Not All Fun and Games
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If one of the finest officers of the Indian Army is jailed in the Central jail of the country meant for hard core criminals for more than one and half years with out bringing even a single charge, it is a clear case of human rights violation.. If the officer and his family has suffered humiliation for years years and then freed for want of any grounds for charge or evidence, it is a case of human rights violation.
The process can not be the punishment. The process is justice in action. That itself can not be used to punish the officer!
Chandra Nath
5 comments:
I entirely agree with Nath. Dasgupta's case is a clear violation of human rights. I am repeating what I had written two months earlier to a select group.
Dear friends
It is good to remember the one who packed you parachute. I am writing this about one of our colleagues who has packed many parachutes, but languishes in jail for a crime that he has not committed, with no one to speak up for him.
You must have read about the case of Saini and Paul of the National Security Council who were arrested last year for passing sensitive information to Rosanna Minchew, a US Embassy staffer working for the CIA. Soon after wards they arrested Brigadier Ujjal Dasgupta, Director (Computers) in RAW. Like Saini and Paul, Dasgupta was a member of the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum, set up to deal with cyber-terrorism and information security. He is presently in Tihar jail, and his trial is yet to begin.
I do not know how many of you know Ujjal or UD. I have known him for almost 50 years. We are both from Lucknow, and he joined NDA in July 1962 a year after I did. (He is from the 28th NDA course). We were both commissioned into Signals and have served together several times, the last one being in RAW. UD was one of the best officers in his batch – as a YO, he was awarded the Plaque of Honour. In RAW, he did not deal with any intelligence. As Director Computers, he was mostly concerned with making sure everyone had adequate support, in terms of hardware and software.
Charges against Dasgupta have been framed under the Official Secrets Act, with which all of you must be familiar. According to the Act - draconian law enacted by the British in 1923 - if an Indian has any sort of communication with a foreign national, he is presumed to have passed information useful to an enemy. To prove communication, it is not even necessary that he met, spoke or corresponded – it is enough if the name or address of a foreigner is found in his possession. So, if a foreigner’s telephone number is found in the diary or mobile phone of an Indian, he can be branded a spy. Since Minchew and Dasgupta were members of the same committee, one can assume that they exchanged telephone numbers and communicated with each other.
You may have read about the celebrated case of Captain Dreyfus of France, who was wrongly convicted of treason in 1894. It took 12 years for him to be exonerated, and re-instated, after which he was given the Legion of Honour. Justice was done when the men who had falsely implicated him were punished. In India, this never happens. The Samba case is a classic example. Dreyfus was finally acquitted because the case had to be reopened after a public outcry, led by French intellectuals such Emile Zola and Anatole France. In fact, Zola had to spend a year in jail for his efforts. The Dreyfus case also resulted in the fall of the government in France.
I am convinced that Ujjal is not a spy. If anything, he can be accused of an improper relationship with a foreign national, which is not such a big deal, especially today. One finds government officials as well as foreigners in all Page 3 parties in Delhi. No one has ever asked these government officials for an explanation, let alone arrest them. Many Indian diplomats have foreign wives, who they met during their sojourns abroad. One well known example was our previous President, KR Narayanan. Do you think these diplomats could have met their future life partners without violating the Official Secrets Act?
You must have heard of the well known case of Syed Iftikhar Gilani, Delhi Bureau chief of Kashmir Times, who was arrested in June 2002 by IB sleuths masquerading as Income Tax officials. He was charged under the Official Secrets Act for possessing secret documents and faced a 14 year jail term if convicted. After spending 7 months in Tihar jail, Gilani was released, due to lack of evidence – the so-called "classified" documents in his possession were reports that are freely available on the internet. His release was made possible by an intense media campaign and questions in parliament. Subsequently, 50 prominent MPs addressed a letter to the Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani, recommending compensation to Gilani and the repeal of the OSA. Why has no one come forward to demand the release of Dasgupta? Just because Gilani is a correspondent and Dasggupta an Army officer who has served the country for almost 40 years? Are we not applying double standards?
UD is a heart patient and underwent heart bypass surgery almost 20 years ago. He is often in hospital for some ailment or the other. Thanks to the intervention of the High Court, he has been allowed to take treatment in the Army Hospital (RR). I have met him there a couple of times. He is not in good shape. I am in touch with his wife Bharati, who is literally running from pillar to post. All their savings have gone in lawyers’ fees, without an end in sight. She is now in the process of selling her boutique, to raise more funds. However, what she needs more than anything is not financial but moral support. I think it is time we raised our voice against the injustice being done to one of our comrades. Only a public outcry can secure the release of Dasgupta, as happened in the case of Dreyfus and Gilani.
VK Singh
Dear V K Singh,
I completely second your thoughts. It is heart-breaking to know that Dasgupta Uncle was suffering in Tihar jail, for no fault of his. I have known him since my childhood days, when my father was serving along with him. I recollect my father telling me that he was amongst the finest officers that Indian Army had ever seen.It is ironic that he was languishing in the jail. Wonder where he is now? Just checked the date of your comment, which is way back in 2007. Hope and pray that things are fine with him and his family.
To what depths has the Indian judiciary stooped to? Is there anybody concerned about the gross injustice and humiliation a senior Army offiecr is being subjected to? It's a slurr on the whole Armed Forces community of the Nation.
Please count on me for any kind of support needed to get the Brigadier out and honorably exhonerated.
I support you fully, Col Nath.
Sincerely,
Cdr Kujad Jani, IN (Retd)
I know UD and can say it can not be true. A person with outstanding honesty and integrity, he is going to COME out of this. Only How is he going to be compansated of the time he would have lost. Let the media and masses wake up..justice is getting delayed..OSA was not intended to book/harras senior guys like him..we need to understand..Please..
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