Communist Party of India on Tuesday demanded that the State government institute a judicial commission on the lines of Bhargava Commission to go into all police encounters that took place since 1990.
Speaking to the media here, CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said that National Human Rights Commission had declared the encounters occurred in Kurnool and Guntur in 2002-03 as fake. Those who were killed in the so-called encounters in Kurnool, Guntur and other Rayalaseema districts were not Naxalites. A long list of so-called criminals was prepared by the police department and physically eliminated one after another.
According to sources, the list was more than a hundred in which 50 to 60 members were physically eliminated. Condemning these murders, he said that this was done in the name of checking crime and maintaining law and order. The police took law into their hands and killed many innocent people ruthlessly, he alleged. He also welcomed the directive of the Supreme Court to the State government to file an affidavit explaining its stand on fake encounters in the State within two weeks.
Stating that all the police officers, who were involved in the fake encounters and their superiors, who ordered the encounters, should be brought to book, he said and demanded that the government do this to establish the supremacy of law and civil rights. Demanding that the State government revive Jail Boards, he appealed to the Chief Minister to release undertrials from jails rather than punishing them.
Referring to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s remark linking rice with ice-cream, he opined that it reflected arrogance of Chidambaram. Both Chidambaram and Ahluwalia, who were in race for Finance Minister’s post, were unfit, he felt. He also urged the State government to convene a meeting of farmers associations on drought issue.
On the proposal of merger of Left parties, Sudhakar Reddy said that the situation was not favorable now. Opining that Communist parties split in 1965 on irrelevant issues, he said there was a need to take up united struggles and agitations by the Left parties to create favorable situation for their merger, he added.
CPI State secretary Dr K Narayana condemned the police lathi-charge on the students, who held protests against the issues of books, scholarships and mess charges. He demanded that the State government withdraw the cases filed against the students.
He also said that 10 Left parties have planned “Chalo Secretariat” in protest against power issues and tariff hike. Instead of launching Indiramma Bata, the Chief Minister should have taken up “Power Bata”.
–Agencies