Indians For Guns

She had determined threat to her life.She petitioned the government and the honourable Home Minister a few times to provide protection to her.And she is gunned down in front of her house.Why did the government or to be precise our Home Minister's efficiency fail to protect her?

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?278127

CRIME: DEATH OF AN ACTIVIST
Information Martyr
Shehla Masood had to die because the state couldn’t protect her
CHANDRANI BANERJEE
Shehla Masood’s worst fears came to pass on August 16: she was shot dead in front of her house in Bhopal at around 11 am. An RTI activist who had taken up a variety of issues, from good governance, transparency and police reforms to tiger conservation, and who had been collecting evidence using the RTI Act since 2005, she had made several enemies among the powerful. She had received several threatening calls from bureaucrats, police officers and politicians. And she had faithfully kept the authorities apprised of the same, filing several petitions, including one to Union home minister P. Chidambaram, on how she feared for her life. They weren’t enough, however, to stop her enemies from getting to her.

And so it was that Shehla was killed in her car as she was setting out to lead a group of concerned citizens who wanted to express their solidarity with Anna Hazare. It was a death that could easily have been prevented. In fact, in her letter to home minister Chidambaram last month, she had clearly said, “I had made a complaint dated 2/09/2009 for gross violation of service rules.... I have lodged a complaint against him (Pawan Srivastava, an ips officer who was deputed to the culture department and is now IG, police training school, Indore) for threatening my life which so far has not been registered because of his political connections.” She also sent copies of her complaint detailing the threat perception to the Union home secretary and authorities concerned at the state level.


To no avail The letter Shehla wrote to the MP DGP and his noting

Masood Zaidi, Shehla’s father, is a broken man but still proud of his daughter. “She was a fighter,” he says. “Her complaints were with almost every person in authority. They could have helped her out. But it was all in vain. For me she is a martyr and I would want justice for her. I think people should gather and draw the attention of the government towards this gross injustice where on the second day there were reports floating that she had actually committed suicide.”

And suicide is one thing Shehla’s relatives rule out completely. “Both her hands were occupied when the shooting took place,” says brother Razil Zaidi. “She had her mobile phone in one hand and her car keys in the other. How could she have killed herself? We want a free and fair inquiry, and the guilty should be punished. We want a central agency to look into the matter.” When contacted, Madhya Pradesh police IG Vijay Yadav had this to say: “I do not know where these rumours are gaining ground from but we have registered a case of murder and our investigations are moving in that direction only.”

However, the doctor who performed the post-mortem on Shehla’s body, Dr D.S. Badkur, director of the Medico-Legal Institute of Madhya Pradesh, says it is too early to say anything. “We are analysing the available medical and scientific evidence. At this point, ruling out suicide is not fair. We are looking into every aspect. We have sent the available material for analysis. We have to wait for the reports before we can say anything conclusive about the case.”

Such statements by medical experts are very disheartening for Shehla’s family. They allege that the forensic experts are trying to give a different colour to Shehla’s death. It is to be expected, they say, given that the police did not take any action in the last year despite Shehla’s constant reminders to them about her receiving threatening calls. She had also written to the director-general of police drawing attention towards police inaction on her complaints. The dgp had, in fact, issued written instructions, yet no action was taken again. Shehla’s family has lost all faith in the system. If they couldn’t save her life, they could at least spare her in death.

Sad.
We read so many such cases in the news papers.
With times the "news" dies out just like these individuals.
Some time back a gentleman who was fighting for the lions in Gir was murdered. I read the post here on IFG. I doubt if any progress has been made in that case.
A few months ago a Swami (Nigamanand) fighting to save the Ganga and raising his voice against illegal mining in Uttarakhand was poisoned . No arrests have been made till date.

Sinister warning from a Cop eons ago whats cost of life in India - same price as cost of a bullets made by IOF back then number was less than 25 paisa...Nothing will happen in India until politics grows above muck of caste/region/religion/etc and based on certain values..till then this tragic circle of death and intimidation goes on just like what happens in Russia

This is the outcome of social activism ! 'Vested' interests do not want to be questioned on what they do. Sadly the govt agrees !

Self protection is the best protection - the sooner we learn this mantra, the better...

PC/Govt. could not protect her because she was not willing to protect herself.She does not seem to have made an attempt to get the most useful tool for self protection, a gun.Why did she feel that govt organizations will protect her when she should have realized,given her experience ,that they are either unwilling or unable to discharge their duties.

Friends,
I am no fan of PC but would like clear certain doubts as why PC didnt/couldnt protect her.
P.Chidambaram is union home minister i.e. centre
Law & order is strictly a state subject...in this case M.P.
Centre cannot intervene directly in such mater unless "officially" requested by state govt.
Centre can act directly only if state govt is dismissed & President's rule imposed which was
not case of Madhya Pradesh
So,protecting her was sole responsiblity of the state govt.

I am sorry if i am wrong somewhere
regards

Who is framing the laws and changing provisions of the Arms Act.

Who is making it more difficult for 'sane' people to get arms licenses ?

Pray answer that as well !!

So,protecting her was sole responsiblity of the state govt.

The Right to Life and Liberty under Article 21 of Constitution is a negative right of every person and also a negative obligation of the State. Hence the the State cannot be blamed or legally punished for "not protecting" any person. Neither the State has any kind of "sole" responsibility to babysit and "protect" any and every person. More than anything else, self defense/protection is the sole responsibility of every person. Since it is a negative right, person can choose to exercise it or not exercise it, at the cost of one's own life.

In this context the following opinion by WTP is worth noting:

PC/Govt. could not protect her because she was not willing to protect herself.She does not seem to have made an attempt to get the most useful tool for self protection, a gun.Why did she feel that govt organizations will protect her when she should have realized,given her experience ,that they are either unwilling or unable to discharge their duties.

Even if I assume for the sake of this discussion, that it is the "sole" responsibility of the State government, she had also sent copies of her complaint detailing the threat perception to the concerned authorities at the state level, including DGP.

IT'S heart rendering
the only reason is our politicians are not worth their bread and they are more concerned about protecting fellow corrupt/criminal politicians and no resources left for common people

Since law and order is a state subject and since need for licensing of arms is considered essential to maintain law and order,should not the states have the freedom to make laws on licensing of arms as per their local conditions ?

Arms, ammunition and explosives has been put as central subject in the Constitution probably because of the assumption that India will fall apart if the States are given the powers to legislate in matters related to arms, ammunition and explosives. As the Arms Act 1959 stands today, what practically prevents the States from issuing arms licenses at the moment? Practically nothing. The licensing authourities have enough discretionary powers delegated under arms act. If Shehla Massod had applied for an arms license, would she have been promptly issued one? I doubt.

winnie_the_pooh wrote:Since law and order is a state subject and since need for licensing of arms is considered essential to maintain law and order,should not the states have the freedom to make laws on licensing of arms as per their local conditions ?

Inst this the root cause of many issues federal vs Central government set up ..how come state govt never challenged such laws...?

how come state govt never challenged such laws...?

There is no use to challenge such laws by State governments in court, since arms, firearms, ammunition and explosives are in Seventh Schedule List I—Union List under Article 246 of the Constitution. The only way the States can challenge is, if the amendment is sought and done by their MPs as defined in Article 368 of the Constitution.

Gentlemen,

If states have their own arms laws, it just might be very difficult for "outsiders" to get licenses. Am reminded of a law passed in Jharkhand after its formation - "no non tribal will in future be given Jharkhand domicile" or something like that. The sons-of-the-soil, linguistic, etc. stuff is pretty strong in most parts of the country. I have never lived in my "home state" (never had one), hence I have felt this first hand, all my life. Don't want to start a debate on the merits of the original state formation, or the relative merits of locals v/s outsiders, but just stating a fact.

EssDee