Chandrika Rai had been writing consistently against illegal racket
The brutal murder of a senior journalist and his entire family on Saturday night in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria distict, over 450 km from here, has sent shockwaves across the State with fingers being pointed at the illegal coal mining mafia active in the region.
Journalist Chandrika Rai (42), his wife Durga (40) and their two teenage children — son Jalaj (19) and daughter Nisha (17) — were murdered using a sharp object at their residence, police said. The bodies were found in four separate rooms.
Mr. Rai was a freelance journalist who contributed regularly to the Hindi daily Navbharat and English daily The Hitavada. He had been writing consistently against the illegal coal mining in the region. He had written a series of articles alleging the involvement of a local BJP leader in illegal mining.
The district is known for the Umaria coalfield under the control of the South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. However, illegal coal mining is also rampant in the region.
“The local illegal mining mafia has resorted to this horrific crime to silence the power of his pen,” said Congress MLA and leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Ajay Singh. “The BJP government gives open protection to the local mining mafia. Recently Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and some of his Ministers were seen sharing the stage with wanted criminals. In such a situation, criminals have no fear of the law and commit such mind-numbing crimes with impunity whenever their interests are harmed.”
The crime came to light when Mr. Rai's brother broke open the door on Saturday evening after he became suspicious on seeing it locked from the outside the entire day.
Linked to abduction?
The Umaria police believe the murders could also be linked to the kidnap of the seven-year-old son of a government official for ransom on Wednesday. He was rescued by the police on Thursday.
“DGP Raut visited the crime scene on Sunday and has ordered an STF probe,” Umaria SP Manohar Singh Jamara told The Hindu. “He also spoke to journalists here and assured them that the criminals would be brought to book as soon as possible. We have constituted a team to look into the crime and assist the STF which will arrive here tomorrow [Monday].”
Land dispute
Another angle the police are investigating relates to a land dispute involving Mr. Rai and another local individual.
Keywords: MP journalist murder, coal mining mafia, Umaria coalfield, South Eastern Coalfields, Umaria distict
I have been extremely shocked and feel almost violated to realize that late Mr Chandrika Rai used to contribute his stories to The Hitavada, since I am one of the employees at the same newspaper. Despite Mr Rai’s supreme sacrifice none of us at this office really felt a tinge nor there was any condolence message going on behalf of the Newspaper. It just reminds me of the saying that the greatest tragedy for any society is not the evil doers or the criminals who perpetrate violence against Humanity. In fact, it is the millions of others who choose to remain mute spectators, the so called “innocent victims” who choose to be victimized rather than raise their voice against the violence. Not everyone has to be a Joan of Arc or Swami Vivekanand to usher in a just society. We can be simply humane human beings and develop a little empathy for the society at large. After all, its just this single emotion that separates us from animals.
The goons did this at the behest of their political masters. Shame on them. These
ones who only understand the language of power. Common People have to fight for
their normal rights as a citizen. If the state govt. cannot provide protection to
common people, make the process of acquiring the arms license simpler. We will not
be scared and file up RTIs 1000 times. That seems to be the only weapon left in this
oligarchy.
OK so now this atrocious act is out in the public domain, what is the
law enforcement doing about it, what is the news media doing about it?
This kind of sickening and sad news does not get reported? How come????
This is INCREDIBLE INDIA. 24+ hours have elapsed since the murder, and
no concrete action. The CM should have immediately initiated the
process for a CBI enquiry, yet he remains mum. The BJP remains mum at
the national level. The State Opposition, the Congress should have
taken action, yet they are mum, except for some decades old
statements. All this when a citizen and his entire family are
murdered.
But when an MP is slapped, politicians across the spectrum condemn it
at the very first chance they get and the "perpetrator" is jailed
within hours. This is an extended autocracy, folks, get used to it!
What is the explanation of the govt at the helm and the measures they take to stop forthwith this kind of brutality? Where is the security guaranteed by the constitution for the safety of the people of this country? Nonetheless,the journalists won't stop exposing the nexus between the corrupt politicians and the goons who are acting at the behest of some selfish leaders to loot the nation's wealth at will. They are not cowards.Soon a comprehensive probe be ordered to book the culprits along with politicians involved.
Shame on the politicians, the Indian law enforcing authorities and judicial system that cannot protect the independent media personnel. The ferocity of the crimes committed indicate there is serious lacking and failure to bring the real criminals to justice. The mining mafia and their associates must be investigated and punished severely without any delay.
Shocking, coming in the wake of the murder of Shela Masood. There is no point us wringing our hands, saying "What's the use. Nnothing will change". We CAN change things and we will not be cowed! These murderers and their sponsors, politicians et al, want to scare us into submission. All RTI activists who expose corruption where the stakes are high must seek protection of some sort. It is the responsibility of the state government to provide this, but of course there's no doubt that there is some state complicity in these illegal activities. Yet we must not give up but keep fighting for the future of the nation.
What a total shame.
This is really shameful. Whoever committed this cowardly crime should be punished so severely that a precedent is set, and no one dares to touch journalists. What a disgrace for BJP governed state. Now will party explain itself ?
Again proved how important is to have lok pal bill not something
just weak bill. Sad and its a huge loss and pain. May their souls
rest in peace. This is equivalent to terrorism.
Isn't it the biggest shame for India? How can someone be above the law? What inspires these people to kill a whole family? Who gives them the right to do this? i am happy that THE HINDU brought this story to us... but will someone take action... we are destroying our land by haphazard coal mining, heinous crime to say the least....sham eon all of us...what have we come to...shame
These kind of incidents throw light on the kind of criminal justice system in the country.The murder of J.Dey in Mumbai last year,this one emphasise not only the lapse on the side of the governments, but also on the lack of proper coordination in the press and media,for,a person writing the facts on a major crime is not supported by the press effectively and the undesirable nexus between the press and the political elite.Unless there is unity in the press and sharp measures from the law making and the law enforcing agencies, such incidents may not come to an end.
This is horrifying, culprits should be dealt with iron hands and swiftly.
I checked google news it has only 28 articles on him as of know, why is the mainstream media not paying any attention to it.
it is a very barbaric and shameful act. Criminals and goondas are in Government.Our system are paralyzed.Now the time is for revolution. Hang these people in open.
What is this....have no words to even condemn this act. Even after knowing that Public Representatives are acting like Mafia still we are bound to choose best of the Worst. Do we have to call this as democracy..chosen by the people, and they do these kind of acts...for the People. RIP Rai family. So sad if the culprits walk among the crowd..!!!
Sad to hear this!!!...May their souls rest in peace... God save our country from such tryanny!!
The Hindu was one of the few newspapers that campaigned against the efforts of the government to amend the constitution in the wake of Samatha judgment. Balco-like actions continue to happen all over India, though another political group rules from Delhi. Courts may have defined the rights of the tribes to the minerals beneath their hearth, the world demand for iron ore and coal and other rare metals has simply trampled tribal rights at will with help from governments. The present government at the centre is also on the side of the multi-nationals. Then who is for the tribals. Chandrika Rai could not have been more than a minor irritant. Realising the ramifications with possible multinational interests, the state government of its own should hand over the case to an appropriate central agency. At least for the sake of political appearances, the centre should step in. We want to hear Digvijay Singh on this. Chidambaram's chance to say that he defines terror and law and order.
Shame on the IPS / IAS officers. We will NEVER see the real culprit (not the one who killed but the one who got them killed). Incredible India.
There is no use voting Congress or BJP to power. All are equally corrupt. We will never be able to change any of this. If we go into politics and if we are honest, we will never reach a stage from where we can change things for the better. Now tell me if Anna is doing the right thing?
blood boils when we read such type of brutal killings of innocent people.Today we can not speak truth because the truth will be punished we know better.mafia underworld etc.flourishing under the roof of big people and our law is only for poorer.now the time has come to arm ourselves to counter all those hooligans otherwise there is no stop of killings.
Please stop beleiving that we are living democratic country,actually our democracy is totally different rom rest as this model has become "BY THE FEW,FOR THE FEW, FROM THE FEW" and unfortunetely those few are not people but corrupt greedy and crony capatalist...This will keep on till our mindset is changed which will take NOT LESS THAN 300 to 400 Years So guys stop worrying and learn to ignore and keep moving and make sure as we always do ..try to keep our house in order with material things and forget rest all.Where whole society has become coward and rulers have become selfish.
At this rate,journalism as a crusade against the social evils is proving highly risky and no one dare thinks of it.
Heinous and inhuman act by culprits . State government should offer this case to CBI to unearth truth in this incident in order to sever punishment shoule be received by those who behind this murder irrespective of rank, connection, nexus and powerful. Similar kind of incident happened few months back in Mumbai that too for illegal oil mafia. Journalism considered as fourth pillar of democracy and their duty is to expose good and bad things about remaining three pillars of democracy in order to maintain healthy and wealthy society in ture democracy.
Politicians, the law enforcing bodies are hand in glove with these mafias.
This is horrible. On one hand we ask journalists to report real issues and give unbiased articles. But cant even protect them from such horrendous outcomes.
I thought that such incidents can happen only in movies, but this news made me
faint!! Where are we heading?? Whoever is involved in this
conspiracy must be punished severely irrespective of their race, status.
I think there is a need of amendment of our Constitution, We are still
following the way back 1950's Constitution. All these looks like signs
indicating the end of KaliYuga, may be 2012 as said by Nostradamus!!!!!
in this state (country) if journalist cannot speak freely , how can a common man can dare to speak or oppose.
We invest our time, effort and money in education to grow as responsible citizens. Simultaneously, aspiring politicians grow investing their time and effort in honing immoral skills to further their career. Ultimately the lawbreakers become lawmakers. These parasites belong to parties, work in team and suck blood out of us vulnerable INDIVIDUALS. Even if we try to unite for a movement, they know how to systematically break it. After all us INDIVIDUALS lack unity, patience, memory and care for society. While we spent time, energy, and money to build career, we don’t spare time to clean up the society to make it a better place for our children to live. We may be successful individually, but we fail collectively. Until then the political parasites will thrive on our blood. A few days from now, Mr. Rai case will be overshadowed by other daily breaking news.
What more can be said, first RTI activist Masood a few months back and
now they managed to wipe out an entire family. The CM should act
quickly, but when he is seen on the stage with the same goons suspected
on running the racket, what can be done?
It is such a sad state of affairs in our country. Criminals run the country today. Unless we have a strong and independent police force who are recognised and rewarded adequately, we will continue to allow such criminals to silence all voices that rise in protest...
I pray to God to give peace to the departed souls..
what a shame.
A killer blow to freedom of speech and expression. It is absolutely shocking that the government seems to have renounced its responsibility to uphold free speech and expression by protecting the mafia rather than the whistle blowers. A pathetic state of affairs.
On a different note, may I ask why should a person be writing about illegal mining mafia, smuggling, prostitution, etc? Why do you expose yourself to risk? Why not lead a life of a normal man and enjoy your family life? Are you a police man or a CIF officer?
YES,this is the NEW INDIA of Double Digit Growth -AT ANY COST
Whether protected by the State or Central Forces( which are to protect Indian Citizens against enemies)the Small Mafia and the Large
Multinational ARE exploiting the Country's resources blatantly without
accountability.Poor Tribals and Adivasis are uprooted at the behest of
the explouters and they are LITERALLY FORCED to get "protection"from Naxalites who use the poor to remain in the lime light.Draconian laws
are introduced to keep those protesting the exploitation down.
EVEN the S.C had to come down against the methods used by the Governments against the poor and struck down the recruitment and arming of he illegal "SALVA JUDUM"in North East
ANY ONE WHO RAISE HIS / HER VOICE ARE SLENCED.
India is on the verge when those who stand for the rights are being harassed,bulleyed, beaten or even murdered. Those who commit crimes are at the top, have all the facilities and enjoy a lavish life of their own and have the right to do anything, with anyone because they know that it would not do any harm to them.
This is shocking to know that whole of the family members have been murdereda and nothing has happened to the criminals or murderers. I think that nothing would happen to them even after this incident.
The journalist community has to come together and protest jointly to put pressure on the police and politicians to clean up their act and nab the culprits who commit these types of heinous crimes. I don't think we as individuals can do anything on our own. Only the press can pressure on the police and our leaders to act on such matters. They are the voice of the people. So they need to get together and act on this urgently. India needs them to put its house in order and stop the rot in its system.
I respect Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan for the work he has done in MP.
But it is now his biggest responsibility to solve this case.
Why his Responsibility ? --- because today he has to stand as CM ,, not a BJP party member and have to take action against the involved BJP party persons. Otherwise it will give a very negative signal to public that if they say anything against Mafias or any big Party members,,, they will face that kind of brutality.
It is a big BLACK SPOT on our CM face until the guilty is punished for this case. Because Chandrika Rai raised his voice for betterment of people and against evil.
I will be waiting from THE HINDU side to keep us update about the investigations and outcome for this case. AND IT DESERVES FRONT PAGE COVERAGE.
RTI has become PTD (Path to Death) for a lot of folks who took it upon
themselves to clean it up. Should we be scared to file RTIs? NO. We
should file RTIs in 1000s instead of one or two. How many voices can the
goons kill?
Yet again, might wins the fight against the pens and the whistles. Quite contrary to what Tagore had once so popularly written, for here - the mind is with fear and the head is not held high...where words would always be buried in the depths of corruption.
What a Great Reward to the Strenuous Journalist!
God!! My deepest Condolences to the Family.
And whom so ever is the accussed should be punished quickly.
govt should take action against the culprits with clarity
Are we truly a democratic country? Do we have any leadership that is worthy? This is disgusting. Cannot differentiate between movies and reality. I hope people wake up and vote for leaders who support democracy in Journalism. Not offering goods in exchange for votes..
Don't keep Whining. What do we do now?
A ghastly incident. Shame on the country and the dirty politicians who are involved in such heinous crimes. When i read the article, literally my blood was boiling. The great mahatma ji preached and practised truth and honesty, is no more in air.The price of being truthful is the end of a happy family.
May the souls rest in peace.
Absolutely shocking. The nexus between politicians and criminals is so deep in India that it won't be long before mafia dons rule this nation. The least the CM can do is resign and assume moral responsibility for these murders.
One can only describe a land, where journalists and social activists speaking against crime are quite frequently murdered, as 'lawless'. If the criminals pursue such actions with minimal fear, it clearly points to the ones at the top.
Law and order is worst in this country whether a state is run by Congress or the BJP.We are at the mercy of God only.This is bound to happen when the Government is weak irrespective of the party ruling.
barbarism is getting the upper hand everywhere in this country! very very disturbing.
Of late, killing of journalist is on the raise.The price they are paying, for exposing nefarious actvities of underworld, coal mafia or corrupt politicians, is gory death including their families.
Since the investigating agencies are not so active in exposing and curbing crime, journalists have taken upon this as their mission to cleanse the system, and as a result are paying a very heavy price. It will be better on the part of journalists to make the invstigating agencies as their partners, for a better work as well as protecting thier own lives.
A thorough investigation is needed to probe all angles. It seems an act of revenge on the whole family. However, it should also be probed whether the objective was to suppress information coming out through his work as a journalist. It is probably too early to raise outrage but only a swift, thorough and transparent investigation will put to rest the concerns of the public and fellow journalists.
This is a gruesome act and it is highly deplorable .How can we claim to
be the liberal democracy when the fourth pillar is strangulated when
raises voice against the ongoing corruption . The whistleblowers should
be given adequate protection for the sake of the betterment of the
society.This should not dampen the zeal of journalist.
It is sad that activists who blow whistle against corruption and mafias
are being killed while Government fiddles around with whistle-blower
protection and safe-guards that could prevent such crimes.
Is this is face of new India! atrocious!!.Innocent family killed in
cold blood. The entire nation should revolt and strike down those
killers.This is not the first time it has happened, just 6 months
earlier an RTI activist was killed, a sub-collector was burned
down.Engineers and Health officers murdered.What is really happening?
Is the nation and governance gone so bad that everyday we have to
read, rape,dacoit,robbery,mugging,murder,kidnap,child abuse,assualt
every corner of the country.We have to note only very small portion of
these come out in newspapers, so how many more are suffering in
silence or unknown.What is the police doing about this, I have not
seen a single police bust on thievery gangs,mafias,kidnappers.Why do
we pay so much taxes? Why every house need to spend lakhs of rupees to
jail themselves to protect against robbers?I am appalled and ashamed
our police forces in general and worst the politician who have no
concern towards common people except their skin. Ashamed!
This is the darkest day not only for Journalists and their families but also to all. India should show the world that they have the will, a strong system in place to investigate organised crimes, accountability and deliver justice.
Don't vote for congress
Journalists and RTI activists can never have been killed this routinely
unless those behind such atrocious acts enjoy some degree of immunity
from the law. And that can only come from the netas, who will only wring
their hands helplessly every time these things happen. Look no farther
than Pakistan and its ISI and you will see what I am talking about. Its
a tragedy that we know full well who are responsible for these
atrocities that continue to be perpetrated upon our Indian brethren but
we know not how to get rid of them. Or do we?
What should i comment? i really don't know what is happening in our
democratic country. if you raise your voice you will have to suffer physically and if you wont raise you will be mentally damaged. I ask
from the chieftains the way how to live peacefully in this situation.
Will bringing the culprits to gallows undo the damage this incident may
have done to free and unbiased journalism? I guess the society should
protect people actively writing on such sensitive issues. It is the
responsibility of both the state and the society.
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