Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Batla House shootout

The article “Behind the Batla House shootout” (Oct. 10) is perhaps the first of its kind. It understands the reality behind the tough encounter between the Delhi police and terror suspects at Jamia Nagar.

Intellectuals, politicians and even the media have raised doubts about the encounter without backing their claims with convincing arguments. The article has exceptionally summed up the happenings while countering the claims of those who labelled the Batla House encounter as fake.

Aditya Raj Kaul,

New Delhi

As a member of a citizens’ fact-finding team that visited Batla House on September 20, I can say that the questions we raised were essentially a reflection of those voiced by the local community — not fundamentalists but ordinary citizens disturbed by the drastic, though ham-handed, police action. The questions were, of course, elementary. Whether they were relevant or not is up to an independent judicial inquiry to decide. But they cannot be dismissed with quotations from Alice in Wonderland.

We thought it fit to publicise the questions because much of the Indian media swallowed the official version of events without a murmur. The sordid record of the police and the media in the Sohrabuddin ‘encounter’ and the murder of Aarushi Talwar will always prompt citizens to ask questions.

Satya Sivaraman,

New Delhi

I read the article with pain because it presents the police theory. The questions raised by the rights activists and the media are genuine. It is not as if they support terrorism. All they are seeking to do is to protect the innocent people from police high-handedness.

Mahmood Alam Siddiqui,

New Delhi

Until it is conclusively established that the accused are involved in terror blasts, conspiracy theories will continue to do the rounds. If their involvement is proved in a court of law, stories of repression and persecution will be advanced. This is a familiar plot which has unfolded in the U.S. and the West.

G.V. Ramesh,

Secunderabad

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