The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Srikrishna report

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Thursday, Aug 09, 2007
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Srikrishna report

The Shiva Sena has yet again opposed demands from many quarters to take action against those responsible for the Mumbai riots on the basis of the Srikrishna Commission report. The party is happy about the sentence handed down to the perpetrators of the blasts but cries foul when there is demand for action against those involved in the riots or the Babri Masjid demolition. Successive governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre have remained silent because of political compulsions and fear of losing votes. This does not speak well for the system.

B. Krishnan,
Sahibabad

Justice should not only be done but also be seen to have been done. Unfortunately, in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, this does not seem to have happened. Zaibunnisa Qazi, a 64-year-old widow, was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment for keeping in her house a bag containing arms for a few hours. She was not found guilty of conspiracy but was sentenced under TADA. But none of the 31 police personnel indicted by the Justice Srikrishna Commission inquiring into the 1992 riots has been punished.

While Sanjay was sentenced to six years in jail for possessing an AK-56, Shiv Sena MP Madhukar Sarpotdar was let off though he was arrested by the Army for possessing an illegal firearm on January 11, 1993, and was indicted by the Commission.

The feeling that different yardsticks are applied by the state in delivering justice will do more harm than good to the secular character of the country.

Syed Sultan Mohiddin,
Kadapa

It is unfortunate that five years of valuable time spent by Justice B.N. Krishna in inquiring into the Mumbai riots — gathering evidence and recording statements of thousands of witnesses at the cost of taxpayers’ money — have yielded nothing. If apathy and limitations of coalition politics are reasons for state inaction, it can at least refrain from instituting inquiries into riots and wasting people’s money in the process.

When no action is taken on an inquiry report, it amounts to insulting the expertise of those who constitute the panel and making a mockery of the laws of the land.

G.R. Vora, Mumbai

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