Ishrat was the first woman to be killed in an encounter in Gujarat.
It is extremely rare to find women being killed for political reasons and that, too, in fake encounters, except in terrorist operations or in Naxal-infested regions.
But in Gujarat, two shocking incidents of women being killed in fake encounters have surfaced in recent times. The women in question are, of course, Kauserbi and Ishrat Jahan. Both women were killed in cold blood and their deaths were later flaunted by police officers involved as examples of their valour. The ghosts of both the unfortunate women have come back to haunt Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government and its police apparatus in a big way.
And, is it merely a coincidence that ‘Kausar’ has also returned? Kausarbi, wife of Sohrabuddin, was killed by the Gujarat police since she was a witness to the killing of her husband. In a strange coincidence, Ishrat Jahan’s mother — Shamima Kausar — shares her second name with Kausarbi.
Ever since Ishrat was killed in a police encounter, her mother, Shamima, had been pushing for a fair probe into the encounter which the Gujarat high court-appointed SIT has now declared as fake. The corridors of courts, police and political power are abuzz that it is the ghosts of these two women which are haunting Modi government.
With the SIT declaring the Ishrat encounter as fake, the incident may lead to the arrest of more than 20 Gujarat policemen who will, in all probability, remain behind bars for several years and probably lose their jobs. A similar number of policemen are already behind bars in connection with the encounter in which Kauserbi was killed.
Observers say such incidents of women being killed in stage-managed encounters have never happened before. "Such encounters have never happened in the state's history or elsewhere in the country, except in Naxal-infested regions or militancy-prone areas," said former DGP RB Sreekumar.
"Naxalites and some militant groups have trained female cadres, who are sometimes killed in police operations. However, killing of ordinary women in encounters has probably never happened," he added.
Sreekumar further said that the best policing demands the capture of militants alive to get information and crack conspiracies.
Senior counsel and human rights activist, Girish Patel said that the Ishrat encounter was the first in which a woman was killed in an encounter in the state. "Also, both Ishrat and Kauserbi were killed not because they were terrorists but because they were associated with alleged terrorists who were also eliminated. This is ruthless, inhuman and unconstitutional."
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