It is not even a year since the brutal murder and public lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq on the night of September 28, 2015. There are no timelines for sorrow and grief. Time does not heal, it may help to hone personal survival strategies for those who have to overcome the overwhelming loss of a beloved. But Mohammad Akhlaq's family is being denied even that chance. They are shattered with the news that they are now to be investigated on the charge of slaughtering a calf.
UP has a stringent law against cow slaughter. Under Section 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, the slaughter of a cow, bull, bullock or its progeny is completely banned and penalty for violation, including an attempt to slaughter, is seven years of imprisonment. It is therefore a very serious matter with grave implications, given the political situation when under the present central regime, those who believe cow slaughter is justification for the death penalty adorn ministerial positions.
Akhlaq's family have expressed their willingness for a full investigation and in fact have demanded that it be completed speedily so that the truth can once again be reiterated.
Those who accuse them are the murderers of Akhlaq. 17 of them, including sons of BJP leaders are in jail. The murder case is coming up for hearing on July 26 where charges are expected to be framed by a court. Everything is being done by the accused and their supporters to weaken the case and get the charges changed. Family members of Akhlaq who are witnesses in the case are being threatened to withdraw.
In a diabolical move prior to this crucial court hearing, a petition was filed in the local court demanding that an FIR be registered against Akhlaq's family members on grounds of violating the cow slaughter laws in Uttar Pradesh. The actual petitioner himself confesses that he is not an eyewitness; clearly he is the proxy for those in jail; yet the petition was accepted.
In a total travesty of justice, a local court in Sujapur ordered an investigation under Section 156 (3) of the CrPc on the basis of that petition. Among those to be investigated is the slain man's daughter, a young woman named Shaista. At the terrible time of her father's murder, we saw her, grief-stricken and asking the world, "And when they find that the meat was that of a goat, will it bring my father back?" Today, she is accused along with her elderly mother, of holding the calf down while Akhlaq's brother, who lives far from the village in town, is accused of actually wielding the knife and cutting the throat of the calf. Other members of the family including a daughter-in-law, also living away in town, are all named as accomplices.
The narration of events in the petition are so obviously fake and motivated. Astonishingly it is claimed that the "calf, adored by the whole village" and "fed milk and bread by the doting villagers" was killed in broad daylight by Akhlaq's family and at different stages, this was witnessed by three villagers, who have been named. This is supposed to have occurred on September 25, three days before Akhlaq was killed. Astonishingly, at the time of this supposed slaughter of their beloved calf, the eye witnesses remained silent - leave alone reporting it to the police, they kept it a closely-guarded secret even from the other villagers. Why, one would ask? According to the petition, they were scared. Of whom? No answers.
But there is more of such drivel. The remains of the animal, according to the petition, were disposed of only three days later. The villagers, according to the petition, now busy looking for their revered missing calf, suddenly find Akhlaq trying to dispose of a black plastic bag. No prizes for guessing that it contains the remains of none other than the missing calf. Having been caught red-handed, not only does he confess, but he actually invites the villagers to his home to check the contents of the fridge which he says contains the rest of the meat. The angered villagers then beat him up.
For communally-driven criminals capable of lynching, murdering a helpless, unarmed senior citizen, unable to defend himself, the manufacture of bizarre defence stories are to be expected. But should courts so easily permit what is clearly the blatant misuse of Section 156(3)? This clause is meant to protect citizens' right to justice when the police refuse to act or investigate a complaint. Under this clause, the magistrate is the deciding authority and does not require to hear anyone other than the complainant. But if the complaint itself is prima facie without any basis, why should it be entertained? Here the petition itself is so full of contradictions, so clearly motivated to serve the purpose of intimidation of witnesses in an on-going murder case as also to influence the main case in which charges are to be framed, that it surely should have been dismissed. Instead the police are ordered to investigate.
But the police role too is highly questionable. Instead of bringing on record the details of the investigation into the murder case which necessarily included investigation of the alleged motive, including cow slaughter, the police made no efforts whatsoever to convince the court that a fresh investigation was not required. It just produced a one-line written statement that no investigation had been conducted on cow slaughter. This provided the ground for the order.
There is another side pointed out by the bright young lawyer representing the family, Yunus Saifi, who feels the petition may turn out to be a self-goal. He says that the petition actually admits to the killing of Akhlaq and names specific people at the scene who should now be included as accused in the main case of murder. He and some members of the family are now targets of the merchants of hate who populate the Sangh Parivaar organisations in the area.
At the time of Akhlaq's death, RSS and BJP leaders had justified the killing quoting the so-called Vedic injunctions that the punishment for cow slaughter was death. Now they want the judiciary to work on this understanding. The statements by BJP leaders welcoming the court order make it clear that they are fully with the murderers. In fact, it was Sanjeev Balyan, a minister in the Modi Government who said, "Akhlaq couldn't have eaten the full cow all alone. The meat would have gone to 20 families there. It's time to track them down and ensure justice is done to the other side", the other side meaning those in jail.
With the UP elections as the immediate agenda, the Sangh Parivaar is back to doing what it knows best, the creation of communal polarization through spreading lies and hatred. This is a bigger battle against these forces which has to be fought and won, but in the meanwhile, the immediate concern is for the security and welfare of Akhlaq's family. The country owes them. Stand with them, stand by them, let them know they are not alone. This will also force the UP Government and administration to take the necessary urgent legal and administrative measure to ensure that justice is done and that they are protected from this vicious and inhuman onslaught.
(Brinda Karat is a Politburo member of the CPI(M) and a former Member of the Rajya Sabha.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.