A.Nature of the Incidents
1.The ways of those responsible for the November, 1984 incidents of Delhi and other north Indian cities seem much too common with the perpetrators of similar crimes at Bidar. There was the absence of hurry The underlying intention was to insult the Sikh religious symbols and to expel the Sikhs from Bidar and to destroy their institutions and property.
2.The nature of injuries and the mode of killings show that the mobs were inspired by deep rooted hatred of Sikbs and Sikhism One beardless lad of 18 who had been in Bidar only for one month prior to September 14, 1988 was pursued for kilometer and was hunted down in a maize field like a wild beast. He received a dozen stab wounds. Four boys were badly beaten up and then thrown into a well to ensure that they would not survive. Hair of some of them were removed. One boy was put up on the electric saw to be cut up like a log.
3.There are no reports of Muslims having taken part in attacks. On the contrary they tried to save the students and several stories were current to show how they responded with compassion. Some Hindus of the town also did the same. It is creditable that they chose to remain unaffected by the prevailing sentiment of hatred
4.Fans were removed before setting buildings on fire, tyres and engines of vehicles were likewise saved for them- selves by arsonists. Our team saw several such vehicles. The pre—meditated nature of the holocaust is also clear from the fact that where students were living in houses belonging to Hindus, their property was taken outside and buried but where they were living in houses belonging to Muslims no such precautions were deemed necessary. Houses of Muslims were also set on fire.
5.Much significance needs to be attached to the fact that bamboo sticks carried by the crowd were of one colour and were uniform in size (Indian Express’: Hyderabad September 24, 1988.)
B.Role of the Police and Administration
1.There is evidence to show that lumpen elements from outside Bidar were imported by road particularly on September 15, 1988. The police ignored it. Prevention of such infiltration into an atmosphere surcharged with anti—Sikh frenzy should have been the first priority and should have been easily managed by the administration When there were warnings and a history of incidents.
2.All civil administration except the police is totally out of the picture. The District Magistrate and the Sub Divisional Magistrate were both reported to be on leave and out of station. Abandoning their charge at the festival time is in contravention of ins(ructions. Enquiry ordered by the Karnataka Government will perhaps also look into whether the absence was by accident or design. It certainly is abnormal
3.The police turned Nelsons’ eye to ample prior warnings. The past experience also did not activate it. On the 14th evening it did not try to nip the evil in the bud when such possibility clearly existed, it did not prevent damage to Sikh educational institutions but abetted their destruction. All nine business premises belonging to the Sikhs were completely burnt down. Police failed to save even a single one. It, however, promptly used force on the besieged students.
4.Prior information about the burning of houses reached the police but it remained inactive. Boundary wall of the college was pulled down with connivance of the police. Professional failures are in scores. Their attitude of appeasing the criminally inclined mob erodes deeply into the very rationale of the existence of the force. The Superintendent’s statement to the Press that he gave priority to saving lives and not property is ridiculous as neither could be saved.
- The police gave a solemn assurance to the college management and its own Deputy Inspector General that no student was in its custody Yet 41 student were in custody and they complain of harsh beating by the Police while in custody.
- Under these circumstances some significance can be placed on the fact that bodies of four students were Recovered from a well very near the residence of Superintendent of Police.
- As already stated the Director General of Police, his Inspector General and Deputy Inspector General all avoided discussing events, as they were expected to figure at the impending enquiry by the High Court Judge. They were quite annoyed and embarrassed at the handling of incidents by the local police. Some loud thinking on those lines was done by the Director General of Police and also appeared in the Press on October 2, 1988,
- Appointment of a judge was inordinately delayed by the State Government and valuable evidence was allowed to be partially destroyed. Not a single penny bas been paid to victims; not even an adhoc grant to those who lost everything. C. Role of the Media
The Press has many privileges which the man in the street may question only at grave peril to himself. Selective indifference to events is one such privilege. No one can help mourning the lack of professionalism in the Fourth Estate. Following assessment of the role of the Press is by an insider : “The anti-Sikh riots in Bidar, a remote town in Karnataka, have many lessons for the country, The national Press, which reported the protests agonist the defamation bill even in far—flung areas, failed to take notice of the rioting for 10 days. Not a word came out until some Sikh students reached Delhi to tell their tales of woe.
“Stingers of newspapers and news agencies in Bidar, it appears, were lute in sending their dispatches; and what is worse, Press telegrams were not cleared for a few days This is not the first time that a telegraphic office has acted as a censor or that a local official bas sent unofficial instructions not to transmit messages I experienced this in Guwahati some time ago when I filed my copy on the agitation against ‘foreigners’ in Assam.
“When reports did arrive at newspaper offices, the news desks also failed to appreciate the gravity of the situation— apparently because of delay, they tended to take the reports as ‘stale’ news.
“The national Press, it is (rue, cannot have staffers in every town in the country, But even when the story appeared in some regional newspapers, correspondents of big newspapers did not follow it up [cannot say that this was because of any communal “prejudice”, though most of the subsequent stories were categorical in putting the blame on the Shiv Sena for fomenting the trouble, But the national Press cannot absolve itself of the initial lapse. How to ensure that it does not happen again is for the media to study.”
“The lessons from Bidar”
by Kuldip Nayar, The Tribune, October 6, 1988
While talking to reporters at Bidar, our team wondered Why stories were filed so late. The UNI reporter replied with broad grin : “it was a holiday being Ganesh Chaturatbi The All India Radio and the Doordarshan maintained a studied silence for several days. Who could have organized the operation black-out particularly at the level of the origin of the incidents? The Central Government offices deal with the trans- mission of news communication, the black-out reminds one again of the similar arrangements made at the time of the November 1984 incidents when the Press in Punjab was placed formally under censorship. The entire media in what appears to be a calculated move “acted in concert. It seems certain powers that he kept a close vigil in the news agencies which were not allowed to report incidents in a normal manner. The newspapers which happen to be clients of the two monopoly, government financed and government-controlled news agencies, had a right to ask the agencies why they did not report the incidents in time and in a proper manner. But there is no such evidence.
All this tends to make the Indian fourth estate a unique institution: a vibrant, democratic entity when dealing with ordinary, run-of-the mill events but a closely self—censored/ officially-censored institution when dealing with the affairs of the Indian minorities and Dalits. Thus, those who wish to know about the human rights of the minorities and Dalits and their plight in India should look for other sources than the Indian news media. It is a matter of grave concern that certain inter- national media organizations such as the B. B.C., the Voice of America etc. routinely depend on the Indian news agencies exclusively for the coverage of the entire Indian scene.
