India court clears 16 police of killing Muslims in 1987
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NEW DELHI: A court in New Delhi on Saturday cleared all sixteen policemen accused of murdering dozens of Muslims 27 years ago in a north Indian city, a lawyer said.
More than 40 Muslims were killed in 1987 during riots in Meerut city, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) northeast of New Delhi, after local armed forces picked them up for crowding a local mosque.
The police allegedly then threw the victims into a canal.
“They all, meaning the 16, have been acquitted. The court gave them the benefit of doubt, saying there was lack of evidence regarding their identities,” prosecution lawyer Satish Tamta told AFP.
Tamta could not immediately confirm if there were plans to appeal the ruling in a higher court.
The initial chargesheet was filed in 1996 naming 19 policemen for a string of offences, including murder and conspiracy.
But three of the men died during trial.
All the other accused have been out on bail.
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On DawnNews
Comments (49) Closed
Mar 22, 2015 09:19am
Its been long time ago that happened.Muslims in India has increased to 23pc according to 2011 latest report. But what about 21th century where minorties are under threat in Pakistan.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:24am
We are not surprised at all.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:32am
Another nail of mockery of justice by the champion Indian courts.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:43am
So called secular India. Would love to see Indian trolls comments here
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Mar 22, 2015 09:50am
OH! Really? Is that so...
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Mar 22, 2015 09:52am
We cannot pass argument of other nations affairs when we are unable to prosecute criminals in our own country and set an example for others to follow.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:54am
I'm an Indian and I don't think the courts decision is fair.
But that doesn't mean I will take up arms or get radicalized.
I am for fair trials. Thankfully I have a mind that is able to think beyond community and other differences.
The court should introspect or the plaintiffs must appeal in higher courts.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:59am
Like expected. endian judiciary . They could hang afzal guru aftet some collective conscience...nonsense. is qom ka zamir hi nai hai
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Mar 22, 2015 10:10am
And we call this JUSTICE in India.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:11am
not surprised. like many other 3rd world countries, minorities in india hardly ever get justice.
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Mar 22, 2015 10:22am
@Shamain 2015
How many policemen were arrested for Lahore Massacre in 2014?
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Mar 22, 2015 10:38am
nothing new , as expected
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Mar 22, 2015 10:44am
India is not even considered part of Asia
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Mar 22, 2015 10:45am
News papers are playing major role to create disharmony between two countries,,, the way they publish news is quite interestingly,,
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Mar 22, 2015 10:51am
Independent sources have reported numbers above 250 for the 1987 Meerut massacre, even the deaths in custody were higher than 50.
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Mar 22, 2015 11:00am
What a justice! Then who killed those?
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Mar 22, 2015 11:03am
@Shamain 2015 why we are so much bothering about Indian news .we ha've our own problems. We should become internally united and strong first.
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Mar 22, 2015 11:13am
As expected!
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Mar 22, 2015 11:21am
It took an Indian court 28 years to finally come up with a decision and then Indians question Pakistani courts when dealing with the perpetrators of the Mumbai Attack.
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Mar 22, 2015 11:31am
Thats also reflects the true face of so called democracy of India
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Mar 22, 2015 11:43am
In the wake of no substantial evidence the law took it's course! Judiciary works on evidence not on emotions.
As an Indian citizen I am dissapointed and accept our judicial system is not perfect, but we respect it and are working towards ironing out the flaws in our system...
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Mar 22, 2015 11:57am
@Shamain 2015 Ya you keep taking about zamir...by the way, how are the "prosperous" minorities of Pakistan doing apart from decreasing in number unlike India..
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Mar 22, 2015 12:07pm
May be the case of collective suicide by the Muslims, what Indian police has got to with that? Biggest democrazy.
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Mar 22, 2015 12:09pm
@Riaz Dawn conveniently hide that riots were going on and these innocent people had killed 22 Hindus.
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Mar 22, 2015 12:26pm
@Reader Think of Dr. Shakil Afridi, the man for finding OBL, is charged with sedition.
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Mar 22, 2015 12:54pm
@shamain for a change ,you made sense this time.
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Mar 22, 2015 01:24pm
we both have failed systems on both sides.
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Mar 22, 2015 01:28pm
Arab Muslim Pakistanis are more interested with Indian Muslims then there Arabs in the Middle East. Any reason why?
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Mar 22, 2015 01:42pm
@FeudalKingdom Absolutely! Speedy justice was only reserved for Kasab's case.
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Mar 22, 2015 02:15pm
Muslims should learn to behave in a civilised manner .they should respect the sentiments of the majority.
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Mar 22, 2015 02:41pm
if this is true then immediately SIT ( special investigation team ) need to be setup by supreme court... if police involved in such kind of evil, they immediately need to be stripped from uniform and hanged, but only if they have done, if not then compensate them for all humiliation and trauma they have gone through.
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Mar 22, 2015 02:46pm
@Abdul Kadir : If you are not from Pakistan, even majority Muslims are not safe ! Minorities have only recently been targeted in disgust, while majority are the main targets of terrorists and militants. Just remember, there was no such issue in APS attack in Peshawar.
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Mar 22, 2015 03:03pm
very bad for justice
no one can imagine the feelings of. victims relatives . corruption is everywhere . also in justice
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Mar 22, 2015 03:09pm
Muslims can't get justice any where in world.
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Mar 22, 2015 03:17pm
It is amusing to see Pakistanis complaining about justice systems in other nations!....:-)
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Mar 22, 2015 03:35pm
@Abdul Kadir from where did you get as far as i know muslims are 13.8 pc in INDIA
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Mar 22, 2015 04:22pm
So was Lakhvi exonerated by the courts
and so were Modi and Amit Shah !!!!
this is pleasure to see rule of law prevailing in sub-continent, after all we all are near to same.
and beside I heard that confessed criminal of Samjhota express is also on bail....by the court too
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Mar 22, 2015 04:27pm
No surprises there
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Mar 22, 2015 04:36pm
Whoever has said is right that Law is blind. It looks things through the prism of evidence. And if there is no proof, even a guilty person can go scot-free. What a terrible truth. I think laws, during kingdoms in the past, were better than the ones today. I know even there were flaws but not like present justice system in which one doesn't know when justice will be served but in the past times, justice was served immediately within hours and days.
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Mar 22, 2015 05:16pm
@shamain well said.
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Mar 22, 2015 05:17pm
@Ashwin they own most of the major franchises in the country.
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Mar 22, 2015 05:23pm
@Abdul Kadir ~don't lie to prove your point, its 15 percent!
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Mar 22, 2015 05:38pm
To Dawn,
Newspaper plays important role in building perception of society. They are believed to stay neutral but Pakistani news channel and newspapers had always published story with one side of story.
This whole incident started with communal riots between two societies where 10 Hindus were brutally killed. this incident on 27 may was reflection of previous incident
I strongly condemn both the incidents but this wasn't expected from Dawn and we want to know how people are radicalised. This is best example set by Dawn.
Have courage to publish my comments Dawn.
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Mar 22, 2015 06:33pm
@shubs They can only complain as they can't do any thing else
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Mar 22, 2015 06:47pm
@zubaida khan What franchise, please explain...
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Mar 22, 2015 07:37pm
Complete miscarriage of justice. If no action is taken in cases like this and nothing done about the thoroughly unprofessional comments of the prosecutor in the Kasab case, then we Indians cannot complain that our judicial system is not respected.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:58pm
this is just one story...like these hundreds n thousands time justice is denied for muslims in India..it is welcomed when muslims are tortured killed n denied justice...
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Mar 23, 2015 12:14am
The biggest problem for mankind is going to be nationalism and patriotism. Folks.
It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.
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Mar 23, 2015 10:52am
This is justice delayed. Even if these policemen are really not behind the crime they have spent 27 years behind bars.
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