KOZHIKODE: The National Development Front (NDF) has welcomed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry proposed by the State Government into the  Marad killings.  In the report, the Commission has passed strong strictures against political parties like Communist Marxist Party of India (CPI-M), Bharateeya Janata Party (BJP), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)  and  organizations like  Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the NDF. The NDF believes that the findings of the Commission are more  based on statements of witnesses produced by the Sangh Parivar aligned  police officials and scribes. The commission failed to enquire about the root causes of the riots like the first Marad Killings of 2002  which ended up in the revenge killings of 2003.

Legal procedures are generally found to be the first cause of citizens' alienation in the criminal justice system. For eg, the chargesheets against the accused involved in Marad 2002 violence were filed only after the revenge killings of 2003. A total of 392 persons figured as accused in 102 cases registered in 2002, of whom many in more than one case. Among these accused, the party-wise affiliation are: 213 belonging to RSS/BJP; 78 CPI(M); 68 IUML; 06 of Indian National League (INL) ; and one of Congress.

Eventually, the FIRs in all these 102 cases of Marad 2002 were filed on May 15. It was pay-back murder for the communal violence a year earlier in the village which had left five persons killed (three of them belonging to the minority community) So far, nearly 500 Muslim families either left their homes for refugee camps or compelled to dispose their properties in Marad.

Delays in police investigations or falsely implicating innocent persons in litigation are well known ways to deflect justice. From May 2003,  137 under trial prisoners have been denied bail in a single case of the second Marad revenge killings of May, 2003.  All of these under trials are belongs to Muslim minority community. Out of 148 accused in this case,  2 are absconding and only 6  recieved bail.  And most of these prisoners were not even directly linked with the killings. Surprisingly, the hindutva factor in police forces prevented usual legal action against the accused of  2002 Marad killings, because the largest accused segment was belongs to organizations like RSS and BJP. Even the key accused peoples belongs to Sangh Parivar in 2002 marad killings recieved bail due to the bondage of hindutva forces and investigating team while 137 accused Muslim prisoners were denied bail for the past 3 years!

At the very start, victims of alleged crimes are often reportedly discouraged by the police from filing a general diary or first information report (FIR). Complaints from Muslim Youths,  are generally silenced by threatening them to add their names in " Official Terrorist Lists". Such blackmailing acts are causing grievous hurt in our criminal justice system. Furthermore, some police officials and intelligence officials collaborates with Hindutva forces to create fake news about "Muslim Extremism".  The sangh parivar controle over  media  and police is visible from  frequent  massive raids in Muslim households through out our country  which lead to extra judicial detention of youths without any causes.  So far, the police have failed to find the real culprits behind many such media hyped "Bomb Blasts" in Kerala  which is in fact orchestrated by Hindutva fascists  to deface minorities.

The recent communal riots recognises the need for institutional reform and changes in legal procedures, more significantly it points to imbalances in political and media  power that shape inequities. The costs of injustice, in an increasingly inequitable society, are paid not only by the poor, who are deprived of rights in land, in access to resources and development opportunities, but a growing number who are being marginalised on account of differences of religion, ethnicity and gender. Their demand for social justice itself may have been muted because of systemic deprivation, political subordination or exclusion. But there are limits to such tolerance.

Citizens often turn to the court as the last resort against individual and collective injustice, Can the courts meet these expectations? The experience of ordinary citizens and numerous legal aid organisations who support their cases, provide evidence of the fault lines in the delivery of justice and the political obstacles. It would be well to take these experiences into account in addressing access to criminal justice.