08-10-2006, 08:33 PM
From the Letters section of today's Asian Age
<b>Muslims and Mumbai Probe</b>
Sir, The news item Mumbai: Probe Muslims who travel (August 8), claims that the government of Maharashtra has issued some directives to Mumbai police to check all Muslims travelling abroad. This is to clarify that the government of Maharashtra had not issued any such directives. No such checking of all Muslims is being done or is intended to be done by the police. It is also absolutely incorrect to say that thousands of Muslims have been arrested from different parts of the city in blast-related cases. Arrests made in connection with the recent serial bomb blasts in suburban trains on July 11, have been immediately conveyed through the media. So far, eight persons have been arrested in this connection and their names etc., have been given to the media immediately. Arrests were made by following the due process of law and all the arrested persons were produced before the magistrate and are in custody only under the orders of the magistrate. No particulars of arrests etc., and other information have been concealed by the police. In fact, the head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigating these cases has been personally addressing the media every alternate day and giving all relevant information. During the course of investigation, the investigation agency has been making enquiries with various persons regarding arrivals and departures to and from Mumbai by railway, air or some other means. All this is without any religious, caste or other bias. The police has not demanded from any person any document or proof from their employer regarding their travel. It is necessary to establish the identity of the persons who have travelled by that name. In a large and extensive investigation of this magnitude, where 186 persons have died and more than 800 have been injured, extensive investigations are definitely justified. However, the investigation process does not have any bias of any kind. People of all religious, ethnic or any other background have been checked, verified or interrogated as per the requirements of the investigation from time to time. The news item seeks to create a totally erroneous impression by showing the investigation to be communally biased. The news item is likely to spread disharmony and ill-will between the communities and create communal tension, which is totally uncalled for. I have been wrongly quoted as having informed about large numbers of arrests and of not giving the exact figures when questioned by the journalist. No journalist of The Asian Age has met me in this regard nor have I made any statement to the media in this context. The chief of the ATS has been giving information about arrests etc., from time to time.
A.N. Roy, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Maharashtra
<b>Seema Mustafa replies:</b>
I am not surprised by Commissioner of Police A.N. Royâs response, as nothing more could have been expected from him. I note that he has pointed out that no such directive has been issued by the government of Maharashtra. Although he knows as well as I do that it has been, I will take him at his word and then ask why he has not taken action against the police officers who have been visiting the homes of Muslims travelling abroad and interrogating them. Mr Roy is either not speaking the truth, or has little control over the police force under him, as police officials have been visiting homes, asking for copies of passport, details of travel and letters from the employers certifying this travel. He is totally wrong in denying this, and we have sufficient evidence to prove the police commissioner does not really know what he is saying. As for arrests, again Mr Roy is well aware that any number of Muslims have been detained by the police for questioning. For the first two days after the blasts, hundreds of innocent Muslims were rounded up, and while the pace has slackened, it has not stopped. We are as aware as Mr Roy about the terrible impact of the terror attack on innocent people in Mumbai. We, like every citizen, are more than willing to extend a helping hand to the police and the authorities in tracking down the terrorists and bringing them to quick justice. But the answer does not lie in targeting a single community, as the Maharashtra authorities have done and creating terror in response to terror. The quote attributed to Mr Roy was given by him to reporters who had spoken to him in Mumbai at the time. The quote was reported by the newspapers and the news agencies. Finally, I am surprised that the political authorities of Maharashtra, the chief minister and the deputy chief minister, have chosen to hide behind the police commissionerâs back.
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<b>Muslims and Mumbai Probe</b>
Sir, The news item Mumbai: Probe Muslims who travel (August 8), claims that the government of Maharashtra has issued some directives to Mumbai police to check all Muslims travelling abroad. This is to clarify that the government of Maharashtra had not issued any such directives. No such checking of all Muslims is being done or is intended to be done by the police. It is also absolutely incorrect to say that thousands of Muslims have been arrested from different parts of the city in blast-related cases. Arrests made in connection with the recent serial bomb blasts in suburban trains on July 11, have been immediately conveyed through the media. So far, eight persons have been arrested in this connection and their names etc., have been given to the media immediately. Arrests were made by following the due process of law and all the arrested persons were produced before the magistrate and are in custody only under the orders of the magistrate. No particulars of arrests etc., and other information have been concealed by the police. In fact, the head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) investigating these cases has been personally addressing the media every alternate day and giving all relevant information. During the course of investigation, the investigation agency has been making enquiries with various persons regarding arrivals and departures to and from Mumbai by railway, air or some other means. All this is without any religious, caste or other bias. The police has not demanded from any person any document or proof from their employer regarding their travel. It is necessary to establish the identity of the persons who have travelled by that name. In a large and extensive investigation of this magnitude, where 186 persons have died and more than 800 have been injured, extensive investigations are definitely justified. However, the investigation process does not have any bias of any kind. People of all religious, ethnic or any other background have been checked, verified or interrogated as per the requirements of the investigation from time to time. The news item seeks to create a totally erroneous impression by showing the investigation to be communally biased. The news item is likely to spread disharmony and ill-will between the communities and create communal tension, which is totally uncalled for. I have been wrongly quoted as having informed about large numbers of arrests and of not giving the exact figures when questioned by the journalist. No journalist of The Asian Age has met me in this regard nor have I made any statement to the media in this context. The chief of the ATS has been giving information about arrests etc., from time to time.
A.N. Roy, Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Maharashtra
<b>Seema Mustafa replies:</b>
I am not surprised by Commissioner of Police A.N. Royâs response, as nothing more could have been expected from him. I note that he has pointed out that no such directive has been issued by the government of Maharashtra. Although he knows as well as I do that it has been, I will take him at his word and then ask why he has not taken action against the police officers who have been visiting the homes of Muslims travelling abroad and interrogating them. Mr Roy is either not speaking the truth, or has little control over the police force under him, as police officials have been visiting homes, asking for copies of passport, details of travel and letters from the employers certifying this travel. He is totally wrong in denying this, and we have sufficient evidence to prove the police commissioner does not really know what he is saying. As for arrests, again Mr Roy is well aware that any number of Muslims have been detained by the police for questioning. For the first two days after the blasts, hundreds of innocent Muslims were rounded up, and while the pace has slackened, it has not stopped. We are as aware as Mr Roy about the terrible impact of the terror attack on innocent people in Mumbai. We, like every citizen, are more than willing to extend a helping hand to the police and the authorities in tracking down the terrorists and bringing them to quick justice. But the answer does not lie in targeting a single community, as the Maharashtra authorities have done and creating terror in response to terror. The quote attributed to Mr Roy was given by him to reporters who had spoken to him in Mumbai at the time. The quote was reported by the newspapers and the news agencies. Finally, I am surprised that the political authorities of Maharashtra, the chief minister and the deputy chief minister, have chosen to hide behind the police commissionerâs back.
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