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Protesting demolition of houses over 800 Valmikis convert to Islam

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Maulana Furkan Raza, pictured during a rally in Rampur, said the Valmikis have been "terrorised".

Maulana Furkan Raza, pictured during a rally in Rampur, said the Valmikis have been “terrorised”.

Rampur: In protest of demolition of their houses, more than 800 Valmikis in UP’s Rampur district embraced Islam on Tuesday.

While the Muslim clerics were barred from carrying out the conversion, the Valmikis donned skull caps to show that they have converted to Islam.

However, no formal conversion rituals were performed, as per media reports.

Those who converted are hoping that it would help them save their abodes, according to media reports.

According to the Valmikis, the state civic authorities had notified them that their houses would be demolished for setting up a shopping mall in that place.

But, the state government denied this and had issued a press release stating that it had no plans of demolishing any illegally constructed structures.

District Magistrate C P Tripathi revealed that an employee of the Municipal Board, Sibtain Nabi had reportedly mislead the Valmikis, asking them to convert to Islam in order to save their houses from demolition. The matter is being investigated.

The Valmikis, who have been protesting against the alleged demolition of their houses in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, had threatened the government that they would embrace Islam if their plea goes unheard.

(Agencies)

Two minor sisters kidnapped, gang-raped by 5 at gunpoint in Badaun

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rape-case

Badaun: Two minor girls, both cousins, were allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped at gun point by five persons in Jareef Nagar area here, almost a year after a similar incident in the district had stirred Uttar Pradesh and opposition had attacked the government over law and order.

The accused, two of them brothers, held the girls captive at gun point when they had ventured out of home for some work last night, Senior Superintendent of Police Saumitra Yadav said here today, adding the girls were gang-raped by them.

The accused were later nabbed by the villagers when the victims raised an alarm and handed over to police, the police officer said.

“A case has been lodged and the girls were sent for medical examination,” the SSP said. Their medical examination report is awaited, he said.

Last year, two cousins, aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village in Ushait area the next day.

They were allegedly raped and hanged with a tree.

However, later, CBI in its probe said that the girls were neither murdered nor raped and had committed suicides. The case is sub judice.

(PTI)

Survivors, families of 1987 massacre seek justice

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Hashimpura Massacre

New Delhi: Survivors and families of the 42 Muslim men massacred in 1987 at Hashimpura in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday voiced anguish after a court freed all the accused, calling it a “massacre of justice”.

On March 21, a Delhi court acquitted 16 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel of the charges of murder, attempt to murder and more over lack of evidence.

“This decision is like a massacre of justice. We are against such a verdict where all the accused are acquitted after 28 years. We cannot accept it and will move the higher court for justice,” said Zulfiqar Nasir, one of the five men who miraculously survived the massacre.

Nasir and others spoke at a panel discussion on “Justice for Hashimpura” where they expressed unhappiness over the judgement and narrated their anguish.

“As many as 42 people never returned. They were killed by the PAC and thrown into the canal. My brother Kamaruddien, who was 21 then, was among the 42,” said an emotional Riyajuddin.

Narrating his tale of woe, Nasir, who still lives in Hashimpura locality in Meerut, recalled how lucky he was to survive.

“I was in Class 10 then and at home when the army ordered us to open the doors. They then went to the rooftop and rounded up people on the roads,” he said.

“After that they shortlisted the healthy and young men from among women, children and the elderly. We were then handed over to the PAC.”

The PAC took them in a truck to a canal at Muradnagar.

“They shot a man, Yasin, and threw him into the canal. They did this to everyone in the truck. I was lucky to survive even after a gunshot hit me below my right armpit,” he said.

Nasir managed to reach a ‘dhaba’ and got help.

Another survivor, Babudeen, said they suffered for no fault of theirs and still justice had been denied to them.

“We want justice. How can a court let the criminals go scot free citing lack of evidence? People were killed… Evidence is there but it has been overlooked,” added a tearful Mohammad Naeem, another survivor.

The victims’ lawyer, Vrinda Grover, said: “At each stage a fair, rigorous and impartial investigation was systematically thwarted. The material pieces of evidence were either not collected or destroyed.”

According to Rajinder Sachar, the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties conducted an inquiry but the government didn’t take it seriously.

“The report was submitted to then Uttar Pradesh chief minister but it was not acknowledged,” said Sachar, adding the victims should appeal to the higher court for justice.

“Human right violation has certainly taken place. The victims and their family members should be given compensation,” he added.

(Agencies)

Pursue Hashimpura massacre case in higher court: CPI-M

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Hashimpura massacre

New Delhi: The CPI-M on Monday said the acquittal of all the 16 accused in the massacre of 42 Muslims at Hashimpura in Uttar Pradesh in 1987 should be pursued in the higher court.

“The acquittal by a Delhi court of all the 16 accused in the Hashimpura (Meerut) massacre has angered those who had wanted to see that justice is done in this police atrocity,” it said in a statement.

“The acquittal due to insufficient evidence highlights the callous manner in which the prosecution of those guilty for communal killings are being conducted,” the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.

The party demanded that the verdict be appealed and the case “strongly pursued” in the higher court.

Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel rounded up the 42 Muslims from Hashimpura locality in Meerut on May 22, 1987 during Hindu-Muslim riots, shot them dead and dumped their bodies in water canals.

This triggered a long legal battle in courts. On Saturday, a lower court in Delhi acquitted all the surviving accused for lack of evidence.

(IANS)

Delhi Court acquits 16 cops in 1987 Hashimpura Massacre of over 40 Muslims

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Hashimpura Massacre

New Delhi: More than a quarter century after the brutal massacre of 42 Muslims in Hashimpura area of Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, 16 accused policemen of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) were acquitted by a Delhi court today.

The Hashimpura massacre took place on 22 May 1987, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut. Some personnel of the PAC allegedly rounded up 42 Muslims from the Hashimpura locality, took them in a truck to the outskirts, near Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad district and shot them dead. Their bodies were dumped in water canals.

Sixteen policemen were acquitted by a court here on Saturday of the charges of murder and other crimes in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case in which 42 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut city.

Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Jindal acquitted 16 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel of the charges dealing with murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.

Suresh Chand Sharma, Niranjan Lal, Kamal Singh, Rambir Singh, Sami Ullah, Mahesh Prasad, Jaipal Singh, Ram Dhayam, Sarwan Kumar, Leela Dhar, Hambir Singh, Kunwar Pazal Singh, Budha Singh, Budhi Singh, Mokham Singh and Basant Vallabh were facing trial in the case.

The court said all the accused are acquitted of all charges framed against them by giving them the benefit of doubt for want of sufficient evidence regarding their identity.

The court said although the accused persons have been acquitted in this case, it felt the victims and affected families should be rehabilitated.

A recommendation was made to the District Legal Service Authority to award compensation to victims, the court said.

There were 19 accused in the case. However, three of them died during the trial.

The killings had allegedly occurred during riots in Meerut city when the victims were picked up from the Hashimpura Mohalla of the city by personnel of the 41st Battalion of the PAC during a search operation.

The charge sheet in the case was filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Ghaziabad in 1996. The case was transferred to Delhi in September 2002 on the order of the Supreme Court following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.

A sessions court here in July 2006 framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy against all the accused.

Timeline of 1987 Hashimpura massacre case

Sixteen policemen were acquitted by a court here on Saturday in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case in which 42 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut city. Here is the timeline of the case:

May 1987: 42 people killed in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

1996: Chargesheet filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate Ghaziabad.

September 2002: Case transferred to Delhi on the order of the Supreme Court following a petition by the families of the massacre victims and survivors.

July 2006: Court framed charges of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy against all the accused.

January 21, 2015: Court reserved verdict in the case.

(With inputs from IANS)

 

15 dead, 150 injured after Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express derails in UP

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Dehradun-Varanasi-train

Lucknow: At least 15 passengers were feared killed and 150 injured after four bogies of Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express derailed at Bachhrawan in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district on Friday.

According to preliminary information, the four bogies derailed as the train was passing through Bachhrawan railway station, 50km from Lucknow, around 9am. The reason behind the mishap was yet to be ascertained.

Lucknow IG Zaki Ahmad, who is supervising the relief operation, one of bogies was badly damaged and efforts were being made to cut it to rescue the trapped people.

The state government rushed medical teams and ambulances to the spot for relief work, and railway officers from Lucknow also reached the spot soon after the accident.

UP cabinet minister Manoj Pandey, who visited the site, said relief measures had been launched. He said senior police officers had also reached the spot to supervise relief operation.

He added arrangements had been made in hospitals in Lucknow and Rai Bareli for the treatment of injured people.

Minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha is likely to visit the spot in the afternoon.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, expressing concern over the mishap, announced Rs. 2 lakh each to the families of those who were killed and Rs. 50,000 each to the injured people.

Train accidents are common in India. The country’s railroad network is one of the world’s largest and carries more than 23 million passengers each day. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.

Helpline Nos:
Lucknow: 09794830973, Varanasi: 0542-2503814, Pratapgarh: 0534-2223830, Rae Bareli: 0535-05352211224

(Agencies)

Muzaffarnagar: Falah-e-Aam housing colony for riot victims inaugurated

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Photo: IndiaTomorrow.net

Photos: IndiaTomorrow

New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has donated 88 new homes to as many families whose homes were looted and torched during the Sep 2013 Muzaffarnagar riot and they had since been living in community-run make-shift relief camps. More than one hundred people were killed and thousands were rendered homeless during the riot.

At a ceremony at Parsoli area of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh recently, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari, the National President of JIH, inaugurated the newly constructed Falah-e-Aam Colony and handed over keys of new homes to the riot victim families.

Falah-e-Aam

Falah-e-Aam

JIH had bought eight bighas of land and constructed 88 houses on it. Each house has cost Jamaat Rs 2.4 lakh. The colony also has a Masjid, a community centre and a primary school.

“We are happy to get a home here, we are thankful to Jamaat,” said Tabassum, one of the beneficiaries standing outside her flat in the Falah-e Aam Colony. Tabassum, a native of Hasanpur village in Muzaffarnagar, has her husband and three young daughters.

Mohammad Qasim is another beneficiary. Originally from Lisarh village, he has also got a flat in JIH’s colony. “For the last two years since after the riot, we had been living in a make-shift relief camp. We had hoped that we will get a home from the government. We have got one from Jamaat. We have forgot our own home which was looted and torched by rioters,” said Qasim standing along with his family inside the Flat No. 3.

Addressing the program, Maulana Umari said: “Whenever a natural or man-made calamity has hit any area of the country, JIH has rushed to help the victims irrespective of their region or religion. We do it on humanitarian ground.”

He also said that JIH has constructed such colonies for riot victims in Gujarat and Assam also.

On the occasion, JIH also felicitated some Hindus who saved several Muslims during the Muzaffarnagar riot.

Besides him, many central leaders of the JIH, including Mohammad Ahmed, Shafi Madani and Maulana Rafeeq Qasmi and Maulana Mohammad Yusuf Islahi were also present on the occasion.

Western UP zone leaders of the Jamaat including Maulana Inamullah Islahi, zonal president and Mohammad Alauddin, relief in-charge of the zone were present at the event.

Eminent dignitaries from the area including Asad Ghalib, Chairman, Sardhana Nagarpalika and Rashid Ali, Chairman, Kerana Nagarpalika attended the program. They appreciated JIH’s initiative.

As many as 40 new houses, a Masjid, a primary school, a maktab and community hall will also be constructed soon by the JIH in the riot hit area.

(Agencies)

Over 30 bodies found in canal in Uttar Pradesh

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30-bodies-found-in-canal-in-Uttar-Pradesh

Lucknow: Over 30 unclaimed and rotten bodies were found floating Tuesday in a canal in Unnao, 60 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, according to news reports.

Officials, soon after the discovery of the bodies noticed by the locals, rushed to the Paeriyar Ghat where people go to consign mortal remains to flames. Police said these bodies were of people whose families did not have enough money to give them a decent cremation.

Inspector General of Police (Kanpur) Ashutosh Pandey said due to lack of money, the bodies were either dumped by families in the shallow waters of the Ganga or left buried under sand in the encastchment area.

These, he added, would float after being eaten up by river animals and fishes. Some bodies were half burnt and half eaten up, officials informed.

Inspector General (Law and Order) A. Satish Ganesh informed that police were looking into all possible angles.

Saumya Agarwal, district magistrate of Unnao, has since ordered the cremation of all the bodies.

Initially it was rumoured that the bodies were of victims those who were killed in Unnao’s hooch tragedy Monday.

Laxmikant Bajpayi, BJP state president, also reached the scene after news of bodies being recovered reached to him.

He spoke to senior government officials and asked them not to use machines to lift the bodies, instead he advised to get autopsies conducted and give them a decent creamation Wednesday.

(Agencies)

Minor girl gang-raped by two cops in police station in Uttar Pradesh

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rape-case

Uttar Pradesh: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and gang-raped by two constables inside a police station here in Uttar Pradesh, prompting the authorities to suspend the accused who are absconding.

The girl was allegedly abducted from her house on December 31 by constables Veer Pal Singh Yadav and Avnish Yadav, police said on Friday.

She was taken to Musajhag Police Station and allegedly raped there, Superintendent of Police (City) Lallan Singh said.

An FIR was registered after the victim’s mother lodged a complaint against the two policemen, who are absconding.

The two cops have been suspended and police were trying to trace their trace them.

Congress leader Ranjita Yadav urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to order the arrest of two police constables.

“It’s shameful that a policeman, who is supposed to protect us, rapes a girl. We appeal to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to arrest the culprits, book them under appropriate sections of law and punish them,” she said.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has reportedly asked for serious disciplinary action to be taken against the two constables.

According to reports, the girl’s family has alleged that two constables dragged her to a car and raped her.

This incident comes just a year after two minor girls were mysteriously found hanging from a tree in Badaun.

(PTI)

Sangh Parivar activist arrested for desecrating temples to create riot

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Muzaffarnagar police have arrested a Hindutva activist for a number of incidents of temple desecration, which had led to tensions in Budhana.

Muzaffarnagar police have arrested a Hindutva activist for a number of incidents of temple desecration, which had led to tensions in Budhana.

Muzaffarnagar: A 35-year-old Sangh Parivar activist has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for desecrating two temples last week near Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh with the intention of creating communal riots.

The riot monger has been identified as Deshraj Singh. His aim, he told police, was to ensure that “koi masjid na rahe, sirf mandir rahe (no mosques should remain, only temples should remain)”.

The miscreant had confessed to have desecrated two temples at Parsauli village in communally sensitive Budhana near Muzaffarnagar by leaving buffalo carcasses inside and writing hate messages on the wall.

Parsauli had remained tense last week after a few temple desecration incidents came to light. In one instance on the 15th of December, animal skin was found outside a newly constructed temple, while on the night of 20th an idol went missing from another temple.

Following the incidents BJP leaders including Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan had visited the village.

There was a string of two or three incidents. A person had placed heads and other parts of buffaloes at two temples. The idols had also been stolen. An attempt had also been made to place an idol at a different spot. Following our efforts, we have arrested Deshraj Singh, who has confessed to committing these acts,” said HN Singh, SSP, Muzaffarnagar.

“We are in the process of ascertaining in what state he had committed these acts. We cannot yet say for certain why he had committed these acts. We have also sent a team to his house in Delhi. Because of this incident, there was tension in the village. Communal tension also prevailed in nearby villages,” he added.

Police said that Deshraj also revealed he stole some items from a mosque earlier as well.

Deshraj is a native of Parsauli but had been working in Noida. He had returned to Parsauli about two months back.

Budhana had been one of the areas affected by the riots in Muzaffarnagar last year.

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