JUSTICE FOR IPS OFFICER NARENDRA KUMAR

Narendra Kumar, a 30-year-old Indian Police Services (IPS) officer, posted in Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, was mowed down when he attempted to stop a tractor that was carting illegally quarried stones away. This is not the first instance where the Illegal Mining Mafia has been allowed to run riot in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Just last month, Chandrika Rai, a 42-year-old journalist in Umaria district in MP, and his wife and two teenaged children were hacked to death as Rai had written extensively on the activities of the illegal coal mining mafia in the region, and had alleged the involvement of a leader of the ruling party in the illegal mining there. The brutal and shocking killing of Narendra Kumar only highlights the deep political patronage that the Mining Mafia enjoys in Madhya Pradesh at the behest of the state government. The media has been reporting incessantly about the grave damage being caused by illegal mining to the environment and major archeological sites but the Chief Minister has taken no action yet. It only highlights that the Chief Minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh is more interested in eating Mithai and playing with colours while officers who uphold the Rule of Law are brutally murdered. It only highlights that a shameless police who wish to please their bosses will try to protect the mafia by falsely claiming that the incident was an "accident" and even before an enquiry has been completed this spineless police was more than willing to give the mafia a clean chit. But who will stand up for the widow of the brave officer who is pregnant? The same widow who was transferred at the behest of a leader of the ruling party as she did not bow down to his illegal orders. Who will stand up for the father of the brave officer who has been indicating that the ruling class was not allowing his brave son to do his job? Narendra Kumar was no different from any of us. He was a young officer who tried to do what his country expected of him. Today, the brave heart has paid with his life. If we sit quietly and allow the nexus between the ruling class and the mining mafia get away with this brutal murder we would lose the right to call ourselves a functioning democracy. So let us raise our voice. Let us make it very clear that WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THE RULING CLASS OF MADHYA PRADESH TO GET AWAY WITH THIS LOOT BEING DONE AT THE COST OF THE LIVES OF BRAVE OFFICERS LIKE NARENDRA KUMAR. BY SIGNING THIS PETITION LET US DEMAND THAT THE CHIEF MINISTER MUST HANDS OVER THE PROBE INTO ILLEGAL MINING AND THE MURDER OF NARENDRA KUMAR TO THE CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (CBI) AS THE MADHYA PRADESH POLICE HAS CLEARLY BETRAYED THE FAITH OF NARENDRA KUMAR'S FAMILY BY TRYING TO PROTECT THE MAFIA.