Sangh Parivar, police blamed for Mangalore riots

Fact-finding team gets an impression of `severe polarisation of communities'
Team visited trouble-hit areas on Wednesday, Thursday
Demands a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bangalore: A 40-member fact-finding team drawn from various parts of the country, which visited Mangalore and nearby areas, has held the Sangh Parivar and the local police responsible for the recent communal riots there.

Speaking to The Hindu on Friday on behalf of the team, G.K. Ramaswamy of the People's Democratic Forum said the team visited trouble-hit areas such as Ullal, B.C. Road, Thokkattu, Farangipet, Gudinabali and Suratkal, local hospitals, police stations, various local organisations and spoke to victims on October 18 and 19.

The team feels that the Sangh Parivar forces have gained strength after B. Nagaraja Shetty of the Bharatiya Janata Party took over as the district-in-charge Minister. It alleges that some "communal-minded" police officers, who were earlier transferred, were reinstated after Mr. Shetty took charge. They played "a significant role" in worsening the communal situation, according to the team.

Using the bandh as the pretext, Sangh Parivar forces targeted Muslims. Following this, the police ransacked the houses of Muslims and indiscriminately beat up and arrested people, especially in Ullal and Gudinabali, resulting in a "unilateral onslaught on the minority community," according to the team. This has resulted in Muslims losing faith in the police force and the administration in general, observes the team.

The team has demanded a judicial investigation, headed by a sitting judge, into the incidents within a specified timeframe. The other demands of the team include filing First Information Reports against erring police officials, dropping Mr. Shetty from the Ministry.

Members of the fact-finding team include Badhukwala of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Baroda; C. Subbanna of the Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh; Sudhakar and Kranti Chaitanya of the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee; Damayanti and Hari Babu of the Committee to Protect Civil Liberties, Tamil Nadu; T.S. Vivekananda and A. Selva of the PUCL-Karnataka; members of Pedestrian Pictures, Bangalore; Aravind Narain of the Alternative Law Forum; and independent intellectuals such as Yogindar Sikand, G. Rajashekar and Pattabhirama Somayaji.

Forum claims to have CD on police atrocities

Bangalore: Representatives of the Karnataka United Muslim Forum have said that they are in the possession of a video CD on the police atrocities during the recent Mangalore riots and are ready to give it to the State Government.Manzoor A.S., convener of the forum, said they would give the CD to the Government only if it promised to take stringent action against those involved in provoking the riots and targeting innocent persons. He alleged that Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Dayanand and police officials, who were in charge of controlling the riots, failed to discharge their duties properly.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/21/stories/2006102120760300.htm