Bengaluru Civil Society Organisations release fact-finding report on DJ Halli, KG Halli violence

Vartha Bharati | 16-09-2020 | 22:35:00 IST

Bengaluru: A report on the violence that ensued on the night of August 11th, 2020 titled ‘Communalising Violence in DJ Halli’ was released today in the presence of (Retd.) Justice Nagamohan Das, Indudhara Honnapura (Senior Journalist & Editor, Samvada), Lakshmi Murthy (Independent Journalist), Abdussalam Puttige (Chief Editor, Vartha Bharathi Kannada Daily) and several members of the Bangalore Fact-Finding team, who all shared their views.

“This report brings out several truths. This report is not the end, on its authority, we must inquire into the truth and find out who is behind the violence, and who all failed to act. There are people who profit from the riot as well. We must find out those who are responsible. We must further tolerance,” said (Retd.) Justice H.N. Nagmohan Das.

Adding to this, Indudhara Honnapura said, “There was an opportunity to stop this, but the Government and the Police failed to do so. Everyone, including the police, knew this is a sensitive area. There are many good officers, but I do not understand why they did not send sufficient police force to control the incident. Why didn’t the Government provide information to the police?”

Sharing her views and the way forward for the report, Independent Journalist Lakshmi Murthy said that it opens up a lot of questions for what we must do as a citizenry, for the media and social media as well. She felt that the report covers the inadequacies that were left out from the media narrative, and is a documentation of history unfolding before us. She said, “Five years from now we will think of how this happened under our noses.”

Abdussalam Puttige shared that “Several truths have come out through the report. The police responsibilities, their inaction, and their role in failing to contain the violence has been detailed. People will not know the truth about the incident through this report”. He also highlighted how people are losing faith in the system, and that before a complete investigation, certain organizations are being made the scapegoat for the incident.

In response to questions of the media regarding the delay in releasing the report, fact-finding team member Swathi Seshadri shared that the team was delayed due to the prohibitory orders and Section 144 imposed in the area and thereafter to cover the voices of all stakeholders as well as ensuring thorough investigation took time. “Getting appointments from officials and talking to people from all spectrums was time-consuming,” she added.

Another question was in regard to the appointment of the claims commissioner who would recover damages from innocent persons who were arrested, who are daily-wage earners. To this, (Retd.) Justice Nagmohan Das responded that as far as recovering damages is concerned, it is an evolving law in India. In respect of those falsely arrested, he mentioned that the courts have passed judgments asking governments to pay compensation for police atrocities, subsequent to this, officers involved in the atrocity are made to undergo disciplinary proceedings. Thereafter, the amount is recovered from the erring officers. “There are court precedents and it is a developing law in the country to compensate innocent persons,” he said.

The report will be submitted to the Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, and others.

Some recommendations of the Fact-Finding Committee which was shared are as follows: -

• The scope of the investigation against Naveen’s Facebook post must be widened, including an inquiry into the failure of the police to take immediate action against Naveen.
• An immediate socio-economic survey must be conducted in the two concerned police station limits to assess the loss of livelihoods, nutrition, health, and shelter post the lock-down, and measures must be taken to ensure that livelihood needs, shelter needs, and nutritional needs are addressed.
• Form Peace Committees comprise all communities to restore peace in the areas.
• The charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) invoked against the accused must be immediately withdrawn.

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