He just peeped out of the house for namaz, they shot him: Jaleel’s daughter tells people’s tribunal
Abdul Jaleel was killed in police firing on December 19 in Mangaluru
Mangaluru: A three-member people’s tribunal headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Gopala Gowda, recently called on eye witnesses and victims of December 19 violence and police action in the city to depose before it. The tribunal was constituted to bring out the truth about the violence and police action in the city on December 19. It was jointly organised Indian Social Forum, Bangalore, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and ‘Samvidhanadha Haadiyalli’ under the banner of “Listening Posts”.
The tribunal which was organised at a private hotel in the city also saw two young kids, barely into their teens lined up for the deposition. Much to the surprise of the tribunal which also consisted of former Karnataka Public Prosecutor, BT Venkatesh and senior Journalist, Sugata Srinivasaraju, the two kids came forward to depose before the tribunal.
When curious Justice Gopala Gowda enquired the kids, they introduced themselves as Shifani and Sabeel. They were 14 and 9 years old respectively and were students of 9th and 5th grade. The coordinator of the tribunal then informed Justice Gowda that they were kids of Abdul Jaleel, who was killed in Police firing on December 19.
Shifani and Sabeel had not come before the tribunal to seek assistance or help, they had come to tell the tribunal about what they saw on the fateful Thursday of December 19.
Justice Gowda then questioned the young kids and enquired about their studies and academics before asking anything about December 19. 9-year old Sabeel who told Justice Gowda that he wants to become a pilot to “fly in the sky” when he grows up added that his father had picked him and his sister from the school barely two hours before he was shot dead by the police.
“He picked us from our school van and took us home around 1:30 pm on December 19. We had lunch together that afternoon. There were chaos going around when he went out of the house saying he was going to offer namaz. He was then shot by the police in his eyes, and his brain” Sabeel told the tribunal.
When the tribunal asked Sabeel if his father had participated in the protest, Sabeel downplayed the allegations that he was taking part in the protest and said he was at home all the afternoon before going out for namaaz.
15-year old Shifani, who unlike her brother has not decided what she wants to become when she grows up, then took over and spoke to the tribunal. She added that she could see her father falling down after being shot soon as he stepped out of the house.
“He had lunch with us and left the house saying he is going to offer namaz. Soon as he stepped out, he was shot down by the police. We could see him walking and falling down all of a sudden. He was dead on the spot. He was with us just a few moments ago, and in no time he was dead. He just peeped out of the house to see where the police were and what was happening so that he can go and offer namaz and they killed him” Shifani said as she broke down before the tribunal.
Justice Gowda then expressed his condolence to the family and felt sorry for the trauma and dilemma the young kids had to go through at the tender age. He added that the truth will come out and any injustice made to them and their family on December 19 will not remain hidden.
The police has named both the deceased in police firing as the accused in the FIR, a move that prompted the state government from dispensing the ex-gratia amount it initially announced for the families of the deceased. The police and government have maintained that a thorough enquiry will be made into the case to bring out the truth.
Currently, a magisterial enquiry has been ordered by the government which is expected to submit its report to the government and Human Right Commission within three months. Meanwhile, a CID investigation into the matter is also underway to ascertain facts about what happened and how things panned out on December 19 in the port city.
Irrespective of the outcome of the enquiry, the loss incurred by the two very young minds of Shifani and Sabeel and the trauma they have been into of watching their father lying in the pool of blood is irreparable and if their version of facts come out as the truth in the enquiry, the question remains, who should be held responsible for tearing through the childhood of Shifani and Sabeel?
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Rupee settles at record low of 95.73 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee weakened further and fell to a record low of 95.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, amid a strong dollar and worries over inflation amid elevated energy prices.
Forex traders said the rupee is expected to trade with a negative bias amid inflation concerns and the strength of the US dollar in the overseas market.
The West Asia crisis and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted crude petroleum imports into India. Also, the sharp rise in crude prices has made fuel imports costlier.
The rupee has become the worst-performing currency in Asia for the year, registering a loss of over 6 per cent so far this year, as elevated crude oil prices, a strong dollar and concerns over the West Asia crisis weighed on investor sentiments, traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 95.74 against the American currency.
In a volatile trade, the USD/INR pair witnessed an intra-day high of 95.61 and an all-time intraday low of 95.96 against the greenback before settling at 95.73 (provisional), down 7 paise from its previous close.
The rupee on Wednesday slipped to an all-time low of 95.80 against the US dollar, and settled at 95.66 against the greenback.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias amid inflation concerns and a strong dollar. Rising inflation in the US dimmed expectations of a rate cut by the Fed," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Choudhary said geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran and foreign fund outflows may also pressurise the rupee.
However, any intervention by the RBI and import duty hike on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.50 to 96.10, Choudhary added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.51, down 0.01 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.50 per cent at USD 106.16 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 789.74 points to settle at 75,398.72, while the Nifty climbed 277 points to 23,689.60.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,703.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, wholesale price inflation shot up to a 42-month high of 8.3 per cent in April on the back of a spike in energy prices that followed the disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict.
Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation was 3.88 per cent in March, while it was 0.85 per cent in April last year.
"Positive rate of inflation in April 2026 is primarily due to an increase in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, other manufacturing and non-food articles, etc," data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.
