BHOPAL: The US State Department’s India 2016 Human Rights Report featuring the killing of eight men of outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) on October 31, 2016, in Bhopal and the multi-crore Vyapam scam has triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress here.
MP Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said the report has dented the image of the nation globally. “Now will the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister file a defamation case against the US president and the state department too,” questioned Mishra referring to a defamation suit filed by CM against him.
He added that the reference of Vyapam scam particularly has proved beyond doubt that the multi-crore scam being probed presently by the CBI is of international significance.
“It’s time that the MP government introspects its style of governance and makes amends before it’s too late,” said RTI activist Ajay Dube, who claimed that the report was sent to him by the US Embassy on March 16 and his feedback too was sought over the report.
Meanwhile, reacting strongly to the Congress spokesperson’s comments on the US report, MP minister for cooperatives Vishwas Sarang said, “No government in our country needs a certificate from the US president or his government on internal matters. President Trump should not forget that terror had struck his own country once.”
KK Mishra, who has not even won a panchayath election, should not compare self with US president by issuing such statements, added Sarang.
State BJP vice-president and legislator Rameshwar Sharma said, “The police had killed terrorists, who murdered several cops, looted common people, committed multiple jailbreaks. In the case of Vyapam scam, the probe is completed and the guilty officials are convicted. The probe by CBI is also underway on Supreme Court’s directive. We believe in our judiciary and not in US wisdom.”
The US State Department’s India 2016 Human Rights Report released on Sunday mentions about the MP police having reportedly killed 8 suspected members of the outlawed SIMI after they allegedly murdered a prison guard and escaped from high-security Bhopal Central Jail. The report adds that the NHRC issued a formal complaint against the State government, police and prison authorities, expressing concern about the deaths. The MP police appointed a special investigation team to probe the killings.
About the Vyapam scam, it says: “In July 2015, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI probe to take over MP State government investigation of fraud within the professional examination board (Vyapam). Arrests in the case since the investigations began in 2013 included more than 2000 individuals.
In August, the CBI registered a complaint against 60 individuals and filed charges against student candidates and impersonators. The MP High Court granted bail to some of the accused. The CBI was also investigating deaths of 48 individuals over the span of five years, including a journalist, who reported on the fraud.”