Ahmedabad:
The BJP has demanded that the government share new details that may have emerged in the case of Ishrat Jahan, the young college student who was shot dead in Gujarat by the police in 2004. In its defense, the Gujarat police has argued that Ishrat was a member of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, and was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. But allegations that Ishrat's death was a fake encounter have haunted the BJP government and Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Media reports this week have stated that Ishrat's LeT affiliation was confirmed by David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-born American arrested by the FBI for planning and executing the 26/11 attacks on behalf of the LeT. (Read: Ishrat Jahan was an LeT suicide bomber: Headley to NIA)
"This important disclosure (by Headley), appearing in the national media, makes it incumbent on the central government to admit or deny the existence of this position," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Ishrat was shot dead in June 2004 along with three other alleged terrorists on the outskirts of Ahemedabad. A magisterial inquiry in Gujarat ruled that she had died in a fake encounter.
On Monday, her family held a press conference rejecting the remarks attributed to Headley. They have also asked Home Minister P Chidambaram to clarify what Headley said about Ishrat. "I believe that my daughter was innocent and that she could never have done this. We always teach our children to love our country and this report is incorrect," her mother Shamima Kausar told reporters.
"The conduct of the union government in the matter of the encounter relating to Ishrat Jahan has been scandalous," Prasad alleged on Tuesday.
In September last year, the Centre filed a fresh affidavit in the Ishrat case in the Gujarat High Court, which distanced the union government from the Gujarat police's decision to shoot the 19-year-old. The state police and government had claimed that they had been alerted to Ishrat's terrorist links by the Home Ministry. The union government's original affidavit referred to these alleged LeT links. In its new affidavit, the Home Ministry said, "Intelligence inputs given by the Centre do not constitute conclusive proof and it is for the Gujarat government and its police to act on such inputs."
An inquiry by Metropolitan Magistrate Metropolitan S P Tamang concluded that Ishrat's death was "a cold-blooded murder" and that senior police officers allowed it in the hope of winning Narendra Modi's goodwill and promotions. The Modi government then won a stay on the Tamang report in the Gujarat High Court.
(With PTI inputs)
Media reports this week have stated that Ishrat's LeT affiliation was confirmed by David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-born American arrested by the FBI for planning and executing the 26/11 attacks on behalf of the LeT. (Read: Ishrat Jahan was an LeT suicide bomber: Headley to NIA)
"This important disclosure (by Headley), appearing in the national media, makes it incumbent on the central government to admit or deny the existence of this position," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Ishrat was shot dead in June 2004 along with three other alleged terrorists on the outskirts of Ahemedabad. A magisterial inquiry in Gujarat ruled that she had died in a fake encounter.
On Monday, her family held a press conference rejecting the remarks attributed to Headley. They have also asked Home Minister P Chidambaram to clarify what Headley said about Ishrat. "I believe that my daughter was innocent and that she could never have done this. We always teach our children to love our country and this report is incorrect," her mother Shamima Kausar told reporters.
"The conduct of the union government in the matter of the encounter relating to Ishrat Jahan has been scandalous," Prasad alleged on Tuesday.
In September last year, the Centre filed a fresh affidavit in the Ishrat case in the Gujarat High Court, which distanced the union government from the Gujarat police's decision to shoot the 19-year-old. The state police and government had claimed that they had been alerted to Ishrat's terrorist links by the Home Ministry. The union government's original affidavit referred to these alleged LeT links. In its new affidavit, the Home Ministry said, "Intelligence inputs given by the Centre do not constitute conclusive proof and it is for the Gujarat government and its police to act on such inputs."
An inquiry by Metropolitan Magistrate Metropolitan S P Tamang concluded that Ishrat's death was "a cold-blooded murder" and that senior police officers allowed it in the hope of winning Narendra Modi's goodwill and promotions. The Modi government then won a stay on the Tamang report in the Gujarat High Court.
(With PTI inputs)
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