Perhaps the ghost of the Jheeram Ghati massacre will be finally laid to rest. A decade after the deadly political slaughter took place on May 25, 2013, and following a protracted legal battle, the Supreme Court on November 21 issued an order granting the Chhattisgarh police autonomy to investigate it. In doing so it overruled the opposition of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which had been probing the case, to the involvement of the state police in the investigation. The Bhupesh Baghel government had long asserted that the NIA probe had overlooked the conspiracy angle in the case, and the state police therefore be allowed to investigate the incident.
On that fateful day 10 years back, heavily armed Maoists had ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the Jheeram Ghati area of Jagdalpur district, killing more than 30 people, including top Congress leaders Vidya Charan Shukla, then state Congress president Nand Kumar Patel, former MP Mahendra Karma and former MLA Uday Mudaliyar. The leaders were returning from Sukma, where they had participated in a programme organised as part of the party's parivartan yatra. The state was to go to the polls later the same year.
The verdict has sparked off a wave of political reactions from both the BJP and Congress. BJP leader and former chief minister Raman Singh said his party would promptly get the matter investigated once it came to power. "The person who kept saying he has evidence of the conspiracy in his pocket did not produce it before the NIA that has been investigating the matter for the past five years," said Singh, blaming CM Baghel for not coming up with proof to back his claims.
Denne historien er fra December 11, 2023-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prÞveperiode pÄ Magzter GOLD for Ä fÄ tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ?  Logg pÄ
Denne historien er fra December 11, 2023-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prÞveperiode pÄ Magzter GOLD for Ä fÄ tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg pÄ
He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
