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The 15th anniversary of West Bengal's biggest ever case of mass
lynching was observed here on Wednesday by monks of the Ananda Marg
even as the Jyoti Basu government continues to conceal the facts on
the gruesome killing from the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC).
On the morning of April 30, 1982, 16 Ananda Marg monks and a nun
were dragged out of taxis that were taking them to an educational
conference at their headquarters in Tiljala in the city's southern
suburbs.
At three spots simultaneously, they were beaten to death and then
set on fire. All this was watched by thousands of people. Yet, to
this day, not a single arrest has been made.
Finally, in late 1996, the NHRC decided to take up the
investigation of the case.
But without the West Bengal government's cooperation it cannot go
far. Already two reminders have been sent but the Basu government
has not responded.
Meanwhile, an LAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, Sher Singh has
stirred a hornet's nest by offering to reveal the facts of the case
along with relevant documents. Singh was additional district
magistrate of 24 Parganas at the time of the incident and claimed
to the Central Administration Tribunal (CAT) in his petition
(No.1108 of 1994) that he was victimised for his refusal to toe the
Marxist government's line on the case and suspended.
Singh has informed the CAT that since he is bound by the Official
Secrets Act he can only reveal the full facts if demanded by the
"competent authority". However peppered all over his petition are
hints that the lynching was carefully planned and executed by
Marxist cadres over a land dispute with the Marg. The Marxists had
feared the Margis would upstage their domination in the Kasba belt
which was at that time a base for the CPI(M).
The West Bengal government claimed after the incident that the
Margis were lynched by an irate mob.
But there is still no explanation as to how such spontaneous action
could take place at three different spots within a one-kilometre
radius. Moreover, there were three police stations in the vicinity
but the police did not arrive at the scene till two hours after the
lynching.
Acharya Trambakeshwarananda Avadoot, public relations secretary of
the Marg, told The Indian Express that the "only success achieved
by the Basu government has been the concealing of its involvement
in the State's biggest case of lynching." Mantreshwarananda
Avadoot, a central committee member of the
Marg said the Marxists had planned to eliminate ad the top leaders
of the organisation but its goons, in a case of mistaken identity,
selected ordinary monks for the slaughter.
A silent procession was taken out in south Calcutta yesterday by
the Marg to remind Calcuttans of one of the permanent blotches on
their collective consciousness. Though over the years the Marg has
picked up a lot of controversy - its role in the famous Purulia
airdrop being one - people still sympathetically relate them to the
victims of the 1982 incident.
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