Jawahar Bagh judicial probe: Commission gets 25 affidavits alleging ‘complicity’ of administration

MATHURA: The single-member judicial commission of justice (retd) Imtiyaz Murtaza, inquiring into the circumstances that led to violence at Jawahar Bagh on June 2, leaving 29 dead and over 100 injured, received 25 affidavits in this regard, hinting at the complicity of the administration and its complete failure in preventing the encroachment of the public park, on the first day of its proceedings in Mathura on Saturday.
While Murtaza refused to comment on the contents of the affidavits on the plea that the inquiry had just started, the people who submitted the affidavits claimed that they had mentioned “complicity of the administration” as the main reason for the success of the Swadheen Bharat Subhash Sena (SBSS) activists in encroaching the park for over two years. The affidavits stated that the administration had practically closed its eyes to the illegal activities of SBSS leader Ram Vriksha Yadav and his armed hoodlums.
Talking to TOI, chairman of Jawahar Bagh Sangharsh Samiti, Jagdish Kaushik, who was one of the citizens to submit an affidavit, said, “This entire incident is a mystery as the government and the administration kept ignoring the developments for more than two years.” He said residents of the area and other concerned citizens were forced to form the Samiti to fight for the vacation of the public park, as the administration was doing nothing.
He said the administration seemed “oblivious” of the encroachment for two whole years and did nothing to prevent it. “Yadav and his goons were running a parallel government inside Jawahar Bagh and were doing all sorts of anti-national activities,” said Kaushik.
Rambabu Kateliya, a farmers’ leader, who also submitted an affidavit, said the administration had closed its eyes to the encroachments. He said this encroachment could not have happened without the complicity of local officials, as SBSS activists had created their own “kingdom” within the 270-acre park.
A local journalist, who also submitted an affidavit, claimed that he was present at the spot when the violence occurred on June 2. He said the police had broken the wall of the park in order to provide a “safe passage” to those SBSS activists who were being kept inside against their will by Yadav and his men.
In an informal chat with the media, Murtaza later said members of the public can provide their version of the Jawahar Bagh events to the commission till July 20. The commission has already asked the local administration to submit all records and press clippings related to Jawahar Bagh. He said the commission would probe the aspect of negligence, if any, by the administration.
As per the terms of reference of the inquiry, the commission will also probe the role of the local administrative and police officials in handling the situation.
BJP submits memorandum
Accusing the local administration and the UP government of turning a blind eye to the encroachments at Jawahar Bagh, the BJP on Saturday submitted a memorandum to the Murtaza commission.
The memorandum states that despite the fact that the encroachments went on for two years, the administration did nothing to prevent it. It also accused the administration of not taking any stern action against the encroachers despite court orders.
The memorandum also states that though the police registered 70 criminal cases against the encroachers across the nation, it did nothing to apprehend them. It also accused the government of not providing adequate police for carrying out the eviction on June 2.