By India Tomorrow News,
New Delhi, 25 March 2014: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due in coming April and May, a forum of civil rights activists on Monday sent a letter carrying 25 demands to major political parties seeking their attention to issues like protection of secular environment and transparency in work style of security and intelligence agencies in the country.
Rihai Manch, a civil rights group which has spread in several districts of Uttar Pradesh within a few years, said that due to various communal clashes across the country people are losing their hope.
“We have seen that after several communal riots in which administrations were also involved, communal forces are getting strong and common people are angry and losing their hope,” the letter which carries 25 demands reads.
“Several Muslim youths are put behind bars in the name of terrorism. After years in jail, many of them have been acquitted. During the investigation of several terror cases now it has been established that Muslim youths were picked up falsely and intentionally,” it added.
Some of the demands of Rihai Manch
1. All terror incidents should be reinvestigated, accused should be given bail during trial and a program and policy should be adopted to rehabilitate acquitted persons.
2. If it is found that innocents have been deliberately implicated then action should be taken against such police officers and intelligence agencies.
3. There should be a judicial tribunal to review trial court verdicts in terror cases.
4. Intelligence Bureau (IB) should be made answerable to the Parliament.
5. All incidents of communal riots should be reinvestigated under supervision of Supreme Court, anti-communal riots bill should be passed and riot victims should be given reservation.
