In a repeat of what has been happening to a number of terror-accused in several jails across the country, it has come to light that one of the accused in the Delhi blasts case has also been subjected to brutal physical attack. Md Salman, arrested by Uttar Pradesh ATS on 6th March 2010 for his alleged involvement in Delhi Blasts has been in judicial custody in Tihar Jail since then. The Delhi Bomb blast case is being heard by Additional Sessions Judge Ms. Santosh Snehi Mann.

Salman was brought to court with this entire head bandaged today (31.08.2010).

JTSA’s statement on Praveen Swami’s reportage in The Hindu with its excessive reliance on intelligence dossiers triggered a debate on the Net. Below are reproduced the original statement, Swami’s response (as a letter to his friend and former colleague, who also posted it on her blog, followed by our rejoinder.

Days after the startling revelation of the post mortem reports of Atif Ameen and Md. Sajid, which conclusively nailed the lie of the Delhi Police claims that the two boys were killed in cross fire, the security establishment has swung into damage control to ensure that no further information is made public. It is to be recalled that the post mortem reports could be made public only through the persistent efforts of RTI activist and Jamia student, Afroze Alam Sahil and the resolute resistance offered by the teachers and students of Jamia as well as other civil rights activists.

Dear Sir,

You are perhaps aware that Professor Siras, a teacher at your university, and a poet, was found dead yesterday in his sad room where he was forced to move after being turned out of the university accommodation. It is immaterial whether he committed suicide or sustained a heart attack. You, sir, are the signatory on his death warrant. By condemning his choices of love and life, by publicly so shaming him, and by colluding with those who turned his most private, intimate moments into sordid reality TV, you effectively, pushed him to the brink of death.

Gross violation of rights of minors by security forces in the name of fighting terrorism continue unabated. In the so-called ‘encounter’ at Batla House, Md Sajid, a 17-year-old boy was shot dead by the Special Cell team. More recently, another minor, Md. Salman has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS from Siddharthnagar on 6 March 2010 and is presently in the custody of the Delhi Police.

Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist, believed that a lie repeated several times over would soon acquire the legitimacy of truth. The Delhi Police has surpassed Goebbels’ strategy. By deluging the press and the public with one lie after another, it hopes that the truth will never be extricated.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s visit to Azamgarh is being touted as the party’s reaching out to a community and town that have been reeling under a spate of arrests of alleged terror accused and battling the tag of ‘epicenter of terror’.