Paragraphs 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the Commissioner's statement have been reproduced as page one of the Collector's additional statements. The sentences go like this: ``On 03/01/2002 there was an altercation between Hindus and Muslims at about 7-45 p.m. near Juma Masjid at Marad. One Mr. Kunhikoya tried to separate the persons who were involved in the fight. Seeing this, Mr. Kunhikoya was attacked with dangerous weapons, inflicting grave injuries. Kunhikoya was taken into the mosque compound. He succumbed to the injuries.''

``Immediately after the incident mentioned above there was `Kotta Bang' from the mosque. Hearing this the Muslims of the locality rushed out of their houses with deadly weapons. They moved to the northern side of the Marad beach where Hindus are in a minority and set fire to the houses of the Hindus in the locality. A group proceeded to the house of Pushparajan, an active RSS worker, with the intention to commit grave offence. Mr. Pushparajan managed to hide himself in the water tank. The mob murdered Mr. Shimjith who is a cousin brother of Pushparajan.''

``At about 9 p.m. on the same day Kunhumon @ Narayanan was returning after anchoring his boat on the northern beach. He was murdered and his body was placed on the seawall. On hearing the `Kotta Bang' the Hindus also rushed out of their houses with weapons. They preceded to the southern side of Marad beach and set fire to the Muslim houses. One Mr. Yunus was murdered at about 8-15 p.m.''

``On 04-01-02 at about 7-30 a.m. one Mr. Aboobaker s/o Thekkapurath Mohammed and others proceeded towards the southern side of Marad with the intention to construct a grave for the Muslims who had died in the incident on 03-01-02. At this junction (juncture according to the Commissioner) some Hindus gathered on the southern beach of Marad and they chased and hacked Mr. Aboobaker to death.''

The second page of the Collector's additional statement also is copied from the Commissioner's affidavit. ``A programme called `Sneha Sangamam' was conducted at Marad on 02-10-2002. Ministers, leaders of various cultural/religious organisations and political parties and members of all communities participated in the programme.''

``Mr. Aboobaker who was murdered on 04-01-02 at 7-30 a.m. was an important leader among the Muslim community in Marad. The said murder took place while he was proceeding for assisting in the burial of the Muslims who died in the incidents on 03-01-2002. This had caused strong feeling of communal vengeance among Muslim community. The radicals Muslims including some relatives of Aboobaker wanted to retaliate for the murder of Mr. Aboobaker and take revenge against the Hindus.''

Even the Collector's answers to questions put forth by the Commission have been taken out from the Commissioner's affidavit. The answer (R), ``On 12-04-99 one Manoj, a BJP worker was found dead under suspicious circumstances. On the same day another person by name Sudheesh a CPM worker was murdered. The accused in the case was Pushparajan who was later murdered in the incident on 2-05-03'', is paragraph nine of the Commissioner's affidavit.

Likewise, answer (S), ``On 31-12-2001 the annual celebration of the Alliance Sports and Arts Club was conducted at Sagara Sarani in Marad. There were altercations between Sujith and Sakeer'', is paragraph 14 of the Commissioner's affidavit. However, the Collector has added one sentence: ``It is reliably learnt that this altercation was with regard to a Hindu youth teasing a Muslim girl.''

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