Tags:
Journalism of Courage
They look confused when you tell them they are in a remand home. Because home has always been sleepy Madadag in Latehar, the fields where Kherwar tribal boys herd cattle. One is a 14-year-old, the other a year older. Meet Gaya and cousin Binod, Jharkhand ‘‘terrorists’’ booked under POTA.
But the boys say they have nothing to do with the MCC. They were in the fields with the cattle when they were picked by some 10 khaki-clad MCC men. ‘‘They forced us to carry heavy guns and walk with them. We had no choice. In the night, they gave us food and left us at Yadav’s house. The next day, the police arrived. We were slapped and taken to the police station. We have been here ever since,’’ says Binod. Gaya nods, bewilderment written all over.
But POTA on 15-year-olds? There are no explanations. The police say they have a solid case. ‘‘One of them even confessed he fired at the police,’’ says Jharkhand Additional Director General of Police J B Mahapatra.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Home Affairs, responding to a Rajya Sabha query, said the Jharkhand government had communicated that ‘‘two cases involving persons aged 17 years and 18 years’’ had been registered under POTA. Pranam Singh and Ruppan Singh, fathers of Binod and Gaya, cannot help their sons.
‘‘They have no money to hire a lawyer, forget bailing out the boys,’’ says lawyer Dhananjay Bharati who has been collecting information on their background. Pranam and Ruppam have been tilling their land in Madadag, the families somehow managing to keep themselves going.
Binod says his father visited him only once after his arrest. ‘‘He met me on October 21 last year. I haven’t seen him after that.’’ Gaya’s parents have not been able to afford a trip to Ranchi. But the boy’s not giving up hope. ‘‘When we ourselves have no idea what POTA is all about, how do you expect these boys to know anything,’’ remarks Bashir Ansari, the remand home’s junior supervisor.
Binod and Gaya are among 207 arrested in Jharkhand under POTA. As many as 702 people have been named in 125 POTA cases — in no other state have so many been booked under the new Act — spread across 16 of the 22 ‘‘terrorist-infested’’ districts.
The MCC and the People’s War Group have gunned down 90 policemen and enforced three bandhs against POTA in the last 16 months. In the areas of their influence, the extremists, dispensing instant justice in kangaroo courts, have recruited at gun-point and extorted money from businessmen and corrupt officials and politicians.
From time to time, they have been turning to children to carry loads, even imparting basic weapon training. Among the POTA accused are five women who have told police they ‘‘joined’’ the outfits because they feared they would have been killed had they refused.
Jharkhand Director General of Police R R Prasad defends his force, saying ‘‘We too have large hearts and an inbuilt system to check if the law is being really misused. We regularly review POTA cases. And we thank the media for pointing out lapses. When we realised five POTA accused were innocent, we let them go. If there are more innocents, we will let them off as well.’’ But that will require screening 702 names. No easy job that. Until then, they all remain POTA accused.
PART I: POTA fact: Jharkhand has a lot more terror than J-K
