Pragya Thakur’s allegation that she was tortured was seconded by the leader of the Opposition. Denial came from no less than the prime minister. Unfortunately, the reputation of our police and security agencies regarding torture inspire credulity that will require more than the prime minister’s words to displace. One must be grateful to Advani for raising the issue at the highest political level. But as leader of Opposition and prime-minister-in-waiting, he cannot concern himself with Thakur’s case alone — he owes us all a duty to make efforts to stamp out torture.

A perusal of a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights titled ‘Torture in India 2008: A State of Denial’ makes Thakur look almost fortunate in that her allegation received the attention it did. The report only backs up with evidence what most Indians already know anecdotally — that torture, rape and murder are routinely used by police and armed forces to extract confessions for crimes ranging from petty theft to terrorism, for refusal to pay bribes and as a counter-insurgency measure. Although expected, the report is no less nauseating. Consider one incident where the accused alleged that the officer ‘pushed pins under nail, even thrust chilly (sic) powder into anus and nose’. Similar findings have been made by several human rights NGOs for years, which are often backed by judicial inquiries and even admissions by governments (as the Andhra government recently admitted that several persons accused of the Hyderabad bomb blasts last year had been tortured). Some of these findings seem to indicate that the poor, dalits, religious minorities, hijras, street children and other marginalised groups are more likely to be tortured than others.

... contd.