Quest for justice: 40 years and counting
How does it feel to be behind bars for 40 long years, that too on an unsubstantiated/unproven charge?
How does it feel to languish in inhuman conditions, away from
family and friends, without even the faintest of hope for legal recourse?
How does it feel to be from one inhuman cell to the other, to
be with one set of notorious criminals after the other? How hard is it to
adjust in such a world?
How does it feel to be behind bars for 40 long years, that
too on an unsubstantiated/unproven charge?
And how can one remain sane after spending so many years in
such an environment?
How does it feel to be treated as guilty without proof?
Durga Prasad Timsina of Lumbak, Mai municipality-10, Ilam
district, knows better. Or does he?
How does it feel to be treated as guilty without proof?
Durga Prasad Timsina of Lumbak, Ilam, knows better. Or does
he?
Before proceeding any further, let me dwell a bit into the
man and the charge against him.
For this, let me take you back to the 1980’s and beyond.
Durga Prasad Timsina aka Dipak Jaisi was in his early 20’s,
living in Darjeeling where the Gorkhaland movement was at its peak.
Those were indeed difficult times for Nepali migrant workers
in particular and the Nepali-speaking community in Darjeeling in general.
At that time, Nain Ghale of Darjeeling moved police against Dipak
Jaisi, accusing the latter of killing his wife Janu Gurung.
Police wasted no time and nabbed the accused. At the height
of the movement, the case did not get as much publicity as it should have.
Recent reports have questioned if the charges were fabricated.
Even if Janu got murdered, there’s no clinching proof of the accused’s
involvement in the heinous crime, Durga’s cousin brother, Prakash Chandra
Timsina, says.
Mysteriously, Nain Ghale and his kin do not seem to have
followed up on the case.
The burden of proof lied solely on the accused with the
Indian criminal justice system not bothering to probe into the case, find the
facts and deliver justice.
Such is the justice system of ‘the world’s largest democracy’
that it did not even bother to initiate legal proceedings in the case, for 40
long years.
For his part, Dipak Jaisi was and is in no position to stand
up for himself. In a report, the Psychology Department of the Kolkata
University has described the mental state of the accused as that of a
nine-year-old. His IQ is like that of a nine-year-old. He can remember the
names of his parents and his school. That’s all.
Light at the end of the tunnel.
Dipak got released on March 20, 2021 on medical parole,
thanks to collective efforts. Prakash Chandra Timsina, a cousin brother of
Dipak, was relentless in his pursuit for the release of Dipak. At the request
of Prakash, the NGO called Vishwa Sewa Vistar provided support and brought him
to Kolkata for his meetings with Dipak.
Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata also chipped in, playing some
role in the release of the imprisoned by deputing a staffer for court
proceedings and engaging in communications with Prakash.
Radheshyam Das, a prisoner of conscience, informed the Bengal
Radio Club about the man languishing in Indian jails -- from Darjeeling to Alipur to the Dumdum
Central Correctional Home in Kolkata – for 40 years.
A team of Indian advocates, Hirak Sinha, Malayi Bhattacharya,
Suryajyoti Ghosh and Swekat Banerjee fought for justice for the alien, whom the
Indian criminal justice system had failed.
As per the court paper signed before the release of Dipak,
Prakash will have to present Durga before the Kolkata sessions court if the
court issues orders to this effect. And the cousin brother will also have to
inform the consulate about the condition of Dipak every six months.
This means legal proceedings against Dipak are not yet over,
that they will continue when Dipak regains his mental health.
Guilty or not, mentally fit or not, Dipak Jaisi has some inviolable
human rights. There can be no true compensation for the injustices he has
suffered under the Indian criminal justice system (indeed, justice delayed is
justice denied, even if the deliverer of injustice is the judicial system of
the ‘world’s largest democracy’, but he still is entitled to compensation as
per the law.
There can be no true compensation for the injustice he has
suffered under the Indian criminal justice system -- justice delayed is justice
denied, even if the deliverer of injustice is the judicial system of the ‘world’s
largest democracy’ -- but he still is entitled to compensation as per the law.
That is where the government of Nepal and the consulate in
Kolkata has to step in. Their inaction in this case will further embolden the
Indian state to trample on human rights of innocent Nepali migrant workers,
whether it is Meghraj Banjade of Arghakhanchi or Dipak Jaishi of Ilam or numerous
other unnamed workers, who continue to get subhuman treatment at the hand of
their employers and the Indian state.
It would not be wrong to state here that the Indian criminal justice system
– and not Dipak Jaisi – is on the dock in this case. How the judiciary of the ‘world’s
largest democracy’ delivers justice in this case will tell the world a lot
about the true nature of Indian strain of democracy.
Summing up, it would not be wrong to state here that the
Indian judicial system – and not Dipak Jaisi – is on the dock in this case. How
the judiciary of the ‘world’s largest democracy’ delivers justice in this case will
tell the world a lot about the true nature of Indian strain of democracy.
Devendra Gautam
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga55Sg-gOOU&t=32s
https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-jailed-40-years-without-trial-in-kolkata/
https://www.nayapatrikadaily.com/news-details/61733/2021-03-20
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-24987305
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