New Delhi:
Who's to blame for the death of 19-year-old Ishrat Jehan? The central government and the BJP government in Gujarat continue to pass the buck to each other.
The latest round of political attack and counter-attack places SP Tamang at the centre. Tamang's judicial inquiry ruled that Ishrat was killed by the Gujarat police to impress Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Tamang report provided chilling details of how Ishrat and her boyfriend, Javed, were kidnapped from Mumbai and then killed with two other Muslims in a fake encounter.
The Gujarat government retaliated against Tamang by saying it rejects his report. Based on a petition by Modi's team, the Gujarat High Court also said action will be taken against Tamang for going public with his controversial findings.
Now, the central government says it will appeal against that order in the Supreme Court. Tamang did his job, says the government, and he should not be punished for it.
But the central government also needs damage control. Last month, it filed an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court that said there was evidence to suggest that Ishrat's boyfriend had links to the LeT.
The same affidavit said Ishrat often travelled with Javed, posing as his wife. The Gujarat government has used this to substantiate its claim that Ishrat and the two men killed with her were indeed terrorists, plotting to assassinate Narendra Modi.
The union government defends itself by saying that it provided intelligence reports, but never suggested that either Javed or she be killed. That decision, it says, was the Gujarat police's.
The latest round of political attack and counter-attack places SP Tamang at the centre. Tamang's judicial inquiry ruled that Ishrat was killed by the Gujarat police to impress Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Tamang report provided chilling details of how Ishrat and her boyfriend, Javed, were kidnapped from Mumbai and then killed with two other Muslims in a fake encounter.
The Gujarat government retaliated against Tamang by saying it rejects his report. Based on a petition by Modi's team, the Gujarat High Court also said action will be taken against Tamang for going public with his controversial findings.
Now, the central government says it will appeal against that order in the Supreme Court. Tamang did his job, says the government, and he should not be punished for it.
But the central government also needs damage control. Last month, it filed an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court that said there was evidence to suggest that Ishrat's boyfriend had links to the LeT.
The same affidavit said Ishrat often travelled with Javed, posing as his wife. The Gujarat government has used this to substantiate its claim that Ishrat and the two men killed with her were indeed terrorists, plotting to assassinate Narendra Modi.
The union government defends itself by saying that it provided intelligence reports, but never suggested that either Javed or she be killed. That decision, it says, was the Gujarat police's.
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