[Reader-list] The Jamia Enounter: Looking for A Little Less Melodrama and A Lot more Forensics

Mon Sep 22 17:23:32 IST 2008

Dear Rashneek,

Instead of responding to the points raised by Shuddha, you proceed to
attack liberals. Looking London, talking Tokyo?

best
shivam

On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM, rashneek kher <rashneek at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> He must have killed himself in order to prove that terrorists were actually
> hiding in Jamia Nagar,while there were none at all.In all this he would have
> thought that at least after this the liberals will aceppt the encounter to
> be true.But alas even in his death the liberals are not convinced....
> Die mother India die soon.....
> Cry my nation
>
> On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 11:32 AM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> <shuddha at sarai.net>wrote:
>
> > A Little Less Melodrama and a Lot More Forensics.
> > On Looking at a Photograph taken on the Margins of an 'Encounter'.
> >
> > (Apologies for Cross Posting on Kafila.org)
> >
> > Yesterday's Hindustan TImes published an interesting photograph of
> > the late Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of the Special Cell of the
> > Delhi Police, who was killed, allegedly during the course of the
> > recent 'encounter' at Jamia Nagar on the morning of Friday, the 19th
> > of September.
> >
> > [ See 'Braveheart Falls', Page 3, Sunday Hindustan Times, 21
> > September, 2008 ]
> >
> > < http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/
> > ArticleImageEx.aspxarticle=21_09_2008_003_002_002&type=2&mode=1 >
> >
> > The page is headlined 'The Hunt for Terror' and while the other
> > photographs on the page (of the deceased policeman's grieving
> > relatives) are credited, this particular one is not.
> >
> > A number of disturbing questions about this 'encounter' are gradually
> > beginning to make themselves known. I do not wish to repeat or
> > reiterate them in this posting  (though I feel that they need to be
> > carefully thought about). I just want to share my doubts about
> > particular thing that I can't but help noticing while looking at the
> > photograph.
> >
> > The photograph shows an injured Mohan Chand Sharma walking, helped by
> > two men, presumably towards a vehicle that would be taking him to
> > hospital.
> >
> > The man on his left is bulky, wears a black T Shirt with a red figure
> > of 8 on it. One of Sharma's arms is slung around his shoulder. The
> > man on his right is tall, balding, wears a blue patterned necktie and
> > a white shirt  (he is also seen on the TV footage from Holy Family
> > Hospital, where Sharma was taken). His shirt appears stained with
> > fresh blood on his left arm and in the chest area. He wears a bag
> > slung across his body.
> >
> > Sharma seems to have lost one shoe, appears to be in some pain, and
> > clearly needs support as he walks. He is wearing an off white bush
> > shirt, over a white vest and has what looks like some strong blood
> > stains on his right arm (just below where the man on his right is
> > holding him) and some faint stains, (which could be small quantities
> > of blood, or could be stains from having brushed against a surface on
> > which there is blood) on his right abdomen area.
> >
> > Since he is not on a stretcher of any kind, he appears to be in a
> > position where it is plausible that he walked down the four floors
> > from the site of the encounter at L-18 and is seen continuing to
> > walk. He is in pain, but his injuries, at least in this photograph,
> > do not appear to be life-threatening, at least not as yet.
> >
> > Crucially, there do not seem to be any visible signs of excessive
> > blood loss. In serious bullet injuries, especially when they have
> > occurred at close range, there is every chance of immediate and large
> > scale blood loss. If he came down the stairs as he must have, we
> > would have seen a lot of blood on the stairs, had there been a lot of
> > bleeding. Having watched the video footage of the staircase
> > repeatedly and carefully on the day of the 'encounter' I clearly
> > recall that while the staircase was indeed 'spotted' with small
> > patches, skid marks and spots of what looked like blood, the amount
> > of blood did not suggest that a person who was bleeding heavily had
> > walked down, (or even had been carried down) four flights of stairs.
> >
> > Reports of the autopsy conducted on Mohan Chand Sharma's body
> > indicate that he sustained two injuries -  in his right arm and in
> > his adbomen.
> >
> > [ See - Autopsy Suggests Sharma died of 'excessive bleeding'
> > by Teena Thacker
> > Indian Express, Posted Online, September 21, 2008 at 0017 hours ]
> >
> > < http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/autopsy-suggests-sharma-
> > died-of-excessive-bleeding/363891/ >
> >
> > But no bullets were found, either in X Ray or during the autopsy.
> > Suggesting that the bullets would have exited the body. This occurs
> > when a high velocity firearm is used at close range, such that the
> > force of the impact tears right through the body, causing the bullet
> > to be ejected out of the body through an 'exit wound'. If there are
> > exit wounds, they tend to be larger than entrance wounds, and they
> > are accompanied by profuse bleeding.
> >
> > [ For a discussion of how bullet injuries impact on soft tissue in
> > human bodies see -
> > "How a high speed bullet damages an organ'" - from 'Gun Shot
> > Wounds" (CRC Press, 1985) by Dr. Vincent J.M. DiMaio, Chief Medical
> > Examiner and Director of the Regional Crime Laboratory, County of
> > Vexar, San Antonio, Texas ]
> >
> > < http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/scientific_topics/wound_ballistics/
> > How_a_high-speed.html >
> >
> > Sharma died of excessive bleeding. The excessive bleeding seems not
> > to have begun at least till the time that this photograph was taken.
> > The photograph in the Hindustan Times is consistent with the
> > possibility of an injured arm, and the blood stains on his escorts
> > shirt also seem to be in consonance with what would happen if you
> > were helping a person who has been injured on his arm (or if the
> > blood has sprayed on to your shirt at close range from another
> > injured person).
> >
> > The ground which the three figures are walking on is clearly visible
> > in the photograph, again, here too, we do not see the kind of marks
> > that should be visible if a severely injured and bleeding person were
> > to be walking.
> >
> > If this is so, then some rather disturbing questions seem to begin to
> > raise their heads.
> >
> > Was Sharma shot (at least one more time) after this photograph was
> > taken, and before he reached hospital? If so, who shot him?
> >
> > The only people who can be said to be with him as he travelled from
> > the site of the encounter to the hospital were his other security
> > personnel. There were no armed 'terrorists' with him, around him, or
> > facing him, at this time.
> >
> > While Mohan Chand Sharma's career may have been illuminated by
> > several decorations, there is no doubt that not unlike his deceased
> > mentor and colleauge, Rajbir Singh, he had, of late come under a bit
> > of a cloud. The decision to transfer him out of the Special Cell of
> > the Delhi Police to the Police Training College at Jharoda Kalan
> > (which has been interpreted as a punishment posting by some) is well
> > known. He was asked to stay on, or perhaps himself asked to stay on,
> > for this particular operation. It could have been a last attempt at
> > another touch of glory in a career that was beginning to lose its shine.
> >
> > We may do well to remember that Mohan Chand Sharma's erstwhile mentor
> > and colleague,the late Rajbir Singh, too died in somewhat mysterious
> > circumstances,  apparently to do with his somewhat unsavoury sideline
> > as an extortionist and part of a real estate mafia racket (after
> > having a distinguished list of 'encounters' and 'investigations',
> > including the 13 December case, to his name).
> >
> > WIth Rajbir Singh's and now Mohan Chand Sharma's deaths, two more
> > people who possibly knew a lot about say, the 13 December case are no
> > longer in the reckoning, and with a steady chorus mounting for the
> > execution of Afzal Guru, the day may not be far when no footsoldier
> > will be left alive to bear witness to what exactly happened on and
> > around the 13th of December, 2001 and several other less than
> > transparent episodes in the recent history of what passes as 'anti-
> > terrorist operations'.
> >
> > While today, Mohan Chand Sharma may be commemorated as a 'hero', as
> > 'braveheart', as a 'martyr' a dispassionate look at his rise may
> > actually reveal different shades. The possibility, that for many
> > people within the deep structures of the security establishment, his
> > 'neutralization' may not be an altogether inconvenient thing, cannot
> > be ruled out.
> >
> > Incidentally, Mohan Chand Sharma's funeral was attended amongst
> > others by Sachin Vaze and Pradeep Sharma, both top encounter killings
> > of the Mumbai police, M.C. Sharma's friends, and both currently
> > undergoing suspension, Vaze because of a case of custodiald death
> > involving him, and Pradeep Sharma, because of suspected links to the
> > Mumbai underworld.
> >
> > [ See Tarnished Cops Seek Meaning in Sharma's Death by Vikas
> > Shrivastav and Vivek Sinha, Mumbai Mirror, Posted on September 21,
> > 2008 ]
> >
> > < http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?
> > page=article&sectid=15&contentid=20080921200809210351171019ca733b6 >
> >
> > Mohan Chand Sharma may have died a violent death, and every violent
> > death (including possibly many of those that he may himself have
> > authored in his career) is tragic and must be mourned. However, much
> > of what he did, or was made to do, or became habituated to doing, and
> > all that he represented, still needs to be accounted for. His last
> > few hours need accounting for. The 'Jamia Encounter' and its link to
> > the Delhi, Gujarat, Jaipur, Bangalore and Varanasi bomb blasts
> > doesn't quite look like the open and shut case it is being made out
> > to be on prime time television. By Sunday evening, a channel called
> > India TV, (famous for predicting apocalypse on a daily basis) ran a
> > dramatized 'reconstruction' with the theme of a 13 headed monster
> > terrorist cell, within two days of Friday's events. Times Now,
> > another channel, kept saying that they had 'Exclusive' Photographs of
> > the so called 'Terrorists' at the sites in which they had planted the
> > bombs. What they showed us were black and white close ups of smiling
> > young men. The photographs did not in any way indicate 'where' these
> > men happened to be located.
> >
> > Perhaps we need a little less melodrama, and a lot more forensics.
> > That could help us understand what exactly happened at Jamia Nagar
> > last Friday, and what is actually going on in the name of the 'war on
> > terror' in this country today.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > In a
> >
> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> > The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> > Raqs Media Collective
> > shuddha at sarai.net
> > www.sarai.net
> > www.raqsmediacollective.net
> >
> >
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>
>
>
>
> --
> Rashneek Kher
> Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com
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