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Sunday, 7 October 2012

‘Maoists must apologise for Niyamat murder'

‘Maoists must apologise for Niyamat murder'

K. BALCHAND
Academics, social activists and students have expressed concern at the failure of the CPI(Maoist) to apologise for the murder of MGNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari. They have also criticised the Jharkhand government for its failure to complete the probe into the murder and give adequate compensation to his family.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 115 persons from a cross-section of society said the Maoists had offered an apology in September for putting up posters, threatening Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, Gokul Vasant and Nandlal Singh and members of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, but had not apologised for the murder of Niyamat Ansari and their threat to his associate Bhukan Singh.
Niyamat Ansari was killed in the Kope gram panchayat in Latehar district in March, within days after he had exposed a Rs. 2.5-lakh scam allegedly perpetrated by the BDO of Manika Block. In their fact-finding report, Mr. Vasant and Mr. Singh had hinted at the possible involvement of the Maoists, along with corrupt middlemen, illegal contractors and forest officials, the statement said.
The Maoists had accused Ansari and Bhukan Singh of being “police informants and cheating the local people of their forestland,” it said.
The statement said the Maoists had temporarily withdrawn the threat issued to Bhukan Singh, but regretted the absence of any action against its own member who had issued threats to Gokul Vasant and others for condemning the murder of Niyamat Ansari.
Expressing concern that the Maoists had not made any attempt to prevent their cadre from perpetrating crimes against those working for transparency and accountability, the signatories also questioned their political methods and ‘kangaroo' courts which showed no respect for laws and jurisprudence. The Maoists must put an end to their practice of settling political differences through violent means.
They also criticised the Jharkhand government for its failure to bring to book those who were behind the killing and to protect workers at the grassroots, demanding that it give adequa

‘Maoists must apologise for Niyamat murder'

K. BALCHAND
Academics, social activists and students have expressed concern at the failure of the CPI(Maoist) to apologise for the murder of MGNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari. They have also criticised the Jharkhand government for its failure to complete the probe into the murder and give adequate compensation to his family.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 115 persons from a cross-section of society said the Maoists had offered an apology in September for putting up posters, threatening Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, Gokul Vasant and Nandlal Singh and members of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, but had not apologised for the murder of Niyamat Ansari and their threat to his associate Bhukan Singh.
Niyamat Ansari was killed in the Kope gram panchayat in Latehar district in March, within days after he had exposed a Rs. 2.5-lakh scam allegedly perpetrated by the BDO of Manika Block. In their fact-finding report, Mr. Vasant and Mr. Singh had hinted at the possible involvement of the Maoists, along with corrupt middlemen, illegal contractors and forest officials, the statement said.
The Maoists had accused Ansari and Bhukan Singh of being “police informants and cheating the local people of their forestland,” it said.
The statement said the Maoists had temporarily withdrawn the threat issued to Bhukan Singh, but regretted the absence of any action against its own member who had issued threats to Gokul Vasant and others for condemning the murder of Niyamat Ansari.
Expressing concern that the Maoists had not made any attempt to prevent their cadre from perpetrating crimes against those working for transparency and accountability, the signatories also questioned their political methods and ‘kangaroo' courts which showed no respect for laws and jurisprudence. The Maoists must put an end to their practice of settling political differences through violent means.
They also criticised the Jharkhand government for its failure to bring to book those who were behind the killing and to protect workers at the grassroots, demanding that it give adequate compensation and employment to Niyamat Ansari's wife and sister.
The signatories include Jayati Ghosh, Xavier Dias, Ashish Ranjan, Himanshu, Nagraj Karkada, Satya Sivaraman and T.N. Gopalan.

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