Rajkumar hostage crisis enters 100th day

Though Nedumaran and Gopal have declared that they would undertake one more trip to the jungles to convince Veerappan to release Rajkumar, they are yet to decide on the date of the visit.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, where petitions were filed challenging the decisions of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to release 121 TADA detenus and 5 extremists respectively, as demanded by Veerappan has reserved its verdict.

The apex court had, on September 1, stayed the release of TADA detenus and extremists.

Veerappan kidnapped four persons including Rajkumar. However, assistant film director, Nagappa Maradgi escaped on September 28 and S Govindaraj, the actor’s son-in-law was released last month.

NHRC charged with adopting double standards

Human Rights Federation, which had recently petitioned the National Human Rights Commission to intervene in Supreme Court in the Karnataka detenus case, today charged NHRC with adopting `double standards’.

Reacting to the NHRC’s decision yesterday not to intervene in the matter, in a joint statement here, the federation convenors P Nedumaran, Prof G Kalyani and G Sukumar, said NHRC’s decision was `regrettable’.

Last week the three, who are part of the emissary team attempting to secure the release of Kannada filmstar Rajkumar, who has completed 101 days in the captivity of forest brigand, Veerappan, had petitioned NHRC to implead itself in the case involving release of 51 detenus in Karnataka prisons, whose release had been sought by the brigand for the release of the actor.

The three said in the missing persons issue in Punjab, the NHRC, on the direction of the Supreme Court, had enquired into the matter. Since NHRC had the sanction of the apex court, nobody could stay its proceedings.

If NHRC had decided to implead itself in the case, the proceedings of the Justice Sadhashiva Commission, set up by NHRC’s own instructions, could have conducted its proceedings unimpaired.

Nedumaran, Kalyani and Sukumar said NHRC by taking a decision not to intervene had failed to perform its duty.

Therefore, the Human Rights Federation would seek a direction from the Supreme Court to ensure that the Sadhashiva Commission’s proceedings were conducted within a stipulated period, they said.

The NHRC had constituted a two-man panel, comprising retired High Court judge Justice Sadashiva and former CBI director C V Narasimhan to probe the charges of atrocities, but it had been stayed first by a single judge and then by a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court.

The emissaries, in their memorandum of October 30, had said if NHRC intervened, it would protect the rights of the 51 persons in custody, including 34 jailed since 1993 and also 70 others granted bail, but forced to stay in Mysore and sign at Ramapura police station every week, and hundreds who had suffered other violations.

The emissaries had claimed that as citizens `cast with the responsibility’ of getting the safe release of Rajkumar, they were seeking to impress on NHRC to discharge its statutory responsibilities.