Hindu Terror

by RVS Mani

  for me to hear the Minister. There were two specific instructions

  from the Minister. Sign the denotification order which I had

  no problem doing because now I had written orders. I signed at

  about 9.00 pm that night. The second was a reiteration that I

  must toe the line.

  While driving back home, I found myself being chased again.

  It was dark and I could hardly recognise the faces. But two to

  three vehicles were following me. At the Dwarka flyover at the

  top, where there is quite a lot of illumination, when one of the

  cars chasing me drew parallel to me, I could see a known face.

  He was the same personnel who had come with CBI DSP Jayant

  Kashmiri, and they had caused my mother to collapse. I do not

  know whether showing his face was an intentional pressure tactics.

  I was nevertheless apprehensive. Next day, the General Elections

  2014 for the Lok Sabha was notified. The notification was for

  a 7-phase poll. This meant that till the elections were over, my

  travails would continue.

  In the same period, my father had started missing my

  mother. He had been living with my sister-in-law, who would

  leave in the morning for her office. Later, he realised that he

  had a problem. He could not lock a house. This upset him and

  he was hurt psychologically. So I decided to be with him. This

  was the first time, I was to spend any time with him in 54 years.

  So I applied for leave on email from 6 March 2014. There was

  no recovering for my father though. And for me, there was no

  respite from the CBI.

  On Sunday mornings, I visit the Sree Vinayaka Mandir in

  Sarojini Nagar for reciting and offering pranaams to the Surya

  God. This is the vedic suryanamaskara, contained in the Krishna

  Yajurveda known as Aruna Prasna. I was in my traditional attire.

  I was doing circumambulation of the deity after my regular

  ritual routine got over.

  At this juncture, one gentleman approached me and said he

  wanted to talk to me. When I told him that I am not the priest

  of the temple and any religious queries had to be addressed to

  the priest, he told me that Archana Ramasundaram, IPS who

  was going to be Special Director, CBI had come to the temple

  and wanted to meet me. During those days, the appointment of

  this Special Director, CBI was making news with the Supreme

  Court being seized of the matter.

  I reiterated that the lady could always consult the priest on

  religious matters and I was not the right person. The go-between

  insisted that I should speak to her. I thought she was seeking

  some VIP treatment. So I said that in this temple, even Supreme

  Court Judges, top functionaries of government, High Court

  Judges do visit and no VIP treatment is extended to anyone. This gentleman still insisted that I speak to this CBI Special

  Director. While talking, we had together walked towards the

  place where the Homan (Havan) is performed. I told the gobetween I would change my attire and come. From the staff quarters side, I exited after changing. I called my wife out on the mobile and we left the temple. I straight away drove to my childhood friend and lawyer K B B Singh’s house. He calmed

  my nerves and thereafter, I drove back home.

  My lawyer friend advised me to go missing for some time.

  Hence, I took a train, the Chennai Rajdhani, around the last

  week of March 2014 and went to Chennai. I stayed overnight

  in the IRCTC accommodation. The next morning I could not

  decide what to do. I went over to an old friend’s place so that I

  could be diverted and and had time to gather myself. On the same evening, I took a train to Kumbakonam. Why

  Kumbakonam I do not know. Surely I can be unidentified in

  this place which I was visiting for the first time, I thought. I

  checked into a hotel opposite to the station. I would only call

  my wife from a local STD booth. Not access internet or email.

  Kumbakonam was a very inexpensive place. So the cash I carried

  was sufficient to cover my expenses for the period. I spent the

  time in visiting many famous temples in the area. Later, when

  my money was over, I took the same route back to Chennai.

  I borrowed money from my friend and bought a tatkal ticket

  back to Delhi.

  The last leg of the general elections got concluded in the first

  week of May 2014. I resumed my duty. Finally, on 15th May

  2014, the election results were announced which is part of India’s

  history. I was undergoing my annual medical examination at the

  Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital as the results were pouring in.

  There was excitement all around. In the afternoon, my colleague

  who was with me, told me that he was going back to office. I

  dropped him in Nirman Bhavan and drove back home. I wanted to enjoy the feeling of relief. At least, the end of

  my travails was in sight. My wife, who had suffered with me,

  also needed to relax now. Actually during the marriage, the

  2nd Vow taken in Sanskrit is Dwitiyamcha Oorja Vishnu Anvetu. meaning the woman in the relationship shall be the epitome of the energy/power required for sustenance. In all these years she had epitomised that vow, she had been a great source of strength

  to me, otherwise I would have been lost long ago.

  For me Achhe Din appeared to be beginning.

  Still under the MHA’s shadow

  THE NEW GOVERNMENT was sworn in. There were high expectations. Interestingly, many friends who had shunned and spurned me all the previous years started calling me and asking about my welfare. They wanted to renew their contacts with me. I was not sure. In the meantime, I had also moved to the Ministry of Textiles.

  In December 2013, one of police officers accused of Human Rights violation in the Ishrat Jahan case, N K Amin of the Gujarat cadre had filed a Criminal Writ Petition (No. 128/2013) in the Supreme Court.

  The Supreme Court had issued a notice to me. This I received with a note from the Law Ministry with the instructions that MLJ (Minister for Law and Justice) would want to peruse the content of what I was to respond. Somehow, I could not find time to frame the response in consultation with my lawyer. The case was listed for 4.7.2014. I was present in the Court. I was directed to file my response in one month.

  My response was ready by 5.8.2014 but due to procedural issues raised by Satish Verma’s lawyer, I could not file my response. Finally, the response was filed on 7.8.2014. Extracts of my response is:

  MANI RESPONDENT NO.6

  I, R.V.S. Mani, son of Shri K.R.Ramaswamy aged about 54 years, resident of 139, DIN Apartments, Sector 4, Plot No. 7, Dwarka, New Delhi, do herby solemnly affirm and declare as...

  under:

  1. The deponent is respondent No.6 in the above said writ petition and is aware of the facts and circumstances of the case pertaining to the averments made by the petitioner in respect of his acts performed by him during his tenure of his posting in Ministry of Home Affairs, lnternal Security Division as Under Secretary. The deponent is also aware of some of the facts mentioned in the captioned petition: Being. joined as a party respondent and having been served with the notice of this Hon’ble Court, the Deponent respectfully seeks to place the following facts on record:

  3. That the deponent states that whatever he had stated in the affidavits dated 6,8.2009 and 29.9.2009 submitted by him before the Gujarat High Court were duly approved by the then Union Home Minister who had duly approved the same after exam
ining the contents on record pertaining to the inputs given by respondent no.2.

  4. That the deponent further states that during his tenure in such a sensitive assignment in the Home Ministry (lnternal Security Wing), the inputs given by respondeni No.2,were always found to be accurate, precise and professional which is evident from the detailed affidavit filed by the deponent on 6.8.2009 before the Hon’ble High Court of Gujarat. ln this context the deponent furlher submits that the deponent emphasized before the respondent no.7 who. alone was interogating the deponent reiterating his position that it was the domain of respondent No.2 to give such inputs, which are processed at the highest level in the Ministry of Home Affairs before sharing the same with the respective state governments. But the respondent No. 7 was adamant, rude,unruly and violent pressurising the deponent to state that one Shri Rajinder Kumar, lP$, the then Joint Director in the office of Respondent No, 2, had brought the draft affidavit’ (subsequently fited before the Hon’ble Gujarat High Court) and the deponent has only it which is not true. ln this context, the deponent further before the respondent no. (that he had also filed a similar affidavit in Allahabad High Court on 4.1.2008 when the High Court of Allahabad took suo moto notice as a sequel to terrorist attacks in District Courts in Uttar Pradesh on 22.11.2007. In that case also, the respondent No.2 had given advance inputs about possible terror attacks in court premises in U.P, which the Union Home Ministry had shared with the Government of Uttar Pradesh on 16.10.2007 as well as 2.11.2007. The respondent No. 7 was violently adamant and he alleged that the officers like the deponent are stooges of respondent no, 2 and work under their dictates and not take into account any thing based on facts shared by the deponent and continued to parrot his own version that the affidavit of 6.8,2009 was. brought by Shri Rajinder Kumar, IPS and deponent simply signed it. The deponent was shocked and amazed by many things uttered by respondent no.7 like terrorist attacks in Parliament was engineered by the ruling party in the Central Government then.

  5 The deponent further states that on 22nd June, 2013 the deponent was called for recording of his statement by the CBI SlT. The deponent found that no officer interrogated the deponent but the deponent was interrogated by Shri Satish Verma, lPS, the respondent no.7 herein who tried to intimidate, coerce and even induce the deponent to sign on the dotted lines ive a statement as desired by him. Since deponent was post of responsibility and was well versed with 4 the facts mentioned in the affidavits did not succumb to the rude, violent and intimidating torture of respondent no.7 and stuck to the.true facts. Since the deponent underwent a serious and unprecedented physical and mental torture, the deponent decided to report the same to his senlors in the Ministry af Urban Development immediately upon his return from Gandhinagar to New Delhi in writing at the relevant point of time viz. contemporaneously on 24th June, 2013 since 23rd June, 2013 was Sunday. As per the information of the deponont, the said written note of the deponent waq also contemporane”ously foMarded by the Urban Developrnent Ministry ta the Home Ministry in June, 2013 itself. A copy of the said note is Ennexed herewith and is annexed as ANNEXUEE-1.

  6. The deponent states that after the deponent filed the above referred note in the official records contemporaneously, as stated above, the deponent was mentally and administrativelyy harassed continuously, However since the said facts may not have relevance with the subject matter of the present petition, the deponent is advised not to elaborate the same in this affidavit. However the deponent reserves liberty to place the same on record as and when so advised. that from the beginning viz, The deponent placing the note in the official records till now, the deponent continuously called, chased and stalked by many senior CBI officers including one senior level lady IPS officer recently posted in the CBl.

  7. The deponent states that the deponent is filing this affidavit only with a view to place the true and correct facts before this Hon’ble Court and has nothing to state so far as the prayers prayed for in the petition are concerned. Nothing from this Hon’ble Court,

  Few days after this SC deposition, a letter was received in the office of my lawyer issuing a fatwa21 to kill me. I submitted the same to my office. It was also submitted before the Supreme

  21 a religious ruling to kill

  Court bench hearing the petition on 12.9.2014.

  The then Joint Secretary (Administration), Sujit Gulati, a lovely and a friendly officer, seemed more disturbed than I was. He spoke to the Joint Secretary in the MHA and forwarded the letter to them. After this, the MHA and Delhi Police did a good job of assessing the threat to me. The Delhi Police wanted me to tell them what kind of security I wanted, they had assessed that the ‘threat was imminent’ and had to make some mitigating recommendations. I, however, did not want to be bogged by the paraphernalia of PSOs, so I declined the offer of body guards in writing.

  Meanwhile, my sister-in-law had been transferred to Ranchi. My father felt he would get a change of place as he was yet to really recover from the loss of my mother, with whom he had spent nearly 70 years. The letters received at her Delhi residence were redirected to her Ranchi home. Without anyone’s knowledge about the content, a white envelope also got redirected to the Ranchi home. My father opened it to find inside a copy of the same fatwa received at my lawyer’s office. The entire process of postal delivery and redirection etc had taken two more months in time. My father saw the fatwa in November 2014. Few days later, he fell ill and was admitted to a hospital.

  My wife and I had to go in December 2014 to Ranchi and bring him back to Delhi in a semi-conscious state. We admitted him to a Delhi hospital again. After his discharge a few days later, he lived practically as a vegetable, coming to his senses only intermittently.

  Meanwhile, several interesting but worrisome incidents kept on happening to me. I would find the nuts of all the four wheels of my vehicle loosened while it was parked in the office parking lot.

  Then, one night, after a get-together at my lawyer friend’s house in south Delhi where we were meeting a few other old

  friends, when I was driving home, suddenly from the midst of a metro construction site a dumper appeared. It was on the wrong side of the road. It came in front of my car and crashed into it. The entire front portion of my vehicle was damaged. Miracle was that I did not get a scratch on my body.

  My father was living with another brother of mine in Delhi at the time. He learnt of these attacks on me and his condition worsened. Five days later he died. He was 92. Just a few months ago he could travel independently to any destination for performing Bhagwat Saptaham or Chandi pooja. He was in great demand. An erudite person, he still had a few years left in him. But the fallout of my professional life took his life. He died a very traumatised human being.

  Unto the Sun

  But things did not stop here. In February 2016, due to online recording of statements by David Headley in the Abu Jundal trial, many unknown details of the Ishrat Jahan case came into the public domain. The media’s quest to learn the truth, bare the facts in the various terrorism cases intensified. After they had spoken to Rajinder Kumar and former Home Secretary, G K PIllai, the Times Now television channel landed up at my residence. My story was aired on Times Now on 1st March 2016.

  I always desired to be an anonymous common man. But this media exposure brought me into limelight. I was apprehensive and went and confessed to Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, that I had given this interview. Rashmi Verma, the then Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, at first berated me for being tactless. But she was an excellent professional and an understanding human being who extended all support in this regard.

  Even after the government changed and I was on television, my harassment continued. In April, I received a legal notice from one Srivastava, a Supreme Court lawyer—sent by a lawyer named Rachna Gupta dated 1.4.2016—about some special treatment not being extended to him in the Sree Vinayaka Mandir, of which I was associated in the management. While I did not reply to this, later inquiries revealed that it was Satish Verma’s way o
f getting at me, Srivastava was his relative.

  One evening, when I was returning home, at the Dwarka Flyover, a car went past my car, from the left side. It was dark and hence I could not make out the finer details. The driver pulled out a gun and threatened me, abusing me with the choicest Punjabi abuses and said he would kill me. I called the Delhi Police Control Room, and later a policeman came to my house and recorded the details including the car No. which I had noted down. Police later told me, the man was Vipul Kwatra, living in Sector 12, Dwarka and had a licensed firearm. No clue to why the man had suddenly waved his gun at me. I was definitely rattled.

  In the Textile Ministry, I had contributed to the Mobile App in the name of ‘eDhaga’ for the benefit of handloom weavers. The App is targeted to benefit about 4 lakh weavers attached to the 932 government depots in 30 States/UTs. Being from the Central Secretariat Service I am not entitled to apply for any recognition for this, but I felt, I deserved government recognition. I soon began to feel disaffected with my lot.

  I had to do a certain amount of travelling. Generally, I prefer to stay in government guest houses, especially in Mumbai. On 22.4.2017, I had to attend a meeting in Mumbai in the Churchgate area. This was followed by a visit to one of our organisations in the Wool Research Association at Thane on 23rd April. I was staying in the Textiles Committee Guest House at Prabhadevi. On the night of the 22nd, after the meeting was over, I reached the Guest House, changed and went over to a dhabha near Dadar Station, which is one of my favourite places for good Punjabi khana. I returned to the guest house around 11.00 pm and went off to sleep, planning for a early morning aarti-time visit to the Siddivinayaka temple.

  At about 1.30 am. the entire power supply of the guest house went off. It was pitch dark. After struggling and locating my mobile, I tried opening the door of my room and found it locked from the outside. I called up one of the officers who lives in the complex. He sent some one who quietly unbolted the door and went away. I struggled to go towards the terrace area and fell down. At the time I could feel someone pressing my neck with force. I kicked my legs aimlessly and my attacker ran away, leaving me in a semiconscious state.