Desecration probe rebuffed; Church team puts spotlight on 'larger design'

PANAJI: The independent fact finding committee backed by the Council for Social Justice and Peace, the social arm of the Church has termed the investigation carried out by the police as "lazy and under political influence" as they maintained their original stance that the desecrations could not be the work of one man alone.
Addressing a press conference, three members of the fact finding committee -- Fr Savio Fernandes and Ranjan Solomon of the CSJP and Irfan Engineer of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism released their report put together after site visits as well as meetings with the family of main accused Francis Pereira. They have called for a Special Investigation Team under the supervision of the Bombay High Court at Goa to impartially investigate the desecrations and bring to justice all involved in the crime.
"After mounting pressure from the citizens and civil society, the police found a scapegoat and arrested one Francis Pereira. They said he did so because he was not in the best mental health... However desecrations continued in Marcaim while the alleged real culprit was still in police custody. Another scapegoat was found -- this time a mad person from Jharkhand! Too much of a coincidence that two mad persons descended on Goa for a Cross desecration drive," Irfan Engineer said.
"We met the Director General of Police and were not convinced by his arguments. After arresting Pereira, the police have not dug deeper. The only thing they have so far is the confession of the accused. We all know that a confession of an accused is not evidence in a court of law. The police have no other evidence in the form of footprints, or eyewitnesses or any other evidence to link Pereira to the crimes," Engineer said adding that the police and the state administration are already celebrating a victory before the case has even begun trial.
The fact finding team has instead said that the desecrations were part of a "larger design" and that "it cannot be a mere coincidence that a spate of desecrations took place after such speeches."
They were referring to the Sanatan Sanstha's "anti-minority ranting" which created an atmosphere where violence against minorities is normalised and resorted to.
They have demanded that legal action should be taken against hate speeches made at the Hindu conclave under the relevant sections like 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295A (outraging religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code.
They also appealed to the people at large to undertake a "sustained campaign against communal forces and compel the state government to perform its constitutional obligation of arresting hate crimes and upholding democratic rights of all citizens."

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