A group of retired IPS officers including 'encounter specialist' D G Vanzara today launched an NGO to provide financial and legal aid to victims of terrorism as well as to family members of accused named for terror activities.
S S Khandwawala and K P Raghuvanshi, former DGPs of Gujarat and Maharashtra respectively, will serve as chairman and vice-chairman of the NGO 'Justice for Victims of Terrorism', while Vanzara, an accused in two fake encounter cases in Gujarat, will be the general secretary.
Former IB (Intelligence Bureau) special director Rajinder Kumar, who was chargesheeted in Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, former judge of Gujarat High Court Justice B J Sethna, and member of National Human Rights Commission and former chief justice of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir High Courts Justice B C Patel attended the inauguration function.
Khandwawala said that "rightfully" helping victims of terrorism and compensating them on time will help curb the menace and the NGO will work in the same direction, including "extending help to families of people killed by terrorists, people made accused by terrorists and security forces fighting terrorists."
"If charge is proved against a terrorist, (investigating agency and government) say the work is done. But what about the victims? Even an accused is the citizen of this country. If he goes to jail, what happens to his family? We need to think about this as well in order to root out terrorism.
"So we wanted to have a different kind of organisation and form an NGO which can bring justice to these victims of terrorism," Khandwawala said.
The NGO will be an apolitical organisation, he added.
"When terrorism raised its head in Gujarat, police,
politicians and central agencies responded and reacted positively, and genuine encounters carried out by police well within Constitutional provisions, police manual and IPC Acts, saved it from become another Kashmir," Vanzara said.
He said Gujarat became a peaceful state because of police action against terrorism, "which developed economically and the Gujarat model of development affected Indian politics, pushing the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi to become Prime Minister."
"The inputs that police received by world class central intelligence agency (IB) and its chief Rajinder Kumar had a great role to play in all this. Had Gujarat police not acted in time and saved Modi, none of this could have happened. India could not have got the PM of the class of Narendra Modi," Vanzara said.
The NGO will have its team of legal experts who will provide assistance to any victim of terrorism who approach them for help, he added.
