The massacre of 42 Muslims in 1987 in Meerut’s Hashimpura locality must rate as one of the most shameful cases of custodial killings in independent India. Yet the recent acquittal by a Delhi court of the 16 accused personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary on March 20, 28 years after the event, has evoked a muted response from political parties, leaving the outrage to civil rights groups.
If the Congress’s Pramod Tiwari, a minister in the UP state government in 1987, has been reported accusing both the prosecution and the investigating agency (CB-CID) of failing to do their duty sincerely, BJP State president Laxmikant Bajpai, while avoiding comment on the court’s decision, has blamed the prosecution for not being able to prove its case, while pointing out that the Congress had been in power at the time of the incident and that the Samajwadi Party is currently ruling UP.
Mr. Bajpai, however, failed to mention that the BJP was in power at the Centre (1998-2004, and from May 2014 onwards) and in UP (1991-92 and 1997-2002) in the intervening years.
The incident took place on the Congress’s watch – it was in power both in UP and at the Centre -- in 1987 and the party evidently does not want to draw attention to that by being vocal on the judgment. The BJP apparently does not wish attention to be drawn to the fact that the episode occurred during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement and corresponding anti-Muslim violence that eventually propelled it to power in UP in 1991.
As for the SP, currently ruling UP, and the Bahujan Samaj Party that has been in power in the State more than once over the last 28 years, both have merely expressed their sympathy for the Muslim victims.
The strongest response has come from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that has demanded that the verdict be appealed and the case “strongly pursued” in a higher court. In a statement, the party said, “The acquittal due to insufficient evidence highlights the callous manner in which the prosecution of those guilty for communal killings are being conducted.”
PAC personnel had rounded up close to 50 Muslims from Hashimpura on May 22, 1987, during Hindu-Muslim riots, shot them dead and dumped their bodies in water canals -- 42 bodies were later discovered, while there were five survivors who surfaced later. This incident led to a long legal battle in the courts. Now, a lower court in Delhi has acquitted all the surviving accused for lack of evidence.
