Press Note
By Justice Markandey Katju
Chairman, Press Council of India
Dated 6.3.2013
Re: False implication of Muslims in cases of
Bomb Blasts, etc.
I have today received the following
letter of Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities,
New Delhi:
“D.O. No.
M/AP/302/19/2013 March
01, 2013
Dear Mr.
Justice Katju,
The
terrorist blast in Dilsukh Nagar, Hyderabad on the evening on February 21, 2013
resulting in the death of innocent citizens and injury to many more has given
rise to much discussion in the press and the media. However, the National Commission for
Minorities has noted with concern that even before completion of investigation
and on the basis of what appears unfounded conjecture the media appears to have
targeted a particular community, which seems unfortunately, also to be
reciprocated in the statements of some who are in positions of authority. Sh. B. Raman of the Institute For Topical
Studies, Chennai has stated in an article in the Magazine Outlook recently that
it seems to have become the trend that ïf there is terror, it has to be a
Muslim. If he is a Muslim, he has to be
from the IM (Indian Mujahideen). If it
is the IM, it must have acted at the instance of Pakistan’s Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI). That seems to be the
thinking reflex of the police and the agencies.
You will agree that such a trend needs
to be discouraged. Fortunately, we have
had some voices, even though scattered, raised in the media against such
practice. The Commission is therefore,
approaching you to consider advising those in the media responsible for
supervising release of news that they exercise restraint in reporting matters
of this nature, which in the present case have brought much grief to a large
section of Indian citizens, expressed in the article by Inscribe, a copy of
which is attached”.
In this
connection my view is as follows:
Bomb blasts and
other terrorist activities often occur in our country. The particular persons who have committed
such heinous crimes should correctly be identified, prosecuted and when found
guilty, given harsh punishment. However,
in my opinion often innocent Muslims are arrested and incarcerated in prison
for several years in this connection.
To find out the
real culprits requires scientific investigation. Unfortunately, in most parts of our country,
the police is neither trained in scientific investigations, nor has the
equipment for this purpose.
In Western
countries, as can be seen on Discovery Channel etc, when a crime takes place,
the police reach the spot and look for finger prints, ashes, blood stains,
fibres, etc. These are then sent to a laboratory. The finger prints are fed
into a computer which is connected to a national network, and this often enables
the police to find out the criminal antecedents of the suspects. The blood stains etc. are tested in a
laboratory using DNA and other tests.
Even minute fibres are investigated to find out the source of the
clothes of the assailant. It is only by this
scientific investigation that a conclusion can be reached about the indentify
of the culprit and the events that took place.
For example, in the well known
Green River serial killer case,
the serial killer, Gary Ridgway, was identified about 20 years after his crimes
by DNA tests of the semen found on the
exhumed bodies of the women whom he had killed.
However, in our
country most police personnel neither have training in scientific investigation
nor the equipment for this purpose, and yet they have to solve the crime,
otherwise they may be suspended.
Since an impression has been created in
some quarters that most Muslims are terrorists, the police often arrest some
Muslims merely on suspicions. Once such
a Muslim is arrested it is difficult for him to get bail because when he
applies for bail, the Public Prosecutor tells the court that the accused is a
terrorist, and consequently bail is almost always refused. The person often remains in jail for several
years, and even if he ultimately found
innocent nobody can restore so many years of his life spent in jail. The recent case of Amir who was arrested when
he was 17 years old and kept for 14 years in jail until he was found innocent by
the Court, illustrates the gross injustice which is often done to Muslims in
India. There are a large number of such cases
of false implication of Muslims in bomb blast cases.
Shortly, after
I become Chairman of the Press Council of India I gave an interview to Mr.
Karan Thapar in his serial “Devil’s Advocate” I stated that within a hour or so
of a bomb blast many TV channels start showing on their screens that an e-mail
or sms has been received from the Indian Mujahidin, Jaish-e- Mohammed, Harkatuljibad-e-Islam
or some other organisations having a Muslim name, claiming responsibility. I said in that interview that this was
irresponsible on the part of the Media because any mischievous person can send
such an e-mail or sms, and it is not even necessary that the sender is a
Muslim. By showing this on the TV screens
a message is conveyed to the viewers, even if by insinuation, that all Muslims
are terrorists and bomb throwers. This
promotes communalism in our society and hatred against Muslims. The truth is
that 99% people of all communities, whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian,
Jain or Parsee are good. I said this also in my first interaction with the
media.
As stated by Mr. Wajahat Habibullah in his letter, even before the police
investigation is completed a section of the media announces that the Indian Mujahidin
is responsible for the Hyderabad bomb blast on 21.2.2013.
I have repeatedly stated in my articles and TV
appearances that this is a country of tremendous diversity and hence the only
way to keep it united and take it on the path of progress is secularism and giving
equal respect to all communities and sections of society. Hence promoting or fanning communal hatred is
an anti national act.
It
is indeed unfortunate that in recent years an impression has been sought to be
created by certain communal elements that all Muslims are terrorists, and
Muslims are often discriminated in our country in getting jobs, bank loans,
houses on rent etc as mentioned in the Sachar Committee Report.
I,
therefore appeal to the people of India, and particularly to the Media, to
avoid doing anything which may fan or promote communal hatred and animosity,
and exercise restraint in reporting cases of bomb blasts and other terrorist
activities.
