04-07-2005, 06:32 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Attempted subversion of justice
The Best Bakery case is getting curiouser by the day, as is evident from a recent affidavit filed by Zaheera Sheikh in the Supreme Court. This star witness and former mascot of the hate-India brigade has turned out to be a major embarrassment for assorted groups masquerading as secularists, NGOs (flush with funds from dubious sources) and human rights organisations. No less than the National Human Rights Commission backs these worthies. We have seen how a badly rattled Teesta Setalvad ran for cover when Zaheera suddenly surfaced in Gujarat and told an astounding tale about her abduction and illegal confinement. The vocal âhuman rightsâ activist was reduced to speechlessness. So no one heard what she had to say in her own defence against the charge that she had sought to subvert the course of justice. Ms Setalvad thought she could hit back by starting a witchhunt against Zaheera. The move has backfired, with the Best Bakery witness demanding a probe into the antecedents and source of funding of Ms Setalvadâs organisation. If what Zaheera has revealed is true, then so-called rights activists have tried to make a mockery of the judicial system, apart from attempting to take the apex court for a ride. The SC, after all, has been shown in poor light for having acted prematurely in the riots-related cases. It has already been said that the apex court should not have allowed itself to be influenced by organisations and individuals with suspect credentials and subversive agendas. It is equally disappointing that the NHRC chairman, himself a man of law, could have been taken in by the propaganda of such people related to extremely tenuous and, as it has now been revealed, doctored testimonies. An unjustified diatribe against the Gujarat Administration and judiciary led to the wholesale transfer of cases outside the State, even while recourse to higher courts was not taken. This did irreparable damage to Indiaâs image. Foreign collaborators of rights-championing axe grinders have used the NHRCâs stand and the propaganda of a motivated media to telling effect: They succeeded in getting the US to deny a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Such an insult to national honour should have evoked strong condemnation rather than meek protest from the Government. The highest judiciary acted with alacrity in the matter of the supposed sins of omission and commission by the Gujarat Administration. Equity demands that it now act on the prayer of a victim who has exposed the attempted subversion of justice by an unscrupulous bunch of ârightsâ champions.
BK Verma
Rajender Nagar, Lucknow <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Best Bakery case is getting curiouser by the day, as is evident from a recent affidavit filed by Zaheera Sheikh in the Supreme Court. This star witness and former mascot of the hate-India brigade has turned out to be a major embarrassment for assorted groups masquerading as secularists, NGOs (flush with funds from dubious sources) and human rights organisations. No less than the National Human Rights Commission backs these worthies. We have seen how a badly rattled Teesta Setalvad ran for cover when Zaheera suddenly surfaced in Gujarat and told an astounding tale about her abduction and illegal confinement. The vocal âhuman rightsâ activist was reduced to speechlessness. So no one heard what she had to say in her own defence against the charge that she had sought to subvert the course of justice. Ms Setalvad thought she could hit back by starting a witchhunt against Zaheera. The move has backfired, with the Best Bakery witness demanding a probe into the antecedents and source of funding of Ms Setalvadâs organisation. If what Zaheera has revealed is true, then so-called rights activists have tried to make a mockery of the judicial system, apart from attempting to take the apex court for a ride. The SC, after all, has been shown in poor light for having acted prematurely in the riots-related cases. It has already been said that the apex court should not have allowed itself to be influenced by organisations and individuals with suspect credentials and subversive agendas. It is equally disappointing that the NHRC chairman, himself a man of law, could have been taken in by the propaganda of such people related to extremely tenuous and, as it has now been revealed, doctored testimonies. An unjustified diatribe against the Gujarat Administration and judiciary led to the wholesale transfer of cases outside the State, even while recourse to higher courts was not taken. This did irreparable damage to Indiaâs image. Foreign collaborators of rights-championing axe grinders have used the NHRCâs stand and the propaganda of a motivated media to telling effect: They succeeded in getting the US to deny a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Such an insult to national honour should have evoked strong condemnation rather than meek protest from the Government. The highest judiciary acted with alacrity in the matter of the supposed sins of omission and commission by the Gujarat Administration. Equity demands that it now act on the prayer of a victim who has exposed the attempted subversion of justice by an unscrupulous bunch of ârightsâ champions.
BK Verma
Rajender Nagar, Lucknow <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->