One More Custodial Killing
On the morning of 03 April 2025, at approximately 6:00 AM, Mr. Jahanur Haque was on his way to his agricultural field to water his crops. The field is located near Border Pillar No. 929, to the east of the house of the Panchayat member of Bhoram Payasti Gram Panchayat. While proceeding towards the field, he was intercepted by two BSF personnel. Without any provocation or cause, they apprehended Mr Haque and took him near the CPWD Road, where the Company Commander of Gitaldaha B.O.P., reportedly named Mr Balwant, was present.

According to a fact-finding report, Mr. Haque was forced to remove his clothes by the BSF to verify his religion. Upon confirming his genital, Khatna (circumcision), that Mr Haque was a Muslim, the Company Commander allegedly pushed him to the ground, stood on his chest, and shot him in the lower left chest. Shockingly, despite being grievously injured and still alive, another BSF person shot him again—this time on the upper right side of the forehead, near the eyebrow—leading to his sure death. The BSF personnel later justified the killing by alleging that Mr Haque was a smuggler.

From the time of the incident till around 12 noon, the body of Mr. Haque lay at the spot, while BSF personnel prevented villagers and family members from approaching the body. It was only after considerable delay that police personnel from Dinhata Police Station arrived, recovered the body, and sent it to Dinhata Sub-Divisional Hospital, where he was officially declared dead.

MASUM made a representation to the National Human Rights Commission regarding the custodial death of Haque, but NHRC is yet to act on the complaint.
Kirity Roy
Secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Manch (MASUM)

Anil Chaudhury–the Struggle Continues
Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) is deeply shocked and saddened at the demise of Anil Chaudhury, one of the oldest and most active members of the group, in Delhi on April 15.

Anil, in the most unobtrusive way, since shortly after the inaugural conference in Delhi in 2000, ensured continued and uninterrupted functioning of the organisation by providing the central office in Delhi and also securing working hands to run the office. Similarly, he constantly provided the logistical support necessary for making the organisation work and also enabling it to bring out its organ, Peace Now. Then, in the quarter century that we have been in existence against all odds and with the nuclear cloud still hanging over us, Anil remained steadfast in his active involvement and commitment to the cause of a nuclear-free India, South Asia, and indeed a nuclear-free world.

For Anil, this commitment to denuclearisation and democratization was an integral part of his lifelong engagement with movements for social justice and building peace from the grassroots to the national, regional, and global levels. His deep involvement with both INSAF (Indian Social Action Forum) and PEACE (Popular Education and Action Centre) was a testimony to this integrated vision of a world where Justice was a necessary precondition for Peace.

Anil was also someone who worked without fanfare and in relative anonymity. He was often the unseen but steady hand, mind, and heart that enabled resolution of differences and conflict [and there were many!]; quietly brought together widely differing ideological and workaday positions.

CNDP members can never forget that quiet sense of humour–the smile and hug that would bring all together when it was so easy to divide–which were his endearing qualities and taught everyone the need to work together as a team.
CNDP

The Old Ghost Returns
The brutal murder of civilians is an unforgivable crime. This sort of violence has nothing to do with “self-determination”; it is yet another manifestation of totalitarian politics and disregard for the sanctity of human life. The perpetrators are bent upon increasing communal tension and discord.

WITH US Vice-President J D Vance in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on an overseas trip to Saudi Arabia, the biggest terrorist attack targeting civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that has killed more than two dozen civilians in Pahalgam in Kashmir frames one of the most significant internal security challenges for New Delhi–one with external ramifications.

Indeed, since August 2019, after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked, the record surge in tourists to the state was seen as a bellwether for normalcy in the Valley. Given how tourism fuelled local employment and businesses, this was also seen as a pointer to a more prosperous future.

Yet, the Pahalgam attack revived ghosts of the past–and a terror playbook that, security officials said, is all too familiar. For one, terrorist attacks on civilians while foreign leaders and officials were in the country were seen as a ploy to aim for maximum international publicity.

The Pahalgam attack also comes a week after Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir’s statement that Kashmir is Islamabad’s “jugular vein”.
DS, New Delhi

William Wedderburn
Many foreigners have rendered valuable service to the Indian National Movement. Sir William Wedderburn was one such eminent personality. Wedderburn served in the Indian Civil Service from 1860 to 1887, retiring as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay. His official life was marked by a concern for the Indian peasantry. He held the rigid land revenue system responsible for the impoverishment of Indian agriculture. He was also worried about the lack of capital investment in agriculture. To redress this problem, Wedderburn suggested the setting up of co-operative banks to provide cheap agricultural loans. The impersonal government debt courts were causing distress to peasants. Wedderburn proposed an arbitration and conciliation system constituted of village elders as a substitute. After his retirement, he actively worked for the Indian cause. He cooperated with the Indian National Congress and went on to preside over the Congress Sessions of 1889 and 1910. The Congress had set up the British Committee of the Indian National Congress in London for educating the English public on Indian affairs. Wedderburn served as its chairman for almost three decades. In the words of historian S R Mehrotra, “The survival and steady functioning of the British Committee for about thirty years were due to no small extent to the tact and patience of William Wedderburn…” In 1893, Wedderburn was elected to the British Parliament. There, he brought together a group of parliament members who were sympathetic to the Indian cause. When the British government constituted the Royal Commission on the Administration of Expenditure of India, Wedderburn served as a member representing the Indian demand. India faced recurring famines in the second half of the nineteenth century. Deeply concerned by this, Wedderburn established the Indian Famine Union in London in 1901 to investigate the causes of famine and suggest solutions. Throughout his life, William Wedderburn worked hard to draw the attention of the British government and British public to the wants of India, especially its agricultural community.
S M Visakh, Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 47, May 18 - 24, 2025