THE cases of former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt who took on Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat Chief Minister and the 10 activists who have been jailed for their alleged involvement in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence typify the current climate of persecution of dissenters or those who cause discomfort to the present regime. Sadly, because the targets do not have the wherewithal to fight their legal cases, all of them are languishing in jails with little hope of bail or freedom.
Sanjiv Bhatt is serving a life sentence, but the former police officer is unstoppable. Sitting in his cell in a prison in Jamnagar, he wrote a five-page letter to his wife in which he tells her how much he appreciates her fortitude and loyalty. Yet, in every paragraph, Bhatt lashes out against the Modi-led BJP government. In eloquent phrases, he writes about the prevailing culture of intolerance, that the country’s democracy is under threat, and how he remains determined to fight for justice.
Sanjiv Bhatt is a threat to the government because if his testimony against Modi is proved true, the Prime Minister could be held culpable for the 2002 communal pogrom in Gujarat. But he may never get a chance to prove his case. Bhatt was thrown in jail before he could really turn the heat on. He now spends his time fighting for his release.
In 2009, Bhatt charged Modi, who, at the time was Gujarat Chief Minister, with complicity in orchestrating the 2002 riots. He told the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the riots that Modi was alerted about the communal violence but deliberately ignored the intelligence information. At the time, Bhatt was with the State’s Intelligence Bureau. Bhatt claimed he was present at a meeting on February 27, 2002, where Modi told top bureaucrats and police officials that they should be “indifferent” and let Hindus “vent their anger”. The next day, Gujarat witnessed the most horrific communal violence seen in recent times.
The government said Bhatt was not present at the meeting and that the police officer was making it all up. Ever since he came out with this explosive information and gave his testimony in the Zakia Jafri case (one of the nine riot cases under investigation), he became the subject of the state’s wrath. In 2011, Bhatt was suspended from service for “unauthorised” absence from duty. In September 2011, he was arrested on the allegation of forcing constable K.D. Pant to file a false affidavit against Modi. He was eventually released on bail in October 2011. In spite of the setbacks, Bhatt continued to pursue exposing the Modi government’s complicity in the riots.
In August 2015, he was sacked for “unauthorised” leave. Obviously, he continued to remain a threat. In September 2018, he was arrested for an alleged drug-planting incident. He was denied bail. The final blow was delivered in June this year when a Gujarat court sentenced Bhatt to life imprisonment. Either it will take years to reverse the sentence or it may not happen at all. Bhatt was charged and convicted in a custodial death case. He has consistently maintained that the accusations against him were fabricated and false. Bhatt seems to be the type of man who will go down fighting. His wife published the five-page letter on her social media page in August this year. The media picked it up and the case was back in the news. Predictably, when Bhatt’s bail application came up for hearing in September, it was rejected.
Excerpts from the letter is reproduced below to show the former police officer’s fearless pursuit for justice.
“Today, India has reached a stage where it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the state represents concentrated and organised violence. Thuggery has been allowed to elevate itself into a technique of governance. The so-called watchdogs of democracy have been tamed into whimpering submission. In these times of all-round institutional undermining and systemic subversion, no institution or organisation is safe. The courts of our country are apparently adjudicating, but truth and justice don’t necessarily enter the equation.
“The thugs-in-power are trying everything at their disposal to silence or discredit the voices of truth, reason and dissent. These are dark times for the Indian Democracy. But as nightfall doesn’t come all at once, nor does the tyranny of authoritarian repression. Darkness feeds on ignorance and apathy. We, the people of India, stood silently and watched as institution after institution was subverted and undermined to serve the interests of a thuggish regime that thrived on hatred, falsehood and demagoguery. We allowed the idea of the nation to be conflated with an ideology, a political party, or an individual…whereby anyone questioning that idea is automatically branded anti-national.
“When it comes to countering the forces of evil, no acts of resistance is insignificant, no fight is too small to be fought. Even the biggest of avalanches are made up of small things…snowflakes. We shall resist. We shall fight. We shall overcome. That is certain….
I remain—unbowed, unbent, unbroken.”
Anupama Katakam
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